2013/2014 FIBT World Cup – Winterberg – Four-Man Bobsled (Race 2)

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