Eggert & Benecken Lead German 1-2 in Königssee

From Königssee, GER

(Jan. 2, 2021) – Germany kicked off the 2021 calendar year in the same fashion they have so many times before: By winning a luge race in Königssee. Toni Eggert & Sascha Benecken edged out teammates Tobias Wendl & Tobias Arlt on their way to their 46th career doubles victory.

L-R: Wendl & Arlt, Eggert & Benecken, Steu & Koller (Courtesy FIL TV)

Wendl & Arlt held a .026 second advantage over Eggert & Benecken going into the second heat of racing to kick off the new year. Eggert & Benecken were perfect on their second run with only their teammates to go, and while Wendl & Arlt were quick they couldn’t match the speed that Eggert & Benecken carried. At the finish line, the difference was .141 from first to second.

Thomas Steu & Lorenz Koller finished a distant third, enough to hold onto their World Cup overall lead. Teammates Yannick Müller & Armin Frauscher finished fourth, just ahead of Andris & Juris Sics in fifth.

Robin Geueke & David Gamm finished sixth in their first World Cup start of the season to round out the German effort.

In the overall World Cup standings, Steu & Koller hold the lead over Eggert & Benecken, with Wendl & Arlt in third. This season the FIL is also giving a trophy to the team who leads the “classic luge” points (so full races without Sprint World Cup points) at the end of the season, and in those standings Eggert & Benecken lead over Steu & Koller.

The North Americans made their return to the FIL World Cup tour after sitting out the first part of the season thanks to COVID-related travel restrictions. Americans Chris Mazdzer & Jayson Terdiman led the way in 13th, up from 15th in the first heat. Canadians Tristan Walker & Justin Snith came into the second run in 11th, but a big skid into the labyrinth dropped them to 18th.

Results:

 

Pos Names Nation Bib Start 1 Start 2 Run 1 Run 2 Total
1 Eggert / Benecken GER 20 2.873 2.865 50.118 50.166 1:40.284
2 Wendl / Arlt GER 21 2.860 2.846 50.092 50.333 1:40.425
3 Steu / Koller AUT 22 2.897 2.891 50.277 50.477 1:40.754
4 Müller / Frauscher AUT 23 2.894 2.907 50.354 50.596 1:40.950
5 Sics / Sics LAT 24 2.934 2.939 50.507 50.520 1:41.027
6 Geueke / Gamm GER 12 2.887 2.899 50.610 50.482 1:41.092
7 Rieder / Kainzwaldner ITA 13 2.899 2.894 50.557 50.540 1:41.097
8 Nagler / Malleier ITA 14 2.873 2.783 50.512 50.626 1:41.138
9 Kashkin / Korshunov RUS 11 2.924 2.932 50.598 50.663 1:41.261
10 Rieder / Rastner ITA 19 2.835 2.812 50.478 50.809 1:41.287
11 Denisev / Antonov RUS 15 2.951 2.965 50.783 50.738 1:41.521
12 Gudramovics / Kalnins LAT 17 2.913 2.996 50.881 50.745 1:41.626
13 Mazdzer / Terdiman USA 10 2.960 3.012 51.074 51.148 1:42.222
14 Yuzhakov / Prokhorov RUS 18 2.952 2.791 50.976 51.261 1:42.237
15 Vavercak / Zmij SVK 7 2.865 2.895 51.151 51.173 1:42.324
16 Park / Cho KOR 9 3.079 3.115 51.166 51.356 1:42.522
17 Chmielewski / Kowalewski POL 16 2.917 2.929 51.833 50.754 1:42.587
18 Walker / Snith CAN 6 2.910 2.894 50.616 52.142 1:42.758
19 Stakhiv / Lysetskyi UKR 4 3.045 3.049 51.652 51.780 1:43.432
20 Hoi / Levkovych UKR 2 3.145 3.136 53.981 52.265 1:46.246
21 Siscanu / Oprea MDA 1 3.100 3.090 53.388 53.284 1:46.672
22 Vejdelek / Pekny CZE 5 3.128 3.113 51.905 54.910 1:46.815
23 Turea / Motzca ROU 3 3.059 3.078 52.153 65.679 1:57.832
24 Gatt / Schöpf AUT 8 2.951 2.954 51.405 DNF DNF