British Bobsleigh Association
Europa Cup Rounds 06 and 07 - St Moritz Race Reports, January 2009
26 January 2009
After a five week break, the Europa Cup resumed at St Moritz in Switzerland for the fourth race meeting of the season. The St Moritz track 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 is very much a showcase event for the teams and this year it saw an additional Women's race to make up for an earlier event that was cancelled.
2-Man Bobsleigh Race 07
The 2-Man race was held on 22nd January 2009 and was won by Pierre Leuders / David Bissett of Canada, 0.90 seconds ahead of the 2nd placed Gregor Baumann / Dominik Weber of Switzerland with Manuel Machata / Ronny Listner finishing in 3rd place.
Royal Marine John Jackson had a different brakeman once again, this time it was Julien Hughes-John, and the pair finished in 8th place after recording the 5th fastest start time.
Will Golder / Kevan Crowell of Jersey made their debut in the Europa Cup and finished 34th on a track that was totally new to 20 year old driver Will Golder. The Jersey pair recorded a top 20 start time, which promises well for the final Europa Cup race of the season at Cesana.
4-Man Bobsleigh Race 07
The 4-Man race was held on 25th January 2009 and finished Germany, Russia, Switzerland and Great Britain, with the GB1 bobsleigh of John Jackson / Jamie Devlin / Keith McLaughlin / Roger Smith achieving their best result so far this season with an excellent 4th place finish, just 0.6 seconds off the winner's time.
The GB2 bobsleigh of John Hillman / Henry Nwume / Lamin Deen / Ryan Freckleton finished in 9th place, which was also their best result so far this season.
The race was won by the Germans Manuel Machata / Richard Adjei-Otto / Ronny Listner / Michail Makarow with Nikita Zarharov / Denis Moiseychenkov / Andrey Jurkov / Sergey Bulyin of Russia 2nd and Gregor Baumann / Simon /Reumer / Armin Batali / Dominik Weber of Switzerland 3rd, 0.12 seconds ahead of the GB1 bobsleigh.
Women's Bobsleigh Races 06 and 07
The two Women's races were held on 24th and 25th January 2009 and both had thirteen entries. The first race was won comfortably by Anja Schneiderh-Stoeckel / Christin Senkel of Germany with Lesa Mayes-Stringer / Doriane Remy of France in 2nd place and Anastasia Skulkina / Yulia Timofeeva of Russia in 3rd place.
The second Women's race was also was won by Anja Schneiderh-Stoeckel / Christin Senkel of Germany, but this time Stefanie Szcurek / Fraziska Bertels of Germany finished in 2nd place with Lesa Mayes-Stringer / Doriane Remy of France in 3rd place.
The GB1 pairing of Kerry Morgan / Victoria Orr were forced to withdraw from the competition after Victoria slipped on ice in the car park and broke her wrist, which was cruel luck for both the RAF girls.
Race Reports written by Mark Carter - Performance Coordinator
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 is very much a showcase event for the teams and this year it saw an additional Women's race to make up for an earlier event that was cancelled.
2-Man Bobsleigh Race 07
The 2-Man race was held on 22nd January 2009 and was won by Pierre Leuders / David Bissett of Canada, 0.90 seconds ahead of the 2nd placed Gregor Baumann / Dominik Weber of Switzerland with Manuel Machata / Ronny Listner finishing in 3rd place.
Royal Marine John Jackson had a different brakeman once again, this time it was Julien Hughes-John, and the pair finished in 8th place after recording the 5th fastest start time.
Will Golder / Kevan Crowell of Jersey made their debut in the Europa Cup and finished 34th on a track that was totally new to 20 year old driver Will Golder. The Jersey pair recorded a top 20 start time, which promises well for the final Europa Cup race of the season at Cesana.
4-Man Bobsleigh Race 07
The 4-Man race was held on 25th January 2009 and finished Germany, Russia, Switzerland and Great Britain, with the GB1 bobsleigh of John Jackson / Jamie Devlin / Keith McLaughlin / Roger Smith achieving their best result so far this season with an excellent 4th place finish, just 0.6 seconds off the winner's time.
The GB2 bobsleigh of John Hillman / Henry Nwume / Lamin Deen / Ryan Freckleton finished in 9th place, which was also their best result so far this season.
The race was won by the Germans Manuel Machata / Richard Adjei-Otto / Ronny Listner / Michail Makarow with Nikita Zarharov / Denis Moiseychenkov / Andrey Jurkov / Sergey Bulyin of Russia 2nd and Gregor Baumann / Simon /Reumer / Armin Batali / Dominik Weber of Switzerland 3rd, 0.12 seconds ahead of the GB1 bobsleigh.
Women's Bobsleigh Races 06 and 07
The two Women's races were held on 24th and 25th January 2009 and both had thirteen entries. The first race was won comfortably by Anja Schneiderh-Stoeckel / Christin Senkel of Germany with Lesa Mayes-Stringer / Doriane Remy of France in 2nd place and Anastasia Skulkina / Yulia Timofeeva of Russia in 3rd place.
The second Women's race was also was won by Anja Schneiderh-Stoeckel / Christin Senkel of Germany, but this time Stefanie Szcurek / Fraziska Bertels of Germany finished in 2nd place with Lesa Mayes-Stringer / Doriane Remy of France in 3rd place.
The GB1 pairing of Kerry Morgan / Victoria Orr were forced to withdraw from the competition after Victoria slipped on ice in the car park and broke her wrist, which was cruel luck for both the RAF girls.
Race Reports written by Mark Carter - Performance Coordinator