British Bobsleigh Association
World Cup Round 03
30 November 2009
Cesana Report
The third Round of the Bobsleigh World Cup Series was held at the Cesana Pariol track in Italy. Cesana Pariol is to the West of Turin in a picturesque mountain region of the Torino province and the track was built above the village in 2004, for the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics. The start of the track is at an altitude of 1,683 metres and it drops 114 metres over the course of its 1,435 metre length and 19 bends.
2-Man Bobsleigh Race 03
The 2-Man bobsleigh race was held on 5th December 2009 and saw Switzerland take 1st and 2nd places, with Beat Hefti / Thomas Lamparter triumphing over Ivo Rueegg / Cedric Grand. Steven Holcomb / Curtis Tomasevicz of the USA finished in 3rd place, the result being sufficient for Steven Holcomb to maintain his position at the top of the 2-Man World Cup ranking, in addition to heading the 4-Man World Cup ranking.
Beat Hefti / Thomas Lamparter started their first run in 4.74 seconds, beating the 4.76 second track record, only to then better that with 4.72 seconds on their second run.
Royal Marines John Jackson / Jamie Devlin started in 5.02 seconds and finished in 23rd place, while fellow Royal Marine Lee Johnston finished in 20th place. Lee Johnston / Dan Money posted start times of 4.97 and 4.98 seconds on their two runs.
4-Man Bobsleigh Race 03
The 4-Man bobsleigh race was held on 6th December 2009 and saw an emphatic win for the USA team of Steven Holcomb / Justin Olsen / Steve Mesler / Curtis Tomasevicz, who set the fastest start time of 4.74 seconds.
Canada's Lyndon Rush / Chris le Bihan / Dan Humphries / Lascelles Brown, who won in the opening race in Park City, finished in 3rd place behind the 2nd place Swiss team of Ivo Rueegg / Roman Handschin / Cedric Grand / Patrick Bloechliger.
John Jackson / Henry Nwume / Steve (Smudge) Smith / Jamie Devlin finished in 20th place, just beating Lee Johnston / Allyn Condon / Karl Johnston / Dan Money by 0.01 seconds after both GB teams posted identical start times of 4.95 seconds.
Women's Bobsleigh Race 03
The Women's race was held on 5th December 2009. Having finished as runner up in her last four races at Cesana, Shauna Rohbuck finally won. Shauna Rohbuck / Michelle Rzepka of the USA finished 0.34 seconds ahead of 2nd placed Cathleen Martini / Romy Logsch of Germany, with Sandra Kiriasis / Berit Wiacker of Germany in 3rd place.
The GB1 pairing of Nicola Minichiello / Gillian Cooke lay in 6th place after the first heat, but lost time in the second heat, to finish in 8th place, after setting start times of 5.31 and 5.32 seconds in the two heats. The fastest start time was 5.16 seconds, set by Kaillie Humphries / Shelly-Ann Brown of Canada.
The GB2 team of Paula Walker / Kelly Thomas posted start times of 5.39 and 5.41 seconds and finished in 14th place, tied on an overall time of 1:57.83 seconds with Anastasia Skulkina / Liudmila Udobkina of Russia.
Race Reports written by Mark Carter - Performance Coordinator
2-Man Bobsleigh Race 03
The 2-Man bobsleigh race was held on 5th December 2009 and saw Switzerland take 1st and 2nd places, with Beat Hefti / Thomas Lamparter triumphing over Ivo Rueegg / Cedric Grand. Steven Holcomb / Curtis Tomasevicz of the USA finished in 3rd place, the result being sufficient for Steven Holcomb to maintain his position at the top of the 2-Man World Cup ranking, in addition to heading the 4-Man World Cup ranking.
Beat Hefti / Thomas Lamparter started their first run in 4.74 seconds, beating the 4.76 second track record, only to then better that with 4.72 seconds on their second run.
Royal Marines John Jackson / Jamie Devlin started in 5.02 seconds and finished in 23rd place, while fellow Royal Marine Lee Johnston finished in 20th place. Lee Johnston / Dan Money posted start times of 4.97 and 4.98 seconds on their two runs.
4-Man Bobsleigh Race 03
The 4-Man bobsleigh race was held on 6th December 2009 and saw an emphatic win for the USA team of Steven Holcomb / Justin Olsen / Steve Mesler / Curtis Tomasevicz, who set the fastest start time of 4.74 seconds.
Canada's Lyndon Rush / Chris le Bihan / Dan Humphries / Lascelles Brown, who won in the opening race in Park City, finished in 3rd place behind the 2nd place Swiss team of Ivo Rueegg / Roman Handschin / Cedric Grand / Patrick Bloechliger.
John Jackson / Henry Nwume / Steve (Smudge) Smith / Jamie Devlin finished in 20th place, just beating Lee Johnston / Allyn Condon / Karl Johnston / Dan Money by 0.01 seconds after both GB teams posted identical start times of 4.95 seconds.
Women's Bobsleigh Race 03
The Women's race was held on 5th December 2009. Having finished as runner up in her last four races at Cesana, Shauna Rohbuck finally won. Shauna Rohbuck / Michelle Rzepka of the USA finished 0.34 seconds ahead of 2nd placed Cathleen Martini / Romy Logsch of Germany, with Sandra Kiriasis / Berit Wiacker of Germany in 3rd place.
The GB1 pairing of Nicola Minichiello / Gillian Cooke lay in 6th place after the first heat, but lost time in the second heat, to finish in 8th place, after setting start times of 5.31 and 5.32 seconds in the two heats. The fastest start time was 5.16 seconds, set by Kaillie Humphries / Shelly-Ann Brown of Canada.
The GB2 team of Paula Walker / Kelly Thomas posted start times of 5.39 and 5.41 seconds and finished in 14th place, tied on an overall time of 1:57.83 seconds with Anastasia Skulkina / Liudmila Udobkina of Russia.
Race Reports written by Mark Carter - Performance Coordinator