The Swedish Winter Grand Prix was a race held on the ice of

frozen lake Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaqu ...

s, similar to races held in

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The 1930s also saw the Swedish Summer Grand Prix, which can be seen as a predecessor of the

Swedish Grand Prix The Swedish Grand Prix (Swedish: Sveriges Grand Prix) was a round of the Formula One World Championship from 1973 to 1978. It took place at the Scandinavian Raceway in Anderstorp (Gislaved Municipality), about from Jönköping, in Småland, S ...

, which was a round of the

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, ...

World Championship from 1973 to 1978.

History

Pre-war

While racing in Sweden had a long history it was not until 1931 that a race was first titled Grand Prix. The first Swedish Winter Grand Prix was held on a mammoth 46 kilometre circuit near

Lake Rämen Rämen () is a lake in southern Dalarna circa southwest of Borlänge. The lake is situated above sea level and has an area of . In the 1930s auto racing was held on and around the lake, one of the races was the Swedish Winter Grand Prix. Refe ...

, with a lap time of approximately 35 minutes. In an entry that included

Rudolf Caracciola Otto Wilhelm Rudolf CaracciolaBolsinger and Becker (2002), p. 63 (30 January 1901 – 28 September 1959) was a racing driver from Remagen, Germany. He won the European Drivers' Championship, the pre-1950 equivalent of the modern Formula One Wor ...

, the race was claimed by Finnish Mercedes racer Karl Ebb in the first Grand Prix victory of his ice racing career. Sven Olaf Bennström won the second race the following year with Per-Viktor Widengren winning the third race in an Alfa Romeo ''

monoposto An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have thei ...

''. Later the same year the first Swedish Summer Grand Prix was held on a 30 kilometre circuit at

Norra Vram Norra Vram is a village in Bjuv Municipality in southern 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 Wo ...

. The Winter Grand Prix was held again in 1936 with Eugen Bjørnstad claiming another monoposto Alfa Romeo victory but the huge crowds of the earlier years did not return and the Winter Grand Prix was not held again until after the war in 1947.

Post-war

The 1947 race was held on a circuit surrounding a Swedish Air Force site at Rommehed. Only four cars started and three finished, all visiting British

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

s, after the ship carrying the bulk of the grid was not able to make its destination. As the race was for cars complying with the new International Formula that was later called "

", this is considered by some as the first Formula One race.

Winners of the Swedish Winter Grand Prix

{, class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;" , - ! Year ! Driver ! Constructor ! Location ! Report , - style="background:#FFCCCC;" !

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

Reg Parnell Reg or REG may refer to: * Reginald (disambiguation) * Reg or desert pavement * Raising for Effective Giving, a charity * Random event generator (parapsychology) * Raptor Education Group * Regal Entertainment Group * Regular language * .reg MS Wind ...

, Rommehed ,

Report A report is a document that presents information in an organized format for a specific audience and purpose. Although summaries of reports may be delivered orally, complete reports are almost always in the form of written documents. Usage In ...

, - style="background:#DDDDDD;" ! 1946
-
1937 , COLSPAN=4, ''Not held'' , - style="background:#FFCCCC;" !

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

Eugen Bjørnstad Eugen is a masculine given name which may refer to: * Archduke Eugen of Austria (1863–1954), last Habsburg Grandmaster of the Teutonic Order from 1894 to 1923 * Prince Eugen, Duke of Närke (1865–1947), Swedish painter, art collector, and pat ...

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." ...

, - style="background:#DDDDDD;" ! 1935 , COLSPAN=4, ''Not held'' , - style="background:#DDDDDD;" ! 1934 , COLSPAN=4, ''Not held'' , - style="background:#FFCCCC;" !

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

, Per-Viktor Widengren ,

, - style="background:#FFCCCC;" !

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

, Sven Olaf Bennström ,

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

Special ,

, - style="background:#FFCCCC;" !

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

, {{flagicon, Finland

Karl Ebb Karl Alfred "Kalle" Ebb (5 September 1896 – 2 August 1988) was an athlete and racing driver. He represented Finland at the Summer Olympics in athletics and was Finland's first internationally successful driver. Born in Turku, he gained select ...

Mercedes-Benz SSK The Mercedes-Benz SSK (W06) is a roadster built by German automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz between 1928 and 1932. The name is an abbreviation of ''Super Sport Kurz'', German for "Super Sport Short", as it was a short wheelbase development o ...

References

National Grands Prix Pre-World Championship Grands Prix