Swedish rally

Stig Blomqvist is without question the master of slippery roads. Even after losing ten minutes through fuel pump failure he made up the time with ease and became the second man to have won the even three times in succession.

Autocross enthusiasts who consider their sport exciting should make an effort to see a Scandinavian ice race. On an ice-bound, snow-covered pony trotting track cars ran in heats of four, starting together in the line abreast, and provided an exhilarating example of high-speed car control.

After the two leading Saabs came the works Alpine of Jean-Luc Thérier (left), who earned the respect of the Swedes by his fine display in a tail-twitching car on snow and ice. It was the only Alpine entered, the other two from Alpine Renault-Elf being R12 Gordinis. The Fiat team sent just one car for their Swedish stalwart Håkan Kindberg (below left), who finished fifth, whilst the Volkswagen importers pinned their hopes on Björn Waldegård (below right), who was sixth.

Of two Fulvias entered by Lancia-Marlboro, one finished. Harry Källström and Claes Billstam were fourth despite losing their windscreen in a collision with a leaping elk. Källström is no longer contracted to Lancia and has since driven for VW-Porsche-Salzburg.

South African Grand Prix

JACKIE STEWART won his first Grand Prix of the year after trouble in practice during which he crashed due to brake failure. For the race he took over Cevert’s car and shot from the seventh row of the grid to first place within seven laps. Note, that for the first time, Tyrrell mounted the whole wing much farther back although the end plates bent and broke, as an be seen from the picture.

FASTEST IN PRACTICE, but delayed by a puncture early in the race, was Denny Hulme, with the brand new wedge-shaped McLaren M23. Hulme fought back through the field to finish an excellent fifth at the flag. The New Zealander had never started from pole position in a Grand Prix before.

ACCELERATING out of Clubhouse Bend in the top photographs is Peter Revson’s McLaren which is being chased by the Lotus 72s of Emerson Fittipaldi and Ronnie Peterson, with Hulme making up ground behind them. In the background is the pits and a section of the 91.000 strong crowd. On the left is pictured the Ferrari of Arturo Merzario who scored his second successive fourth place after a steady drive. He is chased round Clubhouse by Jean-Pierre Jarier’s STP March and Carlos Pace’s Surtees. Jarier later lost a good deal of time with gear linkage trouble and Pace crashed only ten laps from the end due to a front tyre deflating, although he was unhurt. He had, by then, overtaken Merzario. Our bottom photograph shows the private Tyrrell of Eddie Keizan who was making his Grand Prix debut. The car is sponsored by the Lucky Strike cigarette company and is owned and prepared by Alex Blignaut, who is also the circuit promoter. Keizan is something of a Blignaut discovery for he has brought him up through saloon cars and Formula 5000 and he is now the main opposition to Dave Charlton’s Lotus 72 in South African Formula One races. The Tyrrell 004, is the only one in private hands and is the same car that Patrick Depailler drove to seventh place in last year’s US Grand Prix.

SOUTH AFRICAN SENSATION–In only his second ever Grand Prix the 23-year old South African Jody Scheckter started from the front row of the grid and even led the race briefly. Later he held off a challenge from Emerson Fittipaldi for many a lap and, above, Scheckter hangs the tail out on the McLaren M19C at Leeukop Bend while Fittipaldi seems even more crossed up in his attempts to stay with the newcomer.

GRAND PRIX DEBUT–Can-Am Champion George Follmer made his Formlua One debut at Kyalami as did the car he was driving, the Tony Southgate designed Shadow. The team ran into various problems but even so Follmer brought his sinister black mount into sixth place and, thus, picked up a Championship point. Team-mate Jackie Oliver unfortunately was forced to retire early in the rase due to engine trouble.