1963 Motorcycle Ice Racing in Sweden – 3-Page Vintage Article

Description

1963 Motorcycle Ice Racing in Sweden – 3-Page Vintage Article
Original, vintage magazine article
Page Size: Approx. 8″ x 11″ (21 cm x 28 cm) each page
Condition: Good
ONE OF THE MOST THRILLING forms of
motorcycle racing is ice racing. This
phase of the sport was born in Sweden
and is, at the moment, practiced in four
European countries — Sweden, Norway,
Finland and Soviet Russia. The latter na-
tion has become increasingly active, and
several matches between the four active
countries finished with victories for the
Russians last winter.
What is ice racing? Through the years
it has encompassed many forms. At the
very first, about 1920, enthusiasts began to
prove their bikes in acceleration races on
straightaways. As Swedish roads were very
bad then, test trials were held in the win-
tertime, on ice. Initially, warm sand was
frozen into the ice, and the riders com-
peted on unspiked tires — as on a sand
road. Later the clubs sanded out oval
tracks on the ice, about 1000 meters long
— but in some cases longer — and the
riders took part in track racing on ice.
Popular bikes were Harley-Davidson, In-
dian, Super-X, the Swedish V-twin Hus-
qvarna, and British machines such as Nor-
ton, Raleigh and Ariel. Still the bikes had
regular summertime tires.
Then some riders began to fit snow-type
chains on their tires. The riding technique
on the long flat tracks featured sliding, as
in speedway or American flattrack type
racing.
About 1930, there was a young rider
named Torsten Sjoberg who owned a
Douglas twin, one of the popular machines
(600cc) for track racing. This rider and
his two brothers were pioneers in the new
era of ice racing. Previously some riders
had tried to fit ice spikes instead of chains,
both for track racing and speed trials, but
these very short spikes were just to im-
prove the rider’s sliding technique. Torsten
Sjoberg fitted long (about one inch) spikes
which gave the tires a good grip, better
than the very best tire on summer roads.
The technique employed — instead of slid-
ing — a laid-over, precise, and traction-plus
course through the hard bends. It was a
thrilling style to watch, with the rider ly-
ing flat on the bike, his left leg scraping
the ice.
As this new technique sent the riders
faster through tighter corners, the clubs in-
troduced small quarter-mile courses, like
speedway tracks. Riders started, at first,
one on each side of the track but, as they
became more and more experienced, they
took off three and three at a time. This
is the usual set-up in Sweden today, but
in the Soviet Union riders start four and
four in their heats, with the same point
system as in speedway racing.
ROAD RACING ON ICE
As many know, Sweden was a great
road racing nation in the ’thirties. Hus-
qvarna produced their famous V-twin
motorcycles for grand prix races and had
a very successful factory team with riders
such as Gunnar Kclen, Ragnar Sunnqvist,
and others.
In the wintertime, regular road racing
was stopped by the hard weather in Swe-
den. But then came the idea of fitting
spiked-type tires as used on the ice racing
machines. Snow was shoveled away from
the ice and tracks of 1000 to 2000 meters
with both left and right hand corners were
laid out. The mass start of 20 or 25 ma-
chines was a great spectacle, as one can
imagine. Riding technique was similar to
the sprint machine type, with very hard
leaning in the corners, but as the tracks
were faster and without such sharp turns,
the style of the riders did not involve cor-
nering with the knee on the ice.
Riders like Ragnar Sunnqvist took part,
and he was one of the most successful.
Events were arranged all over Sweden in
the wintertime, and in Norway it was
also a popular sport. Even as far north
as Kiruna — over the Arctic Circle — road
racing on ice became popular.
But the War came in 1939 and stopped
all motorcycle sport. After the war, ice
racing on quarter-mile tracks was the most
popular, but some events of the longer
road race type were held. One rider who
took part in many such events was Sven
“Furtan” Andersson, at first on Triumph,
later on Norton Manx. A very success-
ful special was also built up by Hans Hen-
ricsson, who fitted a JAP sprint engine
into a Rudge frame.
The years from 1950-1955 were great
ice racing years in Sweden. Events were
held in January, February and March, us-…
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