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Hejsan! Välkommen till Laxforsen och Norrbottens Radio! The grid is laid out and it is a glorious day, if unseasonably cold. At the front, on the wide section of the Laxforsen track, the pole position is occupied by Vitez Rychly of Czechoslovakia, the current season leader of the Grande Épreuve. Immediately alongside are three other racers, including Pedro Gomes, the new entrant from Portugal, Godeschalk Hegkman of Germany and John Milk of Britain. The latter is racing one of only five remaining Amilcar C6s in the world – and another Amilcar is at the back of the pack driven by the well-known Scottish nationalist, Alastair MacDougall.
Between these leaders and the tail of the pack are cars representing every country in this year's Grande Épreuve. The Laxforsen Isloppet is the third race of the season and many say will be the most complex. Fast moving, with ice and land portions of the course, the Isloppet will certainly offer challenges to all.
It is a very crowded field with 14 cars on the grid. The ice-covered lake portion of the track is able to handle the racers four-wide, but once the racers sweep through Storkurvan and press on to the Lekböjen chicane, the track narrows to only two wide. A hairpin then looms ahead. During the trial race a few days ago, cars were suddenly pressed tightly. A few suffered collisions in the midst of the hairpin curve. The survivors from that all took a pit stop to make repairs.
A crowd of thousands is here from across Europe. Most are Swedes, Finns, Norwegians and Danes, who have a new driver in the race, Diederik Olsen, in his highly modified Alfa Romeo 6C Supersport. An experienced racer on ice, he is the only driver to have left the fenders on his car to protect from the ice chunks that spit up when you take the curves and accelerate. The other drivers wear goggles and face masks. The famed Italian warm weather driver, Eusebius “Sebi” Orsi, has already attracted quite a large contingent of Swedish ladies who follow him around. He is dressed in a full length jacket of heavy furs and wears a full rabbit fur hat and fur-lined goggles, plus mittens made of mink and a long red Italian silk scarf.
The ball has dropped and the racers are off! The crowd surges forward against the fences and hay bales lining the edge of the track! Wheels are spinning as everyone struggles to move forward in first gear! Only those racers with chains make any headway as the other cars spin, throwing ice chunks far and wide. But wait, Finland's Tavho Myrsky has apparently stalled the big Chrysler – perhaps the engine is simply too cold to give him a good start!
Right off pole position, Vitez Rychly of Czechoslovakia pulls forward. His tire chains bite into the ice and he glances over before cutting to right and directly in front of the Portuguese driver, who is blinded by the snow thrown back into his face by the Czech driver!
Alongside, Godeschalk Hegkman, whose Bugatti also sports chains on its tires, pulls alongside the Portuguese who turns and shakes his fist. Even over the roar of the engines, the crowd can hear him yelling a curse about sheep. Meanwhile, at the back of the field, Sweden's famed shark pulls forward, dangerously close to the Finnish car, which is stalled on the track! He reaches to swerve right, but can he get around?
Vitez Rychly continues his commanding lead as several other cars storm into Storkurvan. Yet most carry too much speed as they fight for the elusive goal of holding position. The orange Bugatti continues to press ahead alone. Farther back, England, Portugal Italy and Monaco work into the curve, most cars holding to the racing line. John Milk and Godeschalk Hegkman hold the outside line to keep a reasonable separation from the pack, while behind, a picture of graceful driving technique, the Danish racer demonstrates his expertise on the ice, smoothly shifting up as he enters Storkurvan with precision.
