British Bobsleigh Association
Europa Cup Round 08 - Cesana Race Reports, January 2009
02 February 2009
The final round of the Europa Cup was held at Cesana Pariol in Italy, where for the British Teams, the season started with a Selection Race and the British Bobsleigh Championships. Cesana is a small Italian commune situated in the Susa Valley of the 'Milky Way' region in the South West Alps, which is linked to the ski resorts of Sestriere, Claviere, Montgenevre and Sauze d'Oulx in France. Cesana is about an hour drive West from Turin and was the location for the Bobsleigh, Luge and Skeleton at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games.
2-Man Bobsleigh Race 08
The 2-Man race was held on 28th January 2009 and after finishing in second place in his home event at St Moritz, Switzerland's Gregor Baumann / Dominik Weber took victory in Cesana with Manuel Machata / Richard Adjei-Otto of Germany finishing in 2nd place and Pius Meyerhans / Daniel Baerts of Belgium finishing in 3rd place.
Royal Marine John Jackson again had Julien Hughes-John as his brakeman, and the pair once again finished in 8th place, having been up in 6th position after the first run.
Army 4-Man bobsleigh driver John Hillman had his first 2-Man race of the Europa Cup season and finished in 16th place with stand-in brakeman Lamin Deen, the race start time having been brought forward by the organisers, preventing nominated brakeman, Henry Nwume, from competing.
Will Golder / Kevan Crowell of Jersey had their second race in the Europa Cup and finished in 24th place after again recording a top 20 start time.
4-Man Bobsleigh Race 08
The 4-Man race was held on 31st January 2009 and was easily the closest race of the season. The GB1 bobsleigh of John Jackson / Jamie Devlin / Keith McLaughlin / Roger Smith were the ones who finished in 3rd place, topping their excellent 4th place finish last week in St Moritz with a new best result, and were just 0.05 seconds away from winning a Europa Cup race.
Finishing in 1st place was Nikita Zarharov / Denis Moiseychenkov / Andrey Jurkov / Sergey Bulyin of Russia, with Manuel Machata / Richard Adjei-Otto / Michail Makarow / Florian Becke of Germany finishing in 2nd place, a mere 0.02 seconds ahead of the GB1 team.
The GB2 bobsleigh of John Hillman / Henry Nwume / Lamin Deen / Ryan Freckleton finished in 9th place, just as they did in St Moritz, making that three top ten finishes this season.
Women's Bobsleigh Race 08
The Women's race was held on 28th January 2009 and was won by Anastasia Skulkina / Yulia Timofeeva of Russia, with Anja Schneiderh-Stoeckel / Christin Senkel of Germany finishing in 2nd place and Stefanie Szcurek / Stephanie Schneider finishing in 3rd place. With Victoria Orr injured, RAF driver Kerry Morgan was unable to compete.
Race Reports written by Mark Carter - Performance Coordinator
2-Man Bobsleigh Race 08
The 2-Man race was held on 28th January 2009 and after finishing in second place in his home event at St Moritz, Switzerland's Gregor Baumann / Dominik Weber took victory in Cesana with Manuel Machata / Richard Adjei-Otto of Germany finishing in 2nd place and Pius Meyerhans / Daniel Baerts of Belgium finishing in 3rd place.
Royal Marine John Jackson again had Julien Hughes-John as his brakeman, and the pair once again finished in 8th place, having been up in 6th position after the first run.
Army 4-Man bobsleigh driver John Hillman had his first 2-Man race of the Europa Cup season and finished in 16th place with stand-in brakeman Lamin Deen, the race start time having been brought forward by the organisers, preventing nominated brakeman, Henry Nwume, from competing.
Will Golder / Kevan Crowell of Jersey had their second race in the Europa Cup and finished in 24th place after again recording a top 20 start time.
4-Man Bobsleigh Race 08
The 4-Man race was held on 31st January 2009 and was easily the closest race of the season. The GB1 bobsleigh of John Jackson / Jamie Devlin / Keith McLaughlin / Roger Smith were the ones who finished in 3rd place, topping their excellent 4th place finish last week in St Moritz with a new best result, and were just 0.05 seconds away from winning a Europa Cup race.
Finishing in 1st place was Nikita Zarharov / Denis Moiseychenkov / Andrey Jurkov / Sergey Bulyin of Russia, with Manuel Machata / Richard Adjei-Otto / Michail Makarow / Florian Becke of Germany finishing in 2nd place, a mere 0.02 seconds ahead of the GB1 team.
The GB2 bobsleigh of John Hillman / Henry Nwume / Lamin Deen / Ryan Freckleton finished in 9th place, just as they did in St Moritz, making that three top ten finishes this season.
Women's Bobsleigh Race 08
The Women's race was held on 28th January 2009 and was won by Anastasia Skulkina / Yulia Timofeeva of Russia, with Anja Schneiderh-Stoeckel / Christin Senkel of Germany finishing in 2nd place and Stefanie Szcurek / Stephanie Schneider finishing in 3rd place. With Victoria Orr injured, RAF driver Kerry Morgan was unable to compete.
Race Reports written by Mark Carter - Performance Coordinator