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World Cup 4 Man Bobsleigh Tour
14 January 2007
Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy - 14/01/2007
The 4 Man World Cup Bobsleigh Tour resumed in Cortina D?ampezzo, Italy on Sunday 14 January on the historic 1956 Olympic track. There were 23 sleds entered into the 2 heat race which commenced at 0900 hrs CET. The 2 Great Britain sleds piloted by Marine Lee Johnston (GB1) and Corporal Neil Scarisbrick RTR (GB2) had start draws of 21st and 20th respectively. The GB2 crew consisted of Capt Karl Johnston RM, Glen Kerr and Cpl John Jackson RM and they pushed Neil to a start of 5.01 seconds. Unfortunately Neil crashed his sled during the run but the sled and all occupants crossed the finish line and recorded a finish time of 56.40 seconds. The GB1 sled was next to start and the crew consisted of Corporal Steve Smith PARA, Allyn Condon and John Julien-Hughes. The GB1 sled had a start time of 4.96 seconds and Lee drove the sled to a finish time of 53.31 seconds. This placed Lee in 17th position after the first run, which entitled him to a second run. As the GB2 sled was in 22nd position, Neil and his crew would not be taking a second run as only the top 20 sleds take another run.
The first heat was very eventful. As well as the GB2 sled crash, 3 teams had major sled loading problems at the start of the track. This affected the Austria I, Switzerland 2 and Switzerland 3 sled. The Switzerland 2 sled was disqualified from the race as the brakeman fell from the sled. At the end of the first heat the Russia I sled was in 3rd place, the Germany I sled in 2nd place with the USA I sled (piloted by Steven Holcomb) in 1st place.
In the second heat, the GB1 sled was 4th to start. They improved their start time by 3/100th second and had a start of 4.93 seconds. Lee drove the sled to a 53.26 second finish, an improvement upon his first heat finish time. This gave the GB1 team a combined finish time of 1 minute 46.57 seconds. This placed them in 18th position as the combined finish time was 1/100th second slower than the Romania I sled time. However after a poor run by the Latvia 2 sled, the GB1 team moved back up to 17th place overall. The USA I sled won the race with a combined finish time of 1 minute 45.04 seconds. The Germany I sled piloted by Andre Lange was 2nd and the Canada I sled piloted by Pierre Lueders was in 3rd place. Pierre Lueders moved from 6th place to 3rd with the fastest run of the second heat.
The World Cup Bobsleigh Tour now moves onto Igls for the next race.
The first heat was very eventful. As well as the GB2 sled crash, 3 teams had major sled loading problems at the start of the track. This affected the Austria I, Switzerland 2 and Switzerland 3 sled. The Switzerland 2 sled was disqualified from the race as the brakeman fell from the sled. At the end of the first heat the Russia I sled was in 3rd place, the Germany I sled in 2nd place with the USA I sled (piloted by Steven Holcomb) in 1st place.
In the second heat, the GB1 sled was 4th to start. They improved their start time by 3/100th second and had a start of 4.93 seconds. Lee drove the sled to a 53.26 second finish, an improvement upon his first heat finish time. This gave the GB1 team a combined finish time of 1 minute 46.57 seconds. This placed them in 18th position as the combined finish time was 1/100th second slower than the Romania I sled time. However after a poor run by the Latvia 2 sled, the GB1 team moved back up to 17th place overall. The USA I sled won the race with a combined finish time of 1 minute 45.04 seconds. The Germany I sled piloted by Andre Lange was 2nd and the Canada I sled piloted by Pierre Lueders was in 3rd place. Pierre Lueders moved from 6th place to 3rd with the fastest run of the second heat.
The World Cup Bobsleigh Tour now moves onto Igls for the next race.