# 1973 Rothmans 5000 European Championship

The 1973 Rothmans 5000 European Championship was a motor racing series for Formula 5000 cars. The series was organized in the United Kingdom by the British Racing and Sports Car Club but also incorporated European rounds. It was the fifth in an annual sequence of European Formula 5000 Championships, and the first to be contested as the Rothmans 5000 European Championship. The 1973 championship was won by Teddy Pilette, driving a McLaren M18 and a Chevron B24.
The championship was open to Formula 5000 cars, which were defined for this series as single-seater cars using production based engines. Significant changes to the technical regulations were made for 1973. Engines from 2750cc to 5000cc capacity were now permitted, regardless of the number of cylinders. Engines with a capacity of between 4000cc and 5000cc were still required to use pushrod operated valve gear, however engines of less than 4000cc capacity could use unrestricted valve gear and could be turbocharged.

## Calendar

The championship was contested over fifteen rounds.
| Round | Name | Circuit | Date | Winning driver | Car |
| 1 | Brands Hatch Rothmans F5000 | Brands Hatch | 17 March | Peter Gethin | Chevron B24 Chevrolet |
| 2 | Mallory Park Rothmans F5000 | Mallory Park | 1 April | Graham McRae | McRae GM1 Chevrolet |
| 3 | GKN Vanwall Trophy | Silverstone | 7 April | David Hobbs | Lola T330 Chevrolet |
| 4 | Snetterton Rothmans F5000 | Snetterton | 20 April | Brett Lunger | Trojan T101 Chevrolet |
| 5 | Brands Hatch Rothmans F5000 | Brands Hatch | 23 April | Steve Thompson | Chevron B24 Chevrolet |
| 6 | Oulton Park Rothmans F5000 | Oulton Park | 13 May | Teddy Pilette | Chevron B24 Chevrolet |
| 7 | Mallory Park Rothmans F5000 | Mallory Park | 28 May | Keith Holland | Trojan T101 Chevrolet |
| 8 | | Misano | 10 June | Cancelled following practice | Cancelled following practice |
| 9 | | Zandvoort | 1 July | Cancelled before practice | Cancelled before practice |
| 10 | Mallory Park Rothmans F5000 | Mallory Park | 8 July | Brett Lunger | Trojan T101 Chevrolet |
| 11 | Dublin Grand Prix | Mondello Park | 22 July | Keith Holland | Trojan T101 Chevrolet |
| 12 | | Silverstone | 5 August | Cancelled following practice | Cancelled following practice |
| 13 | Brands Hatch Rothmans F5000 | Brands Hatch | 27 August | Teddy Pilette | Chevron B24 Chevrolet |
| 14 | Rothmans Gold Cup | Oulton Park | 9 September | Peter Gethin | Chevron B24 Chevrolet |
| 15 | Jyllandsringen Rothmans F5000 | Jyllands-Ringen | 23 September | Ian Ashley | Lola T330 Chevrolet |
| 16 | Duinen Trophee | Zandvoort | 30 September | Guy Edwards | Lola T330 Chevrolet |
| 17 | Snetterton Rothmans F5000 | Snetterton | 7 October | Bob Evans | Trojan T101 Chevrolet |
| 18 | Brands Hatch Rothmans F5000 | Brands Hatch | 21 October | Guy Edwards | Lola T330 Chevrolet |

## Points system

Championship points were awarded on a 20–15–12–10–8–6–4–3–2–1 basis for the first ten places at each of the first seventeen rounds and on a 40-30-24-20-16-12-8-6-4-2 basis for the first ten places at the final round.

## Championship standings

| Position | Driver | Car | Entrant | Points |
| 1 | Teddy Pilette | McLaren M18 Chevrolet Chevron B24 Chevrolet | Racing Team VDS | 136 |
| 2 | Tony Dean | Chevron B24 Chevrolet | Anglo-American Racing | 133 |
| 3 | Keith Holland | Trojan T101 Chevrolet Lola T190 Chevrolet | Ian Ward Racing | 116 |
| 4 | Steve Thompson | Chevron B24 Chevrolet | Servis Appliances Racing | 114 |
| 5 | Guy Edwards | Lola T330 Chevrolet | John Butterworth | 102 |
| 6 | Tom Belsø | Lola T330 Chevrolet | ShellSPORT Luxembourg | 97 |
| 7 | Brett Lunger | Lola T330 Chevrolet Trojan T101 Chevrolet | Hogan Racing Ltd Sid Taylor | 95 |
| 8 | Peter Gethin | Chevron B24 Chevrolet | Chevron Racing Anglo-American Racing | 65 |
| 9 | Bob Evans | Trojan T101 Chevrolet | Alan McKechnie Racing | 64 |
| 10 | Gijs van Lennep | Lola T330 Chevrolet | ShellSPORT Luxembourg | 59 |
| 11 | Clive Santo | Surtees TS11 Chevrolet Lola T330 Chevrolet | ShellSPORT Luxembourg | 50 |
| 12 | Ian Ashley | Lola T330 Chevrolet | Doug Hardwick | 37 |
| 13 | David Hobbs | Lola T330 Chevrolet | Hogan Racing Ltd | 29 |
| 14 | Graham McRae | McRae GM1 Chevrolet McRae GM2 Chevrolet | Iberia Team McRae | 28 |
| = | David Oxton | Begg FM5 Chevrolet | GN Begg Engineering | 28 |
| 16 | John Watson | Trojan T101 Chevrolet | Hexagon Racing | 24 |
| 17 | Chris Craft | McLaren M18 Chevrolet Chevron B24 Chevrolet | Racing Team VDS | 23 |
| = | Bob Brown | Chevron B24 Chevrolet | Anglo-American Racing | 23 |
| 19 | Brian Robertson | McLaren M19 Chevrolet | Anglo-American Racing | 15 |
| 20 | Ray Allen | Surtees TS8 Chevrolet Lola T330 Chevrolet | Servis Appliances Racing ShellSPORT Luxembourg | 12 |
| 21 | Jock Russell | McRae GM1 Chevrolet | Jock Russell | 7 |
| 22 | Jac Nellemann | McLaren M18 Chevrolet | Sheridan Thynne | 6 |
| = | Alan Rollinson | McRae GM1 Chevrolet | Alan Rollinson | 6 |
| 24 | Tony Trimmer | McLaren M18 Chevrolet Lola T330 Chevrolet | Sheridan Thynne ShellSPORT Luxembourg | 5 |
| = | Willie Green | Trojan T101 Chevrolet | Hexagon Racing | 5 |
| 26 | Damien Magee | Trojan T101 Chevrolet | Hexagon Racing | 4 |
| 27 | Richard Knight | Kitchmac Chevrolet | | 3 |
| 28 | John Gunn | March 73A Chevrolet | | 2 |
| = | Clive Baker | McLaren M10B Chevrolet | Clive Baker | 2 |
| 30 | Arie Luyendijk | McLaren M18 Chevrolet | Sheridan Thynne | 1 |
| = | Chris Featherstone | Lola T190 Chevrolet | Chris Featherstone | 1 |