From Lillehammer, NOR
(November 17, 2022) – Max Illmann won his second straight IBSF European Cup two-man gold medal, winning handily over a large field in Lillehammer.
Illmann and brakeman Lukas Koller were competitive off the top with two top-five starts, and were the only team to eclipse 130 km/h on their run on their way to a .66 second victory over Patrick Baumgartner and brakeman Robert Mircea.
With his win, Illmann matched his career two-man win total entering the season with his second gold medal of the year.
Baumgartner’s silver was his best finish in two-man bobsled since the 2012 Youth Olympic Games in Igls, where he beat Benjamin Maier and Rudy Rinaldi. He ends the two-man portion of the European Cup opener with his first two podiums ever at the senior level in two-man bobsled.
Germany’s Nico Semmler finished third, and while never in the hunt for gold did put together yet another strong pair of runs.
France’s Romain Heinrich jumped up from sixth to fourth and missed out on a medal by just .07. He had the second quickest run of the second heat.
Heinrich edged out Adam Ammour of Germany for fourth, with Ammour holding onto fifth, ahead of Romania’s Mihai Tentea in sixth.
Nick Gleeson led the way for Great Britain with an 11th place finish. Adam Baird finished in a tie for 15th with Poland’s Aleksy Boron, while John Stanbridge was edged out of the second heat by just .01.
Liechtenstein’s Martin Kranz finished 23rd.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Finish |
| 1 | Illmann / Koller | GER | 13 | 5.07 | 5.07 | 51.36 | 51.38 | 1:42.74 |
| 2 | Baumgartner / Mircea | ITA | 10 | 5.13 | 5.14 | 51.59 | 51.81 | 1:43.40 |
| 3 | Semmler / Neumann | GER | 5 | 5.10 | 5.12 | 51.63 | 51.82 | 1:43.45 |
| 4 | Heinrich / Hauterville | FRA | 7 | 5.13 | 5.13 | 51.73 | 51.79 | 1:43.52 |
| 5 | Ammour / Hertel | GER | 9 | 5.02 | 5.03 | 51.71 | 51.82 | 1:43.53 |
| 6 | Tentea / Daroczi | ROU | 12 | 5.10 | 5.13 | 51.64 | 52.04 | 1:43.68 |
| 7 | Rohner / Hersperger | SUI | 8 | 5.12 | 5.16 | 51.83 | 51.86 | 1:43.69 |
| 8 | Cipulis / Springis | LAT | 11 | 5.05 | 5.09 | 51.76 | 52.17 | 1:43.93 |
| 9 | Vain / Riou | MON | 20 | 5.04 | 5.05 | 52.05 | 51.93 | 1:43.98 |
| 10 | Zern / Schaller | GER | 4 | 5.15 | 5.16 | 51.83 | 52.19 | 1:44.02 |
| 11 | Gleeson / Cartagena | GBR | 14 | 5.10 | 5.11 | 52.05 | 52.27 | 1:44.32 |
| 12 | Variola / Batti | ITA | 6 | 5.14 | 5.18 | 52.19 | 52.29 | 1:44.48 |
| 13 | Dvorak / Havelka | CZE | 19 | 5.18 | 5.21 | 52.32 | 52.37 | 1:44.69 |
| 14 | Kalenda / Kleinbergs | LAT | 15 | 5.09 | 5.08 | 52.49 | 52.26 | 1:44.75 |
| 15 | Baird / Kay | GBR | 16 | 5.28 | 5.30 | 52.40 | 52.42 | 1:44.82 |
| 15 | Boron / Sosna | POL | 22 | 5.26 | 5.24 | 52.42 | 52.40 | 1:44.82 |
| 17 | Nica / Calencea | ROU | 21 | 5.21 | 5.20 | 52.33 | 52.68 | 1:45.01 |
| 18 | Baechler / Alais | FRA | 25 | 5.32 | 5.31 | 52.60 | 52.42 | 1:45.02 |
| 19 | Prochazka / Kadlec | CZE | 2 | 5.12 | 5.17 | 52.42 | 52.70 | 1:45.12 |
| 20 | Behounek / Wijas | CZE | 17 | 5.18 | 5.14 | 52.62 | 52.60 | 1:45.22 |
| 21 | Stanbridge / Williams | GBR | 18 | 5.29 | 52.63 | |||
| 22 | Verginer / Ceresatto | ITA | 23 | 5.19 | 52.85 | |||
| 23 | Kranz / Lenherr | LIE | 24 | 5.34 | 52.86 | |||
| 24 | Huber / Ragazzi | ITA | 3 | 5.25 | 52.87 | |||
| 25 | Sobczyk / Sienkiewicz | POL | 27 | 5.19 | 52.93 | |||
| 26 | Wesselink / Pals | NED | 28 | 5.34 | 52.98 | |||
| 27 | Gazmuri-Olivares / Moberg | NOR | 26 | 5.54 | 53.00 | |||
| 28 | Turea / Cordos | ROU | 29 | 5.31 | 53.42 | |||
| 29 | Dinca / Rosoiu | ROU | 1 | 5.31 | 53.84 | |||
| 30 | Huis in ‘t Veld / Vuurberg | NED | 30 | 6.06 | 54.60 |
