The 1973 European Touring Car Championship
Initiated by ALPINA boss Burkard Bovensiepen, BMW homologates the 3.0 CSL, a lightweight version of the 3.0 CSi, to compete with the Ford Capri. ALPINA also uses a 3.0 CSL and builds another vehicle for the British importer and prepares it for the races during the season.
The ultimate showdown between Ford and BMW begins on March 25, 1973 in Monza, Italy. For lack of sponsors, the ALPINA Coupé rolls in snow-white at the start – but the drivers are world-class: Niki Lauda and Brian Muir take the wheel for ALPINA. For Lauda it was already the third and last season behind the wheel of the fast touring cars from the Allgäu. Driver pairings Hans Joachim Stuck / Chris Amon and Toine Hezemans / Dieter Quester are at the start for the BMW factory team. The Ford factory team around Michael Kranefuss sends Jackie Stewart / John Fitzpatrick and Jochen Maas / Jodie Scheckter into the race.
Jackie Stewart promptly managed to place the Capri in first place on the grid in qualifying. But as in the last two successful years, Burkard Bovensiepen trusts in the reliability and durability in the 4-hour race. Contrary to the factory team, Prof. Dr. Fritz Indra on the 3.0 liter engine instead of the 3.3 liter engine used by Motorsport GmbH around Jochen Neerpasch and Martin Braungart. Exactly this move turns out to be the right decision in the subsequent race: Stuck retires with a broken cylinder head gasket and Toine Hezemans' second factory BMW is also often in the pits and ultimately has to give up. Vittorio Brambilla's Schnitzer BMW, which set the fastest time in free practice, wasn't stable enough either. What remained were the two Capris and the BMW ALPINA. After an unsuccessful pit stop by the Ford team, a torn V-belt in Maas' car and an engine failure in Stewart's car, the time had come for the reliable ALPINA CSL. In the very first race, the ALPINA team managed a surprise coup: Victory in Monza!