4 replies to this topic

[Darren Galpin]

The Winnipeg Free Press of Canada from the 24th January 1925, pg 18, reported the following:

 

 

"An automobile race was recently held at Christiania, Norway, over a corkscrew course on ice. The track, one and a half miles in length, constituted an excellent test of driving ability, acceleration and efficiency of the brakes".

 

 

And nothing else.... It would also seem that the WFPress missed the fact that Christiania had just been renamed to Oslo too from the 1st January of that year. Can anyone confirm the actual date of this event, or anything else about it?

[sramoa]

I have a small info for norwegian events in these years-without month and day dates:

 

1924:

ISBANE GLOMMA/ÅRNES:

1). Telegrafist Gulli, 2). Joh. Johansson, 3). Anders Hoff.

 

1925:

Vinterpokalen: Hans Osterman – Buick

[Darren Galpin]

Thanks.

[Tomas Karlsson]

I just found this old post.

 

Vinterpokalen had nothing to do with racing or Oslo. Vinterpokalen (=the Winter Cup) was a realiability competition organized by KAK, the Royal Automobile Club of SWEDEN! And Hans Osterman was a well-known Swedish driver and later automobile salesman.

 

The 1925 date is a bit strange. I am not an expert on Norwegian racing, but I have a copy of the book "Bilsport i Norge" by Öistein Bertheau. The Royal Automobile Club in Norway (KNA) arranged a big ice race every year between 1922 and 1939, apart from 1937 (too much snow) and the planned race at Gjersjön in 1925. When it was too warm. 

Ringerikes motor club tried to arrange a meeting on February 1st 1925 at Stensfjorden, but they also had to cancel the event, because the ice broke up. A car went through the ice and sunk while testing on the track the week before.

So 1925 seems a bit problematic for ice racing. And they usually didn't have any ice races in december.

But there is one word in the Canadian text that makes me wonder if it isn't a big misunderstanding. "Corkscrew". Korketrekkeren or the Corkscrew was the name of Oslo's famous hill-climb that took place late in the autumn.

Edited by Tomas Karlsson, 24 November 2016 - 16:40.

[Tomas Karlsson]

In early 1926 the Korketrekkeren (Corkscrew) hillclimb was used as a special stage in the Swedish KAK winter competition ( a realiablity event). This time the climb was on ice and snow.