The 1973 World Rally Championship season was the inaugural season for the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) World Rally Championship (WRC) format. It consisted of 13 events, each held in a different country of the world. Many of the events would be staples of the series through to today, including Monte Carlo, Sweden, Tour de Corse, and the RAC Rally, while others would soon be replaced in the schedule. As with following seasons, gravel events formed the majority of the schedule. Two pure tarmac and one snow and ice rally were also included, as well as three events held on a mixture of soft and hard surface roads.

The first award of the Championship for Manufacturers was firmly won by Alpine-Renault, which had already gained fame competing for the earlier International Championship for Manufacturers. Fiat successfully placed second ahead of challenger Ford, but could not seriously challenge the winning Alpine. However, this would also prove to be the last award for the Alpine, as it gave way in subsequent years to Italian firms Lancia and Fiat. A French manufacturer would not regain the Championship again until Peugeot successfully captured the 1985 World Rally Championship for Manufacturers.

From 1973 to 1978, the WRC only awarded a season championship for the winningest manufacturer. Scoring was given for the highest placing entry for each manufacturer. Thus if a particular manufacturer was to place 2nd, 4th, and 10th, they would receive points for 2nd place only. However, the manufacturer would still gain an advantage in scoring from its other entries, as the points for the 4th and 10th place entries would be denied to other manufacturers.

Events

1973 World Rally Championship event map

Black = Tarmac	Brown = Gravel	Blue = Snow/Ice	Red = Mixed Surface

1973 World Rally Championship schedule and results

Round	Rally name	Stages	Podium finishers
			Rank	Driver	Car	Time
1	42ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo (19–26 January)	18 stages 420 km Tarmac	1	Jean-Claude Andruet	Alpine Renault A110 1800	5 h : 42 m : 4 s
			2	Ove Andersson	Alpine Renault A110 1800	5 h : 42 m : 30 s
			3	Jean-Pierre Nicolas	Alpine Renault A110 1800	5 h : 43 m : 39 s
2	24th International Swedish Rally (15–18 February)	36 stages 760 km Snow/Ice	1	Stig Blomqvist	Saab 96 V4	9 h : 18 m : 31 s
			2	Per Eklund	Saab 96 V4	9 h : 20 m : 53 s
			3	Jean-Luc Thérier	Alpine Renault A110 1800	9 h : 34 m : 12 s
3	7º TAP Rallye de Portugal (13–18 March)	32 stages 387 km Tarmac/Gravel	1	Jean-Luc Thérier	Alpine Renault A110 1800	5 h : 42 m : 16 s
			2	Jean-Pierre Nicolas	Alpine Renault A110 1800	5 h : 48 m : 57 s
			3	Francisco Romãozinho	Citroën DS21	6 h : 7 m : 48 s
4	21st East African Safari Rally (19–23 April)	56 controls 5300 km Gravel	1	Shekhar Mehta	Datsun 240Z	+6 m : 46 s pen
			2	Harry Källström	Datsun 1800 SSS	+ 6 m : 46 s pen
			3	Ove Andersson	Peugeot 504	+ 8 m : 47 s pen
5	16ème Rallye du Maroc (8–13 May)	27 stages 1210 km Tarmac/Gravel	1	Bernard Darniche	Alpine Renault A110	15 h : 01 m : 22 s
			2	Bob Neyret	Citroën DS23	15 h : 20 m : 4 s
			3	Richard Bochnicek	Citroën DS23	15 h : 34 m : 37 s
6	21st Acropolis Rally (23–28 May)	549 km Gravel	1	Jean-Luc Thérier	Alpine Renault A110	7 h : 37 m : 58 s
			2	Rauno Aaltonen	Fiat Abarth 124	7 h : 44 m : 59 s
			3	Jean-Pierre Nicolas	Alpine Renault A110	7 h : 45 m : 56 s
7	33 Rajd Polski (12–15 July)	55 stages 734 km Tarmac/Gravel	1	Achim Warmbold	Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye	8 h : 28 m : 14 s
			2	Egon Culmbacher	Wartburg 353	11 h : 15 m : 16 s
			3	Maciej Stawowiak	Polski Fiat 125p	12 h : 8 m : 31 s
8	23rd 1000 Lakes Rally (3–5 August)	43 stages 517 km Gravel	1	Timo Mäkinen	Ford Escort RS1600	4 h : 53 m : 50 s
			2	Markku Alén	Volvo 142	4 h : 55 m : 59 s
			3	Leo Kinnunen	Porsche 911	4 h : 57 m : 12 s
9	44. Österreichische Alpenfahrt (12–14 September)	27 stages 310 km Gravel	1	Achim Warmbold	BMW 2002Tii	3 h : 58 m : 55.5 s
			2	Bernard Darniche	Alpine Renault A110	4 h : 0 m : 10.1 s
			3	Per Eklund	Saab 96 V4	4 h : 0 m : 11.2 s
10	15º Rallye Sanremo (10–13 October)	37 stages 520 km Tarmac/Gravel	1	Jean-Luc Thérier	Alpine Renault A110	8 h : 1 m : 32 s
			2	Maurizio Verini	Fiat Abarth 124	8 h : 7 m : 34 s
			3	Jean-Pierre Nicolas	Alpine Renault A110	8 h : 21 m : 37 s
11	25th Press-on-Regardless Rally (31 October–4 November)	Gravel	1	Walter Boyce	Toyota Corolla	6 h : 58 m : 28.2 s
			2	Jim Walker	Volvo 142S	7 h : 22 m : 43.2 s
			3	John Smiskol	Datsun 240Z	7 h : 33 m : 36.0 s
12	22nd Daily Mirror RAC Rally (17–21 November)	Gravel/Tarmac	1	Timo Mäkinen	Ford Escort RS1600	6 h : 47 m : 8 s
			2	Roger Clark	Ford Escort RS1600	6 h : 52 m : 23 s
			3	Markku Alén	Ford Escort RS1600	6 h : 55 m : 26 s
13	17ème Tour de Corse (1–2 December)	13 stages 372 km Tarmac	1	Jean-Pierre Nicolas	Alpine Renault A110	5 h : 6 m : 31 s
			2	Jean-François Piot	Alpine Renault A110	5 h : 14 m : 37 s
			3	Jean-Luc Thérier	Alpine Renault A110	5 h : 18 m : 46 s

Championship

1973 World Rally Championship point awards for manufacturers

Points awarded by finish	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th
	20	15	12	10	8	6	4	3	2	1

Manufacturers

1973 Manufacturers Championship Points

Rank	Manufacturer	Event													Total points
		MON	SWE	POR	KEN	MAR	GRC	POL	FIN	AUT	ITA	USA	GBR	FRA
1	Alpine-Renault	20	12	20	-	20	20	-	-	15	20	-	(8)	20	147
2	Fiat	4	8	10	(3)	6	15	20	(3)	6	15	-	(1)	-	84
3	Ford	10	-	2	-	-	4	-	20	-	-	10	20	10	76
4	Volvo	-	2	-	-	2	-	-	15	-	-	15	10	-	44
5	Saab	-	20	-	-	-	-	-	10	12	-	-	-	-	42
6	Datsun	2	-	-	20	-	-	-	-	-	-	12	-	-	34
7	Citroën	-	-	12	-	15	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	33
8	BMW	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	20	-	-	4	-	28
9	Porsche	-	-	8	-	-	-	-	12	4	-	-	-	3	27
10	Toyota	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	3	-	20	-	-	25
11	Opel	-	1	4	-	-	-	-	8	-	2	-	6	4	25
12	Polski Fiat	-	-	-	-	-	-	12	-	-	-	6	-	-	18
13	Lancia	3	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	-	-	-	17
14	Wartburg	-	-	-	-	-	-	15	-	-	-	-	-	-	15
15	Volkswagen	-	6	-	-	-	8	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	15
16	Peugeot	-	-	-	12	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	13
17	Mitsubishi	-	-	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4
18	Škoda	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3
19	Alfa Romeo	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	2
20	Audi	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	2
Note: Scores in parenthesis () are not included in manufacturers' totals.

Drivers (virtual championship)

Please note that the official drivers' world championship did not start before 1979.

Rank	Driver	Car	Pts	Wins	MON	SWE	POR	KEN	MAR	GRE	POL	FIN	AUT	ITA	USA	GBR	FRA
1	Jean-Luc Thérier	Alpine-Renault	96	3	8	12	20	-	4	20	-	-	-	20	-	-	12
2	Jean-Pierre Nicolas	Alpine-Renault	95	1	12	-	15	-	8	12	-	-	8	12	-	8	20
3	Achim Warmbold	Fiat & BMW	43	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	20	3	20	-	-	-	-
4	Timo Makinen	Ford	40	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	20	-	-	-	20	-
5	Bernard Darniche	Alpine-Renault	36	1	1	-	-	-	20	-	-	-	15	-	-	-	-
6	Ove Andersson	Alpine-Renault & Peugeot & Toyota	30	-	15	-	-	12	-	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-
7	Harry Kallstrom	Lancia & Datsun	28	-	3	10	-	15	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
8	Per Eklund	Saab	27	-	-	15	-	-	-	-	-	-	12	-	-	-	-
9	Markku Alen	Volvo & Ford	27	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	15	-	-	-	12	-
10	Bjorn Waldegard	Volkswagen & Fiat & BMW	26	-	-	6	-	-	6	-	-	-	10	-	-	4	-
11	Hakan Lindberg	Fiat	24	-	-	8	-	-	-	10	-	-	6	-	-	-	-
12	Jean-François Piot	Alpine-Renault	21	-	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	15
13	Shekhar Mehta	Datsun	20	1	-	-	-	20	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
14	Stig Blomqvist	Saab	20	1	-	20	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
15	Jean-Claude Andruet	Alpine-Renault	20	1	20	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
16	Walter Boyce	Toyota	20	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	20	-	-
17	Richard Bochnicek	Citroen	18	-	-	-	-	-	12	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-