The 8th Kanonloppet was a

motor race Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

, run for

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

cars, held on 12 August 1962 at the

Karlskoga circuit Karlskoga Motorstadion, also known as Gelleråsen Arena, is the oldest permanent motorsport race track in Sweden. The circuit is located north of Karlskoga. The layout is such that the whole track can be seen from all spectator areas. It is cur ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. The race was run over 30 laps of the little circuit, and was won by American driver Masten Gregory in a

Lotus Lotus may refer to: Plants *Lotus (plant), various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly: ** ''Lotus'' (genus), a genus of terrestrial plants in the family Fabaceae **Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also ...

24, run by the UDT Laystall Racing Team."The Formula One Record Book", John Thompson, 1974.

Race

In training, Graham Hill left the track and damaged the nose on the Rob Walker

Lotus 24 The Lotus 24 was a Formula One racing car''Automobile Year'', No. 10, 1962-1963, Page 198. designed by Team Lotus for the 1962 Formula One season. Despite some early success in non-Championship Grands Prix, it was eclipsed by the technically su ...

. He went on to compete without a nosecone. Rookie

Olle Nygren Harald Olof "Olle" Ingemar Nygren (11 November 1929 – 13 February 2021) was a Swedish speedway rider who reached the finals of the Speedway World Championship five times. Nygren was Swedish Champion in 1949 and became Nordic Champion in 1960. ...

could not find fourth gear in the Lotus 18 he had borrowed from

Jay Chamberlain Jay Clifford Chamberlain (December 29, 1925 in Los Angeles, California – August 1, 2001) was a racing driver from the United States. He participated in 3 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on July 21, 1962. He scored no cha ...

, and was also having a hard time finding his brake points. Nygren qualified last and only lasted six laps of this, his only Formula One race.

Kurt Kuhnke Kurt Kuhnke (30 April 1910, Stettin – 8 February 1969, Braunschweig) was a racing driver from Germany, although he was more successful in motorcycle racing. After racing motorcycles during the late 1940s Kurt moved into car racing with a Formul ...

's interesting

Borgward The former Borgward car manufacturing company, based in Bremen, Germany, was founded by Carl F. W. Borgward (1890–1963). It produced cars of four brands, which were sold to a diversified international customer base: Borgward, Hansa, Go ...

-engined Lotus only made a few practice laps before it spun a main bearing and was withdrawn. A recent resurfacing of the track led to lap times dropping by about 5 seconds compared to 1961, meaning some last-minute modifications to the cars had to be carried out to account for the higher speeds.

Johansson Johansson is a patronymic family name of Swedish origin meaning ''"son of Johan"'', or ''"Johan's son"''. It is the most common Swedish family name, followed by Andersson. (First 18 surnames ends -sson.) The Danish, Norwegian, German and Dutch var ...

, p. 10 Surtees took the lead from pole, but already on the second lap Masten Gragory passed him in ''Tröskurvan'' (curve one). Surtees tried to take back the lead, but missed a gearshift after being blinded by water splashed by Gregory's car. Gregory took a lead of about five car lengths and was never threatened again. Innes Ireland had gone off the track on the opening lap but clawed his way back up the field for a fourth place in the end, putting down a new lap record along the way. On the 11th lap Surtees retired with a broken valve spring, Hill with an oil leak, and ninth-placed Collomb with engine failure. Bonnier seemed to be in a secure second place, but Salvadori in the Lola gave chase and managed to pass. Bonnier made a spirited attempt to regain second in the last turn of the race, but came up three metres short at the flag. Burgess and Count de Beaufort finished a lap down, both in four-cylinder cars while the first four all raced eight-cylinder ones. Burgess' Cooper was a unique mix of

Formula Junior Formula Junior is an open wheel formula racing class first adopted in October 1958 by the CSI (''International Sporting Commission'', the part of the FIA that then regulated motorsports). The class was intended to provide an entry level class ...

and

parts, all in the interest of minimizing frontal area. De Beaufort's car, while entered by his private team Ecurie Maarsbergen, was supported by the factory and he shared three mechanics with Bonnier.

, p. 11

Results

References

* "The Grand Prix Who's Who", Steve Small, 1995. {{F1 NC race report , Name_of_race = Kanonloppet , Year_of_race = 1962 , Previous_race_in_season =

1962 Solitude Grand Prix The 12th Solitude Grand Prix was a non-Championship motor race Formula One race, held on 15 July 1962 at the Solitudering, near Stuttgart. The race was run over 25 laps of the circuit, and was won by Dan Gurney in a Porsche 804. Race Report The 1 ...

, Next_race_in_season =

1962 Mediterranean Grand Prix The 1st Mediterranean Grand Prix was a motor race, run for Formula One cars, held on 19 August 1962 at the Autodromo di Pergusa, Sicily. The race was run over 50 laps of the circuit, and was dominated by Ferrari. The winner was Lorenzo Bandini in ...

, Previous_year's_race =

1961 Kanonloppet The 7th Kanonloppet was a motor race, run to Formula One rules, held on 20 August 1961 at the Karlskoga Circuit, Sweden. The race was run over 30 laps of the little circuit, and was won by British driver Stirling Moss in a Lotus 18/21, run by ...

, Next_year's_race = 1963 Kanonloppet Kanonloppet Kanonloppet