British Bobsleigh Association
Europa Cup Round 01
05 December 2007
Igls Race Reports, November 2007
The 2007 - 08 bobsleigh season opened with a Europa Cup race at Igls, which is set in the Tirol region of Austria, high up above the town of Innsbruck. This was the first of the six Meetings that comprise the Europa Cup; three before Christmas and three in the New Year. There were a number of World Cup teams competing, so the standard was very high, with large entries.
2-Man Bobsleigh Race
There was an extremely large entry of 47 bobsleighs for the very first race of the 2007 - 08 bobsleigh season, the 2-Man race at Igls on 22nd November 2007, and new rules for this year meant that only the top 20 after the first round qualified for a second run.
The race was won by the German crew of Maximillian Arndt / Rene Tiefert, with Beat Hefti / Thomas Lamparter of Switzerland taking second and Germany taking third and fourth places in a dominant performance.
The GB1 pairing of John Jackson / Julien Hughes-John came 14th and the GB2 pairing of John Hillman / Kenny Simm came 24th. The start times for John and Julien were 5.26 seconds in the first run and 5.27 seconds in the second run, which compare well with the 5.20 and 5.14 second start times of the winners.
It was the first race for Royal Marine John Jackson in a Singer sled belonging to the RAF and this is also his first full season in the Europa Cup. During practice 'Jacko' had been producing times in the top ten, but couldn't quite reproduce this in the race. This is the second season in the Europa Cup for the Army's John Hillman, who drove his new bobsleigh for the first time.
4-Man Bobsleigh Race
The 4-Man Europa Cup bobsleigh race held on 25th November 2007 saw Germany taking first and second places, with the 2-Man winner Maximillian Arndt coming second to Manuel Machata, who had driven to third place a few days earlier in the 2-Man race.
The GB1 bobsleigh of John Jackson / Kenny Simm / Chris Woolley / Julien Hughes-John was 17th after the first run, but improved to 10th on the second run, the loading on their second run being much better than their first, indicating that they could have finished even higher than their 12th place in the final standings. The GB2 bobsleigh of John Hillman / Scott Allaway / John Hutchison / Dave Street came 27th. This was the debut race for Scott Allaway, John Hutchison, Kenny Simm and Chris Woolley.
Germany, Russia and Switzerland all had very strong performances, each taking three places in the top eleven ahead of the 12th place GB1 crew, making Great Britain the sixth best placed nation.
Women's Bobsleigh Race
The first Women's Europa Cup bobsleigh race of the season was held on 25th November 2007 and it was also the first race as a driver for Paula Walker, who competed last year as a brakeman in her first full season in the sport. It was also the debut race for Alicia Jarman. Paula and Alicia, who are both from the same Royal Signals Regiment as World Cup bobsleigh driver Jackie Davies, came 21st out of the 30 bobsleigh entry.
The race was won by Anja Schneiderh Stoeckel / Patricia Polifka, to complete a clean sweep of wins for Germany, with the Nederlands coming second and Bulgaria third. The Irish girls Aoife Hoey / Jennifer Ann Corcoran came fifth.
Race Reports written by Mark Carter
2-Man Bobsleigh Race
There was an extremely large entry of 47 bobsleighs for the very first race of the 2007 - 08 bobsleigh season, the 2-Man race at Igls on 22nd November 2007, and new rules for this year meant that only the top 20 after the first round qualified for a second run.
The race was won by the German crew of Maximillian Arndt / Rene Tiefert, with Beat Hefti / Thomas Lamparter of Switzerland taking second and Germany taking third and fourth places in a dominant performance.
The GB1 pairing of John Jackson / Julien Hughes-John came 14th and the GB2 pairing of John Hillman / Kenny Simm came 24th. The start times for John and Julien were 5.26 seconds in the first run and 5.27 seconds in the second run, which compare well with the 5.20 and 5.14 second start times of the winners.
It was the first race for Royal Marine John Jackson in a Singer sled belonging to the RAF and this is also his first full season in the Europa Cup. During practice 'Jacko' had been producing times in the top ten, but couldn't quite reproduce this in the race. This is the second season in the Europa Cup for the Army's John Hillman, who drove his new bobsleigh for the first time.
4-Man Bobsleigh Race
The 4-Man Europa Cup bobsleigh race held on 25th November 2007 saw Germany taking first and second places, with the 2-Man winner Maximillian Arndt coming second to Manuel Machata, who had driven to third place a few days earlier in the 2-Man race.
The GB1 bobsleigh of John Jackson / Kenny Simm / Chris Woolley / Julien Hughes-John was 17th after the first run, but improved to 10th on the second run, the loading on their second run being much better than their first, indicating that they could have finished even higher than their 12th place in the final standings. The GB2 bobsleigh of John Hillman / Scott Allaway / John Hutchison / Dave Street came 27th. This was the debut race for Scott Allaway, John Hutchison, Kenny Simm and Chris Woolley.
Germany, Russia and Switzerland all had very strong performances, each taking three places in the top eleven ahead of the 12th place GB1 crew, making Great Britain the sixth best placed nation.
Women's Bobsleigh Race
The first Women's Europa Cup bobsleigh race of the season was held on 25th November 2007 and it was also the first race as a driver for Paula Walker, who competed last year as a brakeman in her first full season in the sport. It was also the debut race for Alicia Jarman. Paula and Alicia, who are both from the same Royal Signals Regiment as World Cup bobsleigh driver Jackie Davies, came 21st out of the 30 bobsleigh entry.
The race was won by Anja Schneiderh Stoeckel / Patricia Polifka, to complete a clean sweep of wins for Germany, with the Nederlands coming second and Bulgaria third. The Irish girls Aoife Hoey / Jennifer Ann Corcoran came fifth.
Race Reports written by Mark Carter