British Bobsleigh Association
World Cup Round 06 - St Moritz Race Reports, January 2008
29 January 2008
Round 6 of the 2007 - 08 Bobsleigh World Cup Series was held at the St Moritz track in Switzerland, which is unique in that it is the only natural track, being fashioned out of the snow along the same historic course each year, whereas all other bobsleigh tracks are concrete structures, which have to be refrigerated along their length.
The St Moritz track is renowned for being fast, but it is also long, making it a real test of a driver's skill. It boasts some famous corners, such as Wall, Sunny and Horse-shoe, and has a kink called Nash-Dixon Corner that is named after the British duo Tony Nash and Robin Dixon (now Lord Robin Glentoran) who won the 2-Man Bobsleigh in the1964 Winter Olympics.
St Moritz is a popular winter resort, with horse racing, polo and golf being played on the frozen lake, in addition to the more conventional winter sports. As such, the Bobsleigh World Cup at St Moritz is very much a showcase event for the teams.
2-Man Bobsleigh Race
The 2-Man World Cup bobsleigh race held on 26th January 2008 saw Andre Lange and Martin Putze of Germany win from Ivo Ruegg and Cedric Grand of Switzerland, with Pierre Lueders and Lascelles Brown of Canada 3rd.
The Great Britain pairings of Martin Wright and Matthew Roberts came 20th with Lee Johnston and Jamie Devlin 22nd out of a field of 27 entries.
4-Man Bobsleigh Race
The 4-Man World Cup bobsleigh race was held on 27th January 2008, after being delayed by an hour due to strong winds, which caused snow and branches to fall from the trees, and required virtually the entire track to be swept. Although the wind had subsided somewhat when the race began, wind and debris on the track would still play a part in the race.
The GB1 bobsleigh of Lee Johnston, Glenn Kerr, Matthew Roberts and Steve Smith lay 10th after the first run, with the GB2 bobsleigh of Martin Wright, Lamin Deen, Keith McLaughlin and Jamie Devlin 23rd and missing out on having a second run by not finishing in the top twenty. On its second run, the GB1 bobsleigh suffered badly from debris on the track, some of which fell right in front of Lee Johnston on the descent between Sunny Corner and Horse-shoe, ending the chances of a good result and leaving the GB1 bobsleigh in 16th place overall.
The race was won by Janis Minins, Daumants Dreiskins, Oskars Melbardis and Intars Dambis, much to the delight of the many raucous Latvians down at Horse-shoe, with Russia taking 2nd place and Switzerland 3rd and 4th.
Women's Bobsleigh Race
The Women's Europa Cup bobsleigh race was held on 26th January 2008 and saw a German 1 - 2, with Sandra Kiriasis and Romy Logsch heading Cathleen Martini and Janine Tischer, ahead of Helen Uperton and Heather Moyse of Canada, who took 3rd place.
Great Britain's Nicola Minichiello and Lauren Therin lay in 3rd place after their first run and finished an excellent 4th overall in the final standings, their best result of the season. Nicola and Lauren produced start times of 5.76 and 5.77 seconds, against the winner's start times of 5.66 and 5.67 seconds, and over Run 1 and Run 2, Nicola and Lauren were 0.36 and 0.31 seconds off the winning times.
Jackie Davies and Kelly Thomas finished 17th out of the 22 entries after setting identical start times of 5.86 seconds in both runs.
Race Reports written by Mark Carter
The St Moritz track is renowned for being fast, but it is also long, making it a real test of a driver's skill. It boasts some famous corners, such as Wall, Sunny and Horse-shoe, and has a kink called Nash-Dixon Corner that is named after the British duo Tony Nash and Robin Dixon (now Lord Robin Glentoran) who won the 2-Man Bobsleigh in the1964 Winter Olympics.
St Moritz is a popular winter resort, with horse racing, polo and golf being played on the frozen lake, in addition to the more conventional winter sports. As such, the Bobsleigh World Cup at St Moritz is very much a showcase event for the teams.
2-Man Bobsleigh Race
The 2-Man World Cup bobsleigh race held on 26th January 2008 saw Andre Lange and Martin Putze of Germany win from Ivo Ruegg and Cedric Grand of Switzerland, with Pierre Lueders and Lascelles Brown of Canada 3rd.
The Great Britain pairings of Martin Wright and Matthew Roberts came 20th with Lee Johnston and Jamie Devlin 22nd out of a field of 27 entries.
4-Man Bobsleigh Race
The 4-Man World Cup bobsleigh race was held on 27th January 2008, after being delayed by an hour due to strong winds, which caused snow and branches to fall from the trees, and required virtually the entire track to be swept. Although the wind had subsided somewhat when the race began, wind and debris on the track would still play a part in the race.
The GB1 bobsleigh of Lee Johnston, Glenn Kerr, Matthew Roberts and Steve Smith lay 10th after the first run, with the GB2 bobsleigh of Martin Wright, Lamin Deen, Keith McLaughlin and Jamie Devlin 23rd and missing out on having a second run by not finishing in the top twenty. On its second run, the GB1 bobsleigh suffered badly from debris on the track, some of which fell right in front of Lee Johnston on the descent between Sunny Corner and Horse-shoe, ending the chances of a good result and leaving the GB1 bobsleigh in 16th place overall.
The race was won by Janis Minins, Daumants Dreiskins, Oskars Melbardis and Intars Dambis, much to the delight of the many raucous Latvians down at Horse-shoe, with Russia taking 2nd place and Switzerland 3rd and 4th.
Women's Bobsleigh Race
The Women's Europa Cup bobsleigh race was held on 26th January 2008 and saw a German 1 - 2, with Sandra Kiriasis and Romy Logsch heading Cathleen Martini and Janine Tischer, ahead of Helen Uperton and Heather Moyse of Canada, who took 3rd place.
Great Britain's Nicola Minichiello and Lauren Therin lay in 3rd place after their first run and finished an excellent 4th overall in the final standings, their best result of the season. Nicola and Lauren produced start times of 5.76 and 5.77 seconds, against the winner's start times of 5.66 and 5.67 seconds, and over Run 1 and Run 2, Nicola and Lauren were 0.36 and 0.31 seconds off the winning times.
Jackie Davies and Kelly Thomas finished 17th out of the 22 entries after setting identical start times of 5.86 seconds in both runs.
Race Reports written by Mark Carter