Swedish Winter Grand Prix

The Swedish Winter Grand Prix was a race held on the ice of frozen lakes, similar to races held in Estonia, Finland and Norway. The 1930s also saw the Swedish Summer Grand Prix, which can be seen as a predecessor of the Swedish Grand Prix, which was a round of the Formula One World Championship from 1973 to 1978.

Swedish Winter Grand Prix

Race information
Number of times held	5
First held	1931
Last held	1947
Most wins (drivers)	no repeat winners
Most wins (constructors)	Alfa Romeo (2)
Circuit length	5.2 km (3.2 miles)
Race length	103.5 km (64.1 miles)
Laps	20 laps
Last race (1947)
Pole position
no qualifying
Podium
1. Reg Parnell ERA 2. Leslie Brooke ERA 3. George Abecassis ERA
Fastest lap
Leslie Brooke ERA 2:51.8

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

Later the same year the first Swedish Summer Grand Prix was held on a 30 kilometre circuit at Norra Vram. 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 ERAs, 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 "Formula One", this is considered by some as the first Formula One race.

Winners of the Swedish Winter Grand Prix

Year	Driver	Constructor	Location	Report
1947	Reg Parnell	ERA	Rommehed	Report
1946 - 1937	Not held
1936	Eugen Bjørnstad	Alfa Romeo	Lake Rämen	Report
1935	Not held
1934	Not held
1933	Per-Viktor Widengren	Alfa Romeo	Lake Rämen	Report
1932	Sven Olaf Bennström	Ford Special	Lake Rämen	Report
1931	Karl Ebb	Mercedes-Benz SSK	Lake Rämen	Report