British Bobsleigh Association
Men's 2 Man World Cup Bobsleigh Tour
13 January 2007
Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy - 13/01/2007
The Men's World Cup Bobsleigh Tour resumed on Saturday 13 January in Cortina D'ampezzo in Italy with the 4th Race of the Season. The British Men had spent the first half of the season on the Europa Cup and Lee Johnston and Martin Wright have now moved onto the World Cup Circuit for the second part of the Season. The 2 British sleds had start draws of 21st and 25th out of a start of 27 crews. Martin Wright and John Jackson (GB2), who are both in the Royal Marines, were drawn 21st and the GB1 sled of Royal Marine Lee Johnston and John Julien-Hughes were drawn 25th. The Cortina track is 1350 metres in length and was used in the 1956 Winter Olympic Games.
The first run was quite eventful. Matthias Hoepfner (GER2), who won the World Cup Race in Cortina last season, was disqualified as he failed to complete the course. The top 2 sleds were split by only 1/100th second. The GB2 sled piloted by Martin Wright had a start time of 5.03 seconds and a finish time of 55.36 seconds which initially put the sled in 18th position. However some of the sleds that had a lower start draw than Martin had faster finish times. Martin and John slipped to 23rd place. Prior to the end of the first heat the GB2 sled was disqualified. Lee Johnston was the 25th sled to start and Lee and John had a start time of 5.08 seconds. The finish time for the GB1 sled was 54.36 seconds which placed them in 19th position.
The second heat of the Race involved only the top 20 sleds. After the 1st run, the Canada I sled piloted by Pierre Lueders was in 1st place, with the USA1 sled piloted by Steve Holcomb in 2nd place. The 2006 Olympic Gold medallists Andre Lange and Kevin Kuske (GER1) were in 3rd place. 2 sleds were tied in 20th position so the GB1 sled was the 3rd sled to start the second run. Lee and John had a start time of 5.10 seconds and Lee had an extremely strong run down the track, finishing in 54.12 seconds. The 2 sleds directly ahead of Lee had slower runs down the track therefore Lee moved up the rankings by 2 places. Lee had the 14th fastest run in the second heat. This gave the GB1 sled a finish time of 1 minute 48.48 seconds. Lee and John finished the race in 17th place, 2.05 seconds behind the winner. The medal positions changed following the first run. The Germany I sled slipped to 5th place overall, with the Czech I sled moving up to 3rd place. The Canada I sled slipped to 2nd place behind the USA I sled (which had the fastest run in the 2nd heat).
The 2 Man Tour now moves onto Igls in Austria.
The first run was quite eventful. Matthias Hoepfner (GER2), who won the World Cup Race in Cortina last season, was disqualified as he failed to complete the course. The top 2 sleds were split by only 1/100th second. The GB2 sled piloted by Martin Wright had a start time of 5.03 seconds and a finish time of 55.36 seconds which initially put the sled in 18th position. However some of the sleds that had a lower start draw than Martin had faster finish times. Martin and John slipped to 23rd place. Prior to the end of the first heat the GB2 sled was disqualified. Lee Johnston was the 25th sled to start and Lee and John had a start time of 5.08 seconds. The finish time for the GB1 sled was 54.36 seconds which placed them in 19th position.
The second heat of the Race involved only the top 20 sleds. After the 1st run, the Canada I sled piloted by Pierre Lueders was in 1st place, with the USA1 sled piloted by Steve Holcomb in 2nd place. The 2006 Olympic Gold medallists Andre Lange and Kevin Kuske (GER1) were in 3rd place. 2 sleds were tied in 20th position so the GB1 sled was the 3rd sled to start the second run. Lee and John had a start time of 5.10 seconds and Lee had an extremely strong run down the track, finishing in 54.12 seconds. The 2 sleds directly ahead of Lee had slower runs down the track therefore Lee moved up the rankings by 2 places. Lee had the 14th fastest run in the second heat. This gave the GB1 sled a finish time of 1 minute 48.48 seconds. Lee and John finished the race in 17th place, 2.05 seconds behind the winner. The medal positions changed following the first run. The Germany I sled slipped to 5th place overall, with the Czech I sled moving up to 3rd place. The Canada I sled slipped to 2nd place behind the USA I sled (which had the fastest run in the 2nd heat).
The 2 Man Tour now moves onto Igls in Austria.