From Winterberg, Germany
Maximilian Arndt took gold in the first four-man race of the European season in Winterberg, and doubled that up with a gold in the second four-man race in Winterberg. The 2013 World Champion cruised to victory ahead of a German podium sweep. Francesco Friedrich and Thomas Florschütz took silver and bronze.
Florschütz took advantage of a bumpy run by Alexsandr Zubkov, taking bronze from the Russian by .03. Canadian Chris Spring continued a very solid 2013/2014 effort with a fifth place finish, while Swiss slider Beat Hefti moved from ninth to sixth with a very quick second run.
American Cory Butner came into his second heat in 19th after a disappointing first run. The second run of 55.59 was much improved, and would have put him 10th after the first heat. The combination of runs moved him up to 13th place. Unfortunately for the USA squad, one of the teams Butner overtook was Nick Cunningham, who finished 16th. Steven Holcomb led the way for USA with a seventh place run.
The Canadians had another consistent day. Aside from Spring’s fifth place finish, Lyndon Rush finished ninth, while Just Kripps finished 11th. British slider John Jackson continues to battle a healing torn Achilles, finishing 14th. Teammate Lamin Deen picked up one spot from the first to second heat to finish 19th.
Latvian Oskars Melbardis flipped off corner 9, in the same spot the Americans had crashed in the first four-man race of the week, and finished 23rd.
Results:
Pos | Pilot | Nation | Draw | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
1 | Maximilian Arndt | GER | 4 | 55.02 | 55.07 | 1:50.09 |
2 | Francesco Friedrich | GER | 1 | 55.05 | 55.27 | 1:50.32 |
3 | Thomas Florschütz | GER | 6 | 55.21 | 55.28 | 1:50.49 |
4 | Alexsandr Zubkov | RUS | 8 | 55.18 | 55.34 | 1:50.52 |
5 | Chris Spring | CAN | 10 | 55.32 | 55.51 | 1:50.83 |
6 | Beat Hefti | SUI | 17 | 55.47 | 55.55 | 1:51.02 |
7 | Steven Holcomb | USA | 5 | 55.39 | 55.64 | 1:51.03 |
8 | Nikita Zakharov | RUS | 13 | 55.62 | 55.50 | 1:51.12 |
9 | Lyndon Rush | CAN | 12 | 55.42 | 55.75 | 1:51.17 |
10 | Alexander Kasjanov | RUS | 3 | 55.46 | 55.72 | 1:51.18 |
11 | Justin Kripps | CAN | 7 | 55.65 | 55.57 | 1:51.22 |
12 | Oskars Kibermanis | LAT | 14 | 55.71 | 55.74 | 1:51.45 |
13 | Cory Butner | USA | 18 | 55.95 | 55.59 | 1:51.54 |
14 | John James Jackson | GBR | 9 | 55.68 | 55.91 | 1:51.59 |
15 | Gregor Baumann | SUI | 22 | 55.83 | 55.79 | 1:51.62 |
16 | Nick Cunningham | USA | 15 | 55.76 | 55.91 | 1:51.67 |
17 | Jan Vrba | CZE | 21 | 55.93 | 55.86 | 1:51.79 |
18 | Simone Bertazzo | ITA | 16 | 55.93 | 56.04 | 1:51.97 |
19 | Lamin Deen | GBR | 19 | 56.00 | 56.05 | 1:52.05 |
20 | Edwin Van Calker | NED | 11 | 55.66 | 56.40 | 1:52.06 |
21 | Nicolae Istrate | ROU | 23 | 56.14 | ||
22 | Loic Costerg | FRA | 20 | 56.28 | ||
23 | Oskars Melbardis | LAT | 2 | 56.38 | ||
24 | Patrick Baumgartner | ITA | 24 | 56.49 |