Hannighofer Wins EC 2-man Opener

From Winterberg, GER

(Dec. 5, 2020) – Germany’s Hans Peter Hannighofer edged out Switzerland’s ichael Kuonen to open the 2020/2021 IBSF European Cup two-man bobsled season.

The German pilot had the fasst time in the first heat by just .04 over Russia’s Rostislav Gaitiukevich and .09 over Kuonen. On the second run the Russian faltered, setting only the seventh quickest time of the heat and falling behind Kuonen. While Hannighofer had only the fourth quickest time of the second heat, his first run advantage was enough to beat out Kuonen by .08.

The gold for Hannighofer was his first in IBSF European Cup competition, his previous best finish was third in the previous season’s European Cup two-man race. He also won bronze in the four-man competition the next day.

Kuonen’s silver was also a career best as a pilot.

Gaitiukevich held on for third, a tenth ahead of Germany’s Maximilian Illmann in fourth. France’s Romain Heinrich finished fifth after coming into the second heat in fourth.

Latvia’s Oskars Kibermanis finished sixth after coming into the first heat in 13th. He had the fastest run of the second heat to move him well up the order.

Lamin Deen was the top finishing British slider in eighth, moving up from tenth in the first heat. Teammates Adam Baird and James Brown finished 23rd and 24th respectively, while John Stanbridge rounded out the British effort in 32nd.

Liechtenstein’s Martin Kranz finished 28th after the 31st quickest start of the race, while Australis’s Evan Ohanlon finished 31st.

Results:

Pos Names Nation Bib Start 1 Start 2 Run 1 Run 2 Total
1 Hannighofer / Röder GER 9 5.26 5.23 56.08 56.25 1:52.33
2 Kuonen / Tanner SUI 6 5.25 5.23 56.17 56.24 1:52.41
3 Gaitiukevich / oshelev RUS 4 5.17 5.12 56.12 56.34 1:52.46
4 Illmann / Wobeto GER 5 5.31 5.27 56.29 56.27 1:52.56
5 Heinrich / Lefebvre FRA 10 5.31 5.25 56.22 56.36 1:52.58
6 Kibermanis / Lindenblats LAT 12 5.28 5.25 56.57 56.19 1:52.60
7 Kaufmanis / Nungurs LAT 14 5.28 5.25 56.57 56.19 1:52.76
8 Deen / Letts GBR 2 5.34 5.29 56.44 56.34 1:52.78
9 de Bruin / Franjic NED 11 5.27 5.28 56.25 56.54 1:52.79
10 Cipulis / Kleinbergs LAT 19 5.28 5.27 56.45 56.35 1:52.80
11 Rohner / Rolli SUI 16 5.28 5.27 56.39 56.46 1:52.85
12 Jannusch / Ebert GER 7 5.33 5.30 56.45 56.45 1:52.90
13 Zielasko / Rödiger GER 17 5.20 5.24 56.68 56.25 1:52.93
14 Berzins / Bebriss LAT 13 5.24 5.21 56.41 56.53 1:52.94
15 Tentea / Dobre ROU 8 5.26 5.29 56.38 56.60 1:52.98
16 Moulinier / Juillard SUI 1 5.36 5.35 56.66 56.52 1:53.18
17 Dobes / Prochazka CZE 22 5.40 5.31 56.78 56.46 1:53.24
18 Kuzmenko / Baklanov RUS 21 5.25 5.26 56.80 56.45 1:53.25
19 Andrianov / Belugin RUS 20 5.34 5.34 56.65 56.69 1:53.34
20 Geiger / Eckschlager AUT 23 5.43 5.42 56.93 56.69 1:53.62
21 Follador / Hufschmid SUI 18 5.40 57.03
22 Silic / Nikpalj CRO 3 5.44 57.07
23 Baird / Coleman GBR 26 5.47 57.25
24 Taborsky / Noskovic SVK 24 5.42 57.33
24 Brown / Hames GBR 15 5.35 57.33
26 Servelle / Riou MON 33 5.64 57.54
27 Novakovic / Borkovic SRB 27 5.48 57.71
28 Kranz / Beck LIE 31 5.65 57.95
29 Behounek / Lecjaks CZE 29 5.49 58.01
30 Baechler / Drouillet FRA 28 5.53 58.12
31 Ohanlon / Newbury AUS 25 5.65 58.99
32 Stanbridge / Cortes-Tankard GBR 32 5.40 60.00
33 Bagge / Darville DEN 30 6.51 61.53