Anderstorp Raceway, previously known as Scandinavian Raceway, is a motorsport

race track A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also use ...

in Anderstorp (

Gislaved Municipality Gislaved Municipality (''Gislaveds kommun'') is a municipality in Jönköping County in southern Sweden, with its seat located in the town Gislaved. The municipality was created in 1974, when Gislaved locality where amalgamated with the surround ...

), Sweden and the sole Nordic host of a

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 Grand Prix, when the Swedish Grand Prix was held for six years between 1973 and 1978.

Track history

The track was built on

marshlands A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...

in 1968 and became an extremely popular venue in the 1970s, just as Swede

Ronnie Peterson Bengt Ronnie Peterson (; 14 February 1944 – 11 September 1978) was a Swedish racing driver. Known by the nickname 'SuperSwede', he was a two-time runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship. Peterson began his motor racing caree ...

was at the height of his career. It has a long straight (called ''Flight Straight'', which is also used as an aircraft runway), as well as several banked corners, making car setup an engineering compromise. Unusually, the pit lane is located halfway round the lap. The raceway hosted six

Swedish Grand Prix events in the 1970s. When Peterson and

Gunnar Nilsson Gunnar Axel Arvid Nilsson (20 November 1948 – 20 October 1978) was a Swedish racing driver. Before entering Formula One, he won the 1975 British Formula 3 Championship. Nilsson entered 32 Formula One Grand Prix races, qualifying for all of t ...

died during the 1978 Formula One season, public support for the event dried up and the Swedish Grand Prix came to an end. The circuit is also noteworthy because it was the site of the first and only win of two unconventional F1 cars: the six-wheeled

Tyrrell P34 The Tyrrell P34 (Project 34), commonly known as the "six-wheeler", was a Formula One (F1) race car designed by Derek Gardner, Tyrrell's chief designer. The car used four specially manufactured 10-inch diameter (254 mm) wheels and tyres at ...

car in 1976 and the infamous Brabham 'fan car' in 1978. Anderstorp also hosted the

Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix The Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix was a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season in various stints from 1958 to 1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Ita ...

in 1971–1977 and 1981–1990, the

European Touring Car Championship The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004. In 2005 it was superseded by the World ...

in 1985–1987, the

Superbike World Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette-class road racing series based on heavily modified production motorcycles, also known as superbike racing. The championship was founded i ...

in 1991 and 1993, and the

FIA GT Championship The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...

in 2002 and 2003. In 1993 circuit alongside FIM organized 24-hour motorcycle race. Just one week ahead of the race, "an appeal was lodged against the permit for the competition", due to noise concerns. Although the race got permition to start with just one day left to start the event, "media had trumpeted that the competition was canceled. At the ferry berths in Skåne, passport staff turned visitors from Denmark and the continent". During the race itself heavy storm began falling over the site of the circuit and although racing continued, no audience showed up, and the circuit after the event declared bankruptcy. The

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backs ...

World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) returned to Anderstorp in 2007, replacing the Istanbul Park in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

on the WTCC calendar. For the 2008 season however, it was replaced by the

Imola Circuit The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, better known as Imola, is a motor racing circuit in the town of Imola, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, east of Bologna. It is one of the few major international circuits to run in an a ...

. International motorsport was due to return to Anderstorp in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

with a round of the DTM. Then, it was cancelled due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

Events

; Current * May: Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia, GT4 Scandinavia * August: Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia * September:

Scandinavian Touring Car Championship The Scandinavian Touring Car Championship (STCC) is a touring car racing series based in Scandinavia. The series took over from the Danish Touringcar Championship and Swedish Touring Car Championship, with its first season in 2011. The Scandina ...

, GT4 Scandinavia ; Former *

BPR Global GT Series The BPR Global GT Series (sometimes referred to as the BPR Global GT Endurance Series or simply abbreviated as BPR.) was a grand tourer-based sports car racing series which ran from 1994 to 1996 before becoming the FIA GT Championship in 1997. The ...

(1995–1996) *

EuroBOSS Series The BOSS GP Series is a motor racing series in Europe. The category originated in 1995 as the BOSS Formula series and evolved into the EuroBOSS Series. BOSS is an acronym that stands for ''Big Open Single Seaters''. History The BOSS series w ...

(2009) * European Formula 5000 Championship (1970) *

(1985–1987, 2002–2003) *

FIA European Formula 3 Cup The FIA European Formula 3 Cup was a Formula Three race held annually in Europe from 1985 to 1990 and 1999 to 2004. The Cup was awarded by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, the world governing body for motorsport, as its main Formu ...

(1975) *

(2002–2003) *

FIA Sportscar Championship The FIA Sportscar Championship was a sports car racing series created by John Mangoletsi and was eventually taken control of by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It was a series similar to the FIA GT Championship, concentrating ...

(1998) *

FIM Endurance World Championship The Endurance World Championship ( FIM EWC) is the premier worldwide endurance championship in motorcycle road racing. The championship season consists of a series of endurance races (with a duration of six, eight, twelve or twenty-four hours) h ...

(1993) *

Formula 750 Formula 750 was a FIM motorcycle road racing series based on a 750 cubic centimeter engine capacity. History The series began in 1971 as a collaboration between the American Motorcyclist Association and the Auto Cycle Union. The FIM adopt ...

(1973, 1975) *

'' Swedish Grand Prix'' (1973–1978) *

Formula Renault V6 Eurocup Formula Renault V6 Eurocup is a former type of formula racing, active from 2003 to 2004, started by Renault as a support series in Eurosport's Super Racing Weekends ( ETCC and FIA GT Championship). It was a Formula Renault 3.5 that include also ...

(2003) * Grand Prix motorcycle racing ''

'' (1971–1977, 1981–1990) *

Sidecar World Championship FIM Sidecar World Championship is the international sidecar racing championship. It is the only remaining original FIM road racing championship class that started in 1949. It was formerly named Superside when the sidecars moved from being part o ...

(1981–1990, 1993, 1997) * SMP F4 Championship (2016) *

(1991, 1993) *

World Touring Car Championship The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a sin ...

FIA WTCC Race of Sweden The FIA WTCC Race of Sweden was a round of the World Touring Car Championship, which was held at the Scandinavian Raceway in Anderstorp, Sweden during the 2007 season. The race was introduced in 2007, replacing the Race of Turkey. Although the ...

'' (2007)

Layout modifications

The circuit has been modified at least 4 times in its history. The chicane in Norra corner has been added sometime in 1975 before the

1975 Swedish Grand Prix The 1975 Swedish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Scandinavian Raceway at Anderstorp on 8 June 1975. It was race 7 of 14 in both the 1975 World Championship of Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturer ...

. The chicane has been re-aligned and tightened in time for the 1976 Swedish Grand Prix. It had been modified again before the final

Grand Prix run on the circuit (

1978 Swedish Grand Prix The 1978 Swedish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 17 June 1978 at the Scandinavian Raceway. It was the eighth race of the 1978 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1978 International Cup for F1 Constructors, and the last Formul ...

), with modifications to the penultimate Norra corner and slight re-orientation of the following straight, which resulted in the length increase from to . It remained in that configuration through the 1980s until sometime between 1997 and 1998 it was modified again and slightly shortened to its present-day length of . Track variations: * – 1968–1974 * – 1975–1977 * – 1978–1997 * – 1998–present

Lap records

The official fastest race lap records at the Anderstorp Raceway are listed as:

Airfield

In order to get more financiers the long straight was adopted as a runway for small aircraft . It is open for aircraft operations. There is also a helipad, planned for ambulance helicopters at racing accidents.

Notes

Contrary to common depiction of the 1978 modification as having a chicane introduced to the Norra corner, there was no chicane ever used: the corner was made slower by decreasing its radius and making it a sharper bend instead of a sweeping curve it was before.

References

External links

Anderstorp Racing Club

Satellite picture by Google Maps
{{Authority control Superbike World Championship circuits Formula One circuits

Scandinavian Raceway Anderstorp Raceway, previously known as Scandinavian Raceway, is a motorsport race track in Anderstorp ( Gislaved Municipality), Sweden and the sole Nordic host of a Formula One World Championship Grand Prix, when the Swedish Grand Prix was held ...

Anderstorp Motorsport venues in Sweden Buildings and structures in Jönköping County World Touring Car Championship circuits 1968 establishments in Sweden Airports in Sweden