From Altenberg, GER
(January 5, 2024) – Consistency and speed are a hard duo to beat, and in the 2024 Europe Cup two-man opener in Altenberg Hans Peter Hannighofer showed just that.
Hannighofer and brakeman Tim Becker set the quick push in the first heat by .01, but trailed teammates Max Illmann and Costa Laurenz by .02 after their first run, with the rest of the field well off pace from third on back.
In the second heat Hannighofer and Becker lowered their start time by .03 and slid to the lead with a very similar run to their first. Illmann and Laurenz matched their first heat start time, but Illmann couldn’t quite match his first drive as the duo finished in second place, .31 behind Hannighofer.
Hannighofer’s gold was his first in two-man Europe Cup competition since the 2020/2021 season race in Altenberg.
Behind the battle for gold between Hannighofer and Illmann, Alex Czudaj and Jorn Wenzel jumped up from sixth to win bronze and give Germany the podium sweep.
Switzerland’s Timo Rohner finished fourth, only .01 behind Czudaj, while Romania’s Mihai Tentea and Germany’s Laurin Zern rounded out the top six.
Lichtenstein’s Martin Kranz, the top junior in the 2023 World Championships, finished tenth.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Finish |
| 1 | Hannighofer / Becker | GER | 10 | 5.24 | 5.21 | 55.29 | 55.49 | 1:50.78 |
| 2 | Illman / Laurenz | GER | 13 | 5.25 | 5.25 | 55.27 | 55.82 | 1:51.09 |
| 3 | Czudaj / Wenzel | GER | 12 | 5.27 | 5.31 | 55.79 | 55.64 | 1:51.43 |
| 4 | Rohner / Hersperger | SUI | 6 | 5.38 | 5.39 | 55.72 | 55.72 | 1:51.44 |
| 5 | Tentea / Iordache | ROU | 7 | 5.40 | 5.42 | 55.62 | 55.95 | 1:51.57 |
| 6 | Zern / Schaller | GER | 4 | 5.31 | 5.31 | 55.62 | 56.21 | 1:51.83 |
| 7 | Verginer / Ragazzi | ITA | 9 | 5.37 | 5.35 | 56.09 | 55.89 | 1:51.98 |
| 8 | Mandlbauer / Nichols-Bardi | AUT | 5 | 5.36 | 5.34 | 56.26 | 56.54 | 1:52.80 |
| 9 | Turea / Cordos | ROU | 3 | 5.52 | 5.54 | 56.54 | 56.85 | 1:53.39 |
| 10 | Kranz / Bertscher | LIE | 11 | 5.47 | 5.51 | 56.63 | 56.83 | 1:53.46 |
| 11 | Nica / Dinca | ROU | 2 | 5.60 | 5.60 | 56.67 | 57.79 | 1:54.46 |
| 12 | Kaiser / Volgger | AUT | 1 | 5.54 | 5.53 | 57.75 | 57.62 | 1:55.37 |
| DNF | Stanbridge / Cartagena | GBR | 8 | 5.41 | DNF |
