Heats
1973 Zandvoort 
1972 Paul Ricard  Go  
1973 Silverstone 
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6 hours of Paul Ricard

Paul Ricard circuit, Le Castellet, France

Date: 2/9/1973
Track length: 5.809 m
Attendance: 19.000
Entries accepted: unknown
Starters: 26
Finishers: unknown

Pole position: unknown
Fastest lap: Pescarolo and Amon in 2.09,9 = 161,016 kmh

Distance: 6 hours
Average speed: 154,1 kmh
Weather: sunny and hot
Ruleset: Group 2/70
Car info: 1973 Cars

 

At this point in the season, it became obvious that BMW had the upper hand against the Capri’s. The Capri became unreliable and there was no room left for further improvements; a rear spoiler could not be not homologated and the engine could not be enlarged over 3000 cc. The cancellation of the Jarama round did not help either; the circuit was best suited for Ford.

So BMW took the front row, the works pair sandwiching the Schnitzer car. Row 2 saw Mass/Stewart nearly two seconds off the pace, with the brand new orange Alpina coupé alongside. Row 3 was for the second works Capri, the second Alpina car of Muir/Miles and the 3.3 litre Alpina of Brun/Cocher. Fastest of the 2 litre division were the Hanson brothers, who would win the class, followed by an armada of other Escorts. Autodelta could not enter the Alfetta because of gearbox problems, and sent two tatty looking GTAm’s.

After changing engines twice in the Mass Capri and rebuilding radiators to counter cooling problems, the race was only one lap old when Mass came in and had his radiator replaced - he lost ten minutes.

Pescarolo led, then Ickx, Stuck, Quester, Fitzpatrick, Muir and Brun. No fights this time, everybody kept position.
Mass started regain a little of the lost ground, only to enter the pits twice with fuel injection problems. Team-mate Larrousse came in with an broken exhaust valve - the car was pushed away. The Muir car was in trouble too, a blown head gasket following a water loss. Then, the Schnitzer car broke its crankshaft - out. After 3,5 hours, only twelve cars were left - of which the Stuck/Amon BMW only had fifth gear left. Mass came closer once again, only to become victim of yet another broken valve. The car went on as a 5-cylinder, once again. The GTAm’s had been retired in the meantime too, leaving BMW a complete victory, claiming the first four places overall.

Division 1 and 2
Pos Pos in class # Team / Entrant
Car- Engine		 Drivers, Nationality Engine
vol. (cc)		 Engine
Type		 Group Distance,
time		 Qualifying position Qualifying time Fastest lap Reason out
1 1 4 BMW Motorsport
BMW 3.0 CSL		 Toine Hezemans, NL
Dieter Quester, A
 3498 L6 Div. 2 159 laps, 6:00.00,0 3 2.09,5    
2 2 2 Jägermeister Alpina Racing
BMW 3.0 CSL		 Jacky Ickx, B
James Hunt, GB
 3498 L6 Div. 2 159 laps, 6:00.19,0 5 2.10,7    
3 3 3 BMW Motorsport
BMW 3.0 CSL		 Hans-Joachim Stuck, D
Chris Amon, NZ
 3498 L6 Div. 2 154 1 2.08,4    
4 4 15 Alpina
BMW 3.0 CSL		 Walter Brun, CH
Cox Kocher, CH
 3303 L6 Div. 2 150 8 2.15,3    
5 5 10 Ford Köln
Ford Capri RS 2600 LW		 Jochen Mass, D
Jackie Stewart, GB
 2999 V6 Div. 2 148 4 2.10,1    
6 1 28 The Barbarians
Ford Escort RS 1600		 Peter Hanson, GB
John Hanson, GB
 1996 L4 Div. 1 146 9 2.16,2    
7 6 9  
Ford Capri RS 2600		 Jean-Claude Geurie, F
Serge Godard, F
 ca. 2900 V6 Div. 2 146 13 2.19,1    
8 2 46  
Opel Manta		 Franz Heine, D
Gerrit de Vries, NL
 ca. 2000 L4 Div. 2 131 21 2.32,5    
9 3 39  
Opel Ascona		 Jacques Panciatici, F
Jacques Colombo, F
 ca. 2000 L4 Div. 2 126 24 2.39,4    
10 4 32 Racing Team Michel Vaillant
Ford Escort RS 1600		 Freddy Semoulin ("Alain Dex"), B
Pierre Dieudonné, B
 1996 L4 Div. 1 114 18 2.26,2    
11 5 30 Jolly Club
Ford Escort RS 1600		 Luigi Colzani, I
Manfred Mohr, D
 1975 L4 Div. 1   15 2.22,8    
12 6 22 Autodelta S.p.A.
Alfa Romeo 2000 GTAm		 Carlo Facetti, I
Spartaco Dini ("Paco"), I
 1999 L4 Div. 1   14 2.22,8   Engine
NC   43 Gouden Gids Racing Team
Alfa Romeo 1300 GTA Junior		 Rob Redeker, NL
Peter van Zwam, NL
 1290 L4 Div. 1   22 2.37,0   Holed piston
    29 VMW Motors - Team Esso Uniflo
Ford Escort RS 1600		 Vince Woodman, GB
Andy Rouse, GB
 1996 L4 Div. 1   10 2.17,8    
    33 Motor Tuning
Ford Escort RS 1600		 Rafael Barrios, E
Emilio Zapico, E
 1996 L4 Div. 1   12 2.18,9    
    40 Audi NSU France
Audi 100 coupé S		 Daniel Dupré, F
Jean-Claude Boucher, F
 1871 L4 Div. 1   25 2.40,0    
    38  
BMW 2002		 José Torre, F
(Paul Condriller, F)
 1990 L4 Div. 1   26 2.47,0    
    47 Trivellato
Fiat 128 coupé 1300		 Bruno Pescia, CH
Cosimo Turizio, I
 1290 L4 Div. 1   19 2.28,6    
    45  
BMC Mini Cooper S		 Gérard Masset, F
Robins
 1293 L4 Div. 1   23 2.37,9    
DNF   34  
Ford Escort RS 1600		 Jose de Uriarte, E
Hervé Le Guellec, F
 1996 L4 Div. 1   11 2.18,9   Engine
DNF   8 Faltz-Alpina Essen
BMW 3.0 CSL		 Sigmund Ogrodowcyk, D
Siegfried Müller Sr, D
 3303 L6 Div. 2 150 17 2.25,2    
DNF   6 Précision Liegeoise
BMW 3.0 CSL		 Alain Peltier, B
 3303 L6 Div. 2   ?     Oil pressure
DNF   7 Team Schnitzer Motul
BMW 3.0 CSL		 Henri Pescarolo, F
Bob Wollek, F
 3498 L6 Div. 2 ca. 80 2 2.09,0   Crankshaft
DNF   23 Autodelta S.p.A.
Alfa Romeo 2000 GTAm		 Teodoro Zeccoli, I
Walter Dona, I
 1999 L4 Div. 1 ca. 75 16 2.24,1   Engine
DNF   1 Jägermeister Alpina Racing
BMW 3.0 CSL		 Brian Muir, AUS
John Miles, GB
 3498 L6 Div. 2   7 2.12,1   Head gasket
DNF   11 Ford Köln
Ford Capri RS 2600 LW		 John Fitzpatrick, GB
Gérard Larrousse, F
 2999 V6 Div. 2   6 2.11,2   Engine
DNS   26 Ernst Berg Racing
Ford Escort RS 1600		 Hans Deen, NL
Han Akersloot, NL
   L4 Div. 2         Broken crankshaft
DNS   36  
Ford Escort RS 1600		 Karl-Heinz Leibold, D
Siegfried Müller Sr, D
 1996 L4 Div. 1         Did not practice
DNS   21 Autodelta S.p.A.
Alfa Romeo Alfetta Berlina		 Rolf Stommelen, D
 1990 L4 Div. 1   20?