British Bobsleigh Association
World Cup Round 02
20 November 2009
Lake Placid Reports
The second Round of the Bobsleigh World Cup Series was held at Lake Placid, USA, where Nicola Minichiello / Gillian Cooke won the World Championships at the end of the 2008 - 2009 season. The track has 20 curves and always presents the driver with a challenge. Conditions were best described as autumnal, with temperatures above freezing and rain falling earlier in the week.
2-Man Bobsleigh Race 02
The 2-Man bobsleigh race was held on 21st November 2009 and saw the USA take 1st and 2nd places, with John Napier / Charles Berkeley heading Steven Holcomb / Justin Olsen. The Swiss pairing of Ivo Rueegg / Roman Hanschin took 3rd place, comfortably clear of 4th place Pierre Lueders / David Bissett of Canada.
Royal Marine John Jackson was pushed by Army athlete Henry Nwume for this race. In order to accommodate Henry, who is heavier than John's usual brakeman, Jamie Devlin, John used Paula Walker's bobsleigh for the race, which is lighter than his own. However, this meant that John had to drive the race having had very little practice time in Paula's bobsleigh, so this decision was something of a risk.
John Jackson / Henry Nwume recorded a start time of 5.22 seconds, which compared well with the fastest start time of 5.11 seconds set by Pierre Lueders / David Bissett, but finished the first heat 1.74 seconds off the lead, in 23rd place. John was possibly not helped by being unfamiliar with Paula's bobsleigh and with only the top 20 going through to the second heat, there was no second chance.
4-Man Bobsleigh Race 02
The 4-Man bobsleigh race was held on 22nd November 2009 and as in the 2-Man, the USA took 1st and 2nd places, with Steven Holcomb / Justin Olsen / Steve Mesler / Curtis Tomasevicz heading John Napier / Jamie Moriarty / Steven Langton / Christopher Fogt. The Austrian team of Wolfgang Stampfer / Johannes Wipplinger / Juergen Mayer / Martin Lachkovics took a surprise 3rd place, with not a German in sight!
The GB1 bobsleigh of John Jackson / Henry Nwume / Steve Smith / Jamie Devlin finished the first heat in 21st place, just 0.01 seconds outside the top 20 and subsequently took no further part in the competition. The GB1 team posted a start time of 5.22 seconds, some quarter of a second behind the fastest start time of 4.96 seconds set in the first heat by the USA1 team of Steven Holcomb.
Women's Bobsleigh Race 02
The Women's race was held on 21st November 2009. In another show of strength, Germany took 1st, 2nd and 4th places. For the second week running Cathleen Martini / Romy Logsch kept Sandra Kiriasis / Janin Tischer in 2rd place, with Kaillie Humphries / Heather Moyse of Canada finishing in 3rd place, over a second of the lead pace.
The GB1 pairing of Nicola Minichiello / Gillian Cooke finished the first heat tied in 10th place, after not the best of runs, but showed their potential with 4th place in the second heat. Again, fast start times were not really expected for Nicola and Gillian, and their 5.69 second start time in the first heat was followed by 5.75 second start time in the second heat, which only went to emphasise what a good drive Nicola posted in the second heat. They finished in 8th place overall, just 0.05 seconds off the 6th place Helen Upperton / Shelly-Ann Brown, who had significantly faster start times.
The GB2 team of Paula Walker / Kelly Thomas posted start times of 5.73 and 5.75 seconds and finished in a creditable 15th place, only 0.02 seconds away from 14th place, their second run also being significantly better than their first.
The fastest start times of 5.48 and 5.46 seconds were set by Kaillie Humphries / Heather Moyse of Canada.
Race Reports written by Mark Carter - Performance Coordinator
2-Man Bobsleigh Race 02
The 2-Man bobsleigh race was held on 21st November 2009 and saw the USA take 1st and 2nd places, with John Napier / Charles Berkeley heading Steven Holcomb / Justin Olsen. The Swiss pairing of Ivo Rueegg / Roman Hanschin took 3rd place, comfortably clear of 4th place Pierre Lueders / David Bissett of Canada.
Royal Marine John Jackson was pushed by Army athlete Henry Nwume for this race. In order to accommodate Henry, who is heavier than John's usual brakeman, Jamie Devlin, John used Paula Walker's bobsleigh for the race, which is lighter than his own. However, this meant that John had to drive the race having had very little practice time in Paula's bobsleigh, so this decision was something of a risk.
John Jackson / Henry Nwume recorded a start time of 5.22 seconds, which compared well with the fastest start time of 5.11 seconds set by Pierre Lueders / David Bissett, but finished the first heat 1.74 seconds off the lead, in 23rd place. John was possibly not helped by being unfamiliar with Paula's bobsleigh and with only the top 20 going through to the second heat, there was no second chance.
4-Man Bobsleigh Race 02
The 4-Man bobsleigh race was held on 22nd November 2009 and as in the 2-Man, the USA took 1st and 2nd places, with Steven Holcomb / Justin Olsen / Steve Mesler / Curtis Tomasevicz heading John Napier / Jamie Moriarty / Steven Langton / Christopher Fogt. The Austrian team of Wolfgang Stampfer / Johannes Wipplinger / Juergen Mayer / Martin Lachkovics took a surprise 3rd place, with not a German in sight!
The GB1 bobsleigh of John Jackson / Henry Nwume / Steve Smith / Jamie Devlin finished the first heat in 21st place, just 0.01 seconds outside the top 20 and subsequently took no further part in the competition. The GB1 team posted a start time of 5.22 seconds, some quarter of a second behind the fastest start time of 4.96 seconds set in the first heat by the USA1 team of Steven Holcomb.
Women's Bobsleigh Race 02
The Women's race was held on 21st November 2009. In another show of strength, Germany took 1st, 2nd and 4th places. For the second week running Cathleen Martini / Romy Logsch kept Sandra Kiriasis / Janin Tischer in 2rd place, with Kaillie Humphries / Heather Moyse of Canada finishing in 3rd place, over a second of the lead pace.
The GB1 pairing of Nicola Minichiello / Gillian Cooke finished the first heat tied in 10th place, after not the best of runs, but showed their potential with 4th place in the second heat. Again, fast start times were not really expected for Nicola and Gillian, and their 5.69 second start time in the first heat was followed by 5.75 second start time in the second heat, which only went to emphasise what a good drive Nicola posted in the second heat. They finished in 8th place overall, just 0.05 seconds off the 6th place Helen Upperton / Shelly-Ann Brown, who had significantly faster start times.
The GB2 team of Paula Walker / Kelly Thomas posted start times of 5.73 and 5.75 seconds and finished in a creditable 15th place, only 0.02 seconds away from 14th place, their second run also being significantly better than their first.
The fastest start times of 5.48 and 5.46 seconds were set by Kaillie Humphries / Heather Moyse of Canada.
Race Reports written by Mark Carter - Performance Coordinator