From Lillehammer, NOR
(Nov. 11, 2017) Swiss bobsled pilot Clemens Bracher was dominant in the European Cup 2-man bobsled opener, beating EC rival Richard Oelsner on his way to gold.
Bracher and brakeman Michael Kuonen were the only team to push under five seconds, and were rewarded with the two fastest times in the race, eventually beating Oelsner by .44.
When the IBSF World Cup moves to Europe, Bracher currently has a spot waiting for him as the second two-man sled for Switzerland.
Oelsner, the 2016/2017 European Cup champion, came into his second run in fourth place, but managed to throw down the second quickest run of the heat to catapult him into the silver medal position, a tenth of a second ahead of bronze medalist Romain Heinrich of France.
Czech pilot Dominik Dvorak finished just outside of the medals in fourth, while Austria’s Markus Treichl and Germany’s Bennet Buchmüller finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Bracher / Kuonen | SUI | 4.97 | 4.99 | 51.47 | 51.64 | 1:43.11 |
| 2 | Oelsner / Schüller | GER | 5.06 | 5.03 | 51.71 | 51.84 | 1:43.55 |
| 3 | Heinrich / Lefebvre | FRA | 5.11 | 5.11 | 51.68 | 51.97 | 1:43.65 |
| 4 | Dvorak / Nosek | CZE | 5.00 | 5.02 | 51.70 | 52.06 | 1:43.76 |
| 5 | Treichl / Glück | AUT | 5.08 | 5.11 | 51.79 | 52.00 | 1:43.79 |
| 6 | Buchmüller / Ammour | GER | 5.00 | 5.02 | 51.73 | 52.07 | 1:43.80 |
| 7 | Luty / Tylkowski | POL | 5.10 | 5.13 | 51.82 | 52.05 | 1:43.87 |
| 8 | Nolte / Sommer | GER | 5.03 | 5.03 | 51.86 | 52.06 | 1:43.92 |
| 9 | Bredikhin / Kuzmenko | RUS | 5.09 | 5.15 | 51.86 | 52.27 | 1:44.13 |
| 9 | Tentea / Ciprian | ROU | 5.11 | 5.10 | 52.00 | 52.13 | 1:44.13 |
| 11 | Hafer / Reichle | GER | 5.12 | 5.15 | 51.95 | 52.29 | 1:44.24 |
| 12 | Vrba / Nosek | CZE | 5.09 | 5.10 | 52.24 | 52.40 | 1:44.64 |
| 13 | den Ouden / van der Geest | NED | 5.17 | 5.16 | 52.11 | 52.59 | 1:44.70 |
| 14 | Popov / Korotkov | RUS | 5.13 | 5.15 | 52.28 | 52.51 | 1:44.79 |
| 15 | Berzins / Priekulis | LAT | 5.09 | 5.12 | 52.30 | 52.57 | 1:44.87 |
| 15 | Vogt / Dörig | SUI | 5.13 | 5.20 | 52.36 | 52.51 | 1:44.87 |
| 17 | Grigore / Craciun | ROU | 5.17 | 5.19 | 52.36 | 52.60 | 1:44.96 |
| 18 | Stano / Sarnecki | POL | 5.12 | 5.17 | 52.65 | 52.89 | 1:45.54 |
| 19 | Matousek / Surbally | SVK | 5.27 | 5.20 | 52.84 | 52.88 | 1:45.72 |
| 20 | Radenovic / Vujanic | SRB | 5.38 | 5.41 | 53.10 | 53.23 | 1:46.33 |
| 21 | Zakrzewski / Zdebiak | POL | 5.20 | 53.58 | |||
| 22 | Nagell / Eichholzer | NOR | 5.83 | 54.07 |
