2016/2017 IBSF World Cup – Four-Man Bobsled – Race 3

From Altenberg, GER

The bobsled rack in Altenberg is known to be one of the toughest on the circuit. Despite that reputation, it was a first-time winner atop the podium in bobsled.

Johannes Lochner dominated the four-man event, with the German setting the quick time in both heats on his way to a .41 victory over Russian Alexander Kasjanov. The win was Lochner’s first World Cup win in a four-man bobsled.

Francesco Friedrich came into the second run in second. He had an uncharacteristically sloppy run on his second trip down, and was late off almost every turn. That, coupled with a second-fastest run by Kasjanov, put the German one spot back, but still with a bronze medal.

Benjamin Maier finished just outside of the medals in fourth, .09 ahead of fifth place Rico Peter. Nico Walther helped put all three German sleds in the top six with a sixth place finish.

Despite the fifth place finish, Peter holds the World Cup points lead ahead of Alexander Kasjanov, with American Steven Holcomb leaving Altenberg in third.

Holcomb left Altenberg with two top ten finishes, pairing his two-man eighth place finish with a ninth place finish in four-man. Teammate Codie Bascue made a few mistakes at the top of his first run. Those got cleaned up in the second and Bascue was rewarded by being the only pilot with a quicker second run, moving up from 17th to 15th.

Justin Kripps finished 14th in the lone Canadian sled of the weekend. His teammate, Chris Spring, was injured earlier in the week, but will likely rejoin the team in Winterberg.

The four-man competition was the best bobsled race of the weekend for Great Britain. Lamin Deen led the way with a 12th place finish, while teammate Ollie Biddulph finished a handful of spots behind him in 16th.

Results:

Pos Name Nation Bib Start 1 Start 2 Run 1 Run 2 Total
1 Lochner / Mrowka / Bluhm / Rasp GER 7 5.09 5.11 54.28 54.45 1:48.73
2 Kasjanov / Zaitsev / Pushkarev / Belugin RUS 12 5.17 5.18 54.55 54.59 1:49.14
3 Friedrich / Bauer / Grothkoopo / Margis GER 16 5.10 5.09 54.52 54.88 1:49.40
4 Maier / Laussegger / Sammer / Moldovan AUT 11 5.20 5.19 54.65 54.89 1:49.54
5 Peter / van der Zijde / Friedli / Amrhein SUI 6 5.19 5.17 54.79 54.86 1:49.65
6 Walther / Kuske / Korona / Franke GER 1 5.13 5.16 54.80 55.15 1:49.95
7 Kibermanis / Jansons / Miknis / Zirups LAT 3 5.14 5.12 54.83 55.19 1:50.02
8 Stulnev / Kondratenko / Huzin / Koshelev RUS 9 5.18 5.21 54.99 55.24 1:50.23
9 Holcomb / Valdes / Reed / McGuffie USA 14 5.24 5.23 54.92 55.32 1:50.24
10 Andrianov / Moiseev / Selikhov / Malykh RUS 8 5.24 5.22 55.01 55.34 1:50.35
11 Melbardis / Dreiskens / Vilkaste / Strenga LAT 20 5.15 5.18 55.06 55.30 1:50.36
12 Deen / Lewis-Francis / Gilling / Matthews GBR 13 5.22 5.22 55.09 55.38 1:50.47
13 Bertazzo / Ughi / Comel / Bilotti ITA 19 5.28 5.32 55.19 55.30 1:50.49
14 Kripps / Lumsden / Kirkpatrick / Coakwell CAN 15 5.22 5.20 55.21 55.29 1:50.50
15 Bascue / Del Duca / Adams / Michener USA 10 5.28 5.29 55.42 55.25 1:50.67
16 Biddulph / Blanchet / Simons / Fearon GBR 2 5.22 5.22 55.07 55.69 1:50.76
17 Vrba / Egydy / Suchy / Nosek CZE 4 5.22 5.22 55.35 55.49 1:50.84
18 Zalims / Lusis / Springis / Brezinskis LAT 17 5.20 5.27 55.47 55.49 1:50.96
19 Dvorak / Kopriva / Sindelar / Havlin CZE 5 5.21 5.20 55.54 55.68 1:51.22
20 Grigore / Radu / Craciun / Cojan ROU 18 5.38 5.40 55.69 56.06 1:51.75