1973 – Gritti stayed with the team for one year only and in 1973 he moved to Gilera. It seemed an almost impossible task to achieve the same results without a rider of his caliber.
On the contrary, Bernardino Gualdi, played his role perfectly and was superbly able to fulfill this difficult task.
Thanks to a 175cc custom made for him in Graz, he managed the best results imaginable by matching the previous year's incredible performance by Gritti.
The differences between his motorcycle and the mass produced models were many.
The internal transmission was chain driven and all the gearing was patiently made lighter, also the saddle and fuel tank could be quickly and easily removed by loosening a no.6 bolt.
Thanks to the use of the precious metals and a careful clean-up of each component, even the forks were thinner than normal; the motorcycle weighed a little over 80kg.
Brand new also the 250cc entrusted to Leitgeb, totally redesigned from the cooling system to the shape which was now more square and modern.

The 25^th Valli Bergamasche (Bratto 23/24 June) was definitely a race to be remembered due to the difficulty of the courses, so much so that out of the 273 racers at the start only 24 managed to cross the finish line.
Just to be a member of this elite group would have been an excellent result, but to win the 175cc class, as did Bernardino Gualdi was an achievement which would go down in history.
Gualdi's superior skills on his Puch were never in doubt and he crowned his achievements by winning the Italian Championship, naturally on his 175cc.
The splendid wins achieved by Gualdi weren’t the only successes by the Austrian manufacturer.
In international events both the Austrian and Belgian riders distinguished themselves, captained by Joel Roberts, who left Hercules, on motorcycles from Graz.
At the highly competitive American Six Days held at Dalton, of the 21 motorcycles which entered, 15 finished winning 9 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze medals.
The excellent gold medal won by Walter Leitgeb on his very powerful 250cc raised hopes of putting it into production, however these hopes were not destined to be realized.
At the end of the season the usual meeting was held at the "Salone del Motociclo di Milano", only three models were put forward for production; the 125cc with 21,5 hp and the 175cc with 24 hp, both to be fitted with a new frame with a lower centre of gravity, conical hubs and wheel rims in steel alloy, as well as a newly designed 50cc with 10 hp and a six speed gearbox.
The prototype of the 50cc was set up with a sheet metal fuel tank.
It should be noted that while the fuel tanks of the mass produced motorcycles were made of Nylon 6, in the "Caprolattame" version, able to be painted, primed much the same as with the resin or sheet metal versions, they were not able to be repaired by "welding" nylon onto them, but could only be repaired with resin, primer and paint work.
The fuel tanks of the official racing bikes, even though they had the same dimensions, were made in glassfibre-resin i.e. fibreglass soaked in poly-resin catalytically solidified) and could be repaired, painted, customized as needs arose, but most importantly these fuel tanks were extremely light due to the thinness of their walls.