From Igls, AUT
(February 3, 2024) – Hans Peter Hannighofer capped an outstanding 2023/2024 IBSF Europe Cup four-man bobsled season with a come from behind victory in Igls.
Hannighofer tailed teammate Max Illmann by six tenths of a second after the first heat, with Swiss pilot Timo Rohner only .02 behind him in third.
In the second heat Rohner had a run that nearly mirrored the first and took the lead to guarantee a medal in the season finale.
Hannighofer was next. His team gave him a race-quickest push, and he answered with the fastest downtime of the competition to take the lead with Illmann to go.
Illmann’s team also gave him a quicker push in the second heat. Like Rohner, Illmann’s drive reflected his first for the bulk of his run, but wasn’t quite enough to hold back Hannighofer as his teammate took the victory in the season finale, with Illmann second and Rohner third.
The win was Hannighofer’s sixth straight. Illmann’s silver was his fourth in five starts on the season.
For Rohner, the bronze medal was his third straight.
Nico Semmler was fourth, .08 out of the medals and .36 ahead of Dutch slider Dave Wesselink in fifth.
Canada’s Pat Norton scored a sixth place finish, his best ever on the Europe Cup tour. Teammate Taylor Austin finished three spots back in ninth.
Kris Horn finished tenth as the top American in the field. Geoff Gadbois slid up from 16th in the first heat to finish 13th.
Great Britain’s John Stanbridge finished 16th.
With his win, Hans Peter Hannighofer won the Europe Cup four-man title by 22 points over Timo Rohner. Austria’s Jakob Mandlbauer finished the season in third, ahead of Alexander Czudaj and Laurin Zern in fourth and fifth.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Finish |
| 1 | Hannighofer / Kornhardt / Bosse / Gessenhardt | GER | 5 | 5.18 | 5.13 | 51.05 | 50.91 | 1:41.96 |
| 2 | Illmann / Proske / Schenk / Wobeto | GER | 7 | 5.19 | 5.18 | 50.99 | 51.07 | 1:42.06 |
| 3 | Roher / Matthys / Novakovic / Hersperger | SUI | 6 | 5.21 | 5.20 | 51.07 | 51.17 | 1:42.24 |
| 4 | Semmler / Ebert / Sauerbrei / Neumann | GER | 12 | 5.25 | 5.27 | 51.13 | 51.19 | 1:42.32 |
| 5 | Wesselink / Franjic / Franjic / Huis in ‘t Veld | NED | 3 | 5.14 | 5.16 | 51.21 | 51.47 | 1:42.68 |
| 6 | Norton / Evelyn / de Souza / Bruggeling | CAN | 15 | 5.25 | 5.22 | 51.42 | 51.28 | 1:42.70 |
| 7 | Mandlbauer / Hanschitz / Nichols-Bardi / Zech | AUT | 10 | 5.24 | 5.26 | 51.26 | 51.46 | 1:42.72 |
| 8 | Czudaj / Lüdtke / Wenzel / Vogel | GER | 4 | 5.21 | 5.22 | 51.36 | 51.41 | 1:42.77 |
| 9 | Austin / Couturier / Murray-Lawrence / McEwan | CAN | 16 | 5.32 | 5.29 | 51.50 | 51.28 | 1:42.78 |
| 10 | Horn / Simon / Johnson / Joseph | USA | 14 | 5.26 | 5.30 | 51.63 | 51.94 | 1:43.57 |
| 11 | Riech / Äberhard / Matossi / Eichenberger | SUI | 24 | 5.28 | 5.29 | 51.85 | 51.78 | 1:43.63 |
| 12 | Kaiser / Unterkircher / Wiener / Volgger | AUT | 8 | 5.45 | 5.42 | 51.81 | 51.83 | 1:43.64 |
| 13 | Gadbois / Blueberg / Cheek / Storms | USA | 9 | 5.45 | 5.38 | 51.92 | 51.77 | 1:43.69 |
| 14 | Prochazka / Petrikovic / Belsky / Jech | CZE | 23 | 5.29 | 5.35 | 51.88 | 51.85 | 1:43.73 |
| 15 | Kranz / Tschofen / Lenherr / Bertschler | LIE | 18 | 5.40 | 5.39 | 52.06 | 51.73 | 1:43.79 |
| 16 | Stanbridge / Riekstins / Kay / Dixon | GBR | 11 | 5.51 | 5.48 | 51.87 | 51.94 | 1:43.81 |
| 17 | Scherrer / Felder / Grüninger / Grüninger | SUI | 19 | 5.50 | 5.50 | 52.02 | 51.98 | 1:44.00 |
| 18 | Vain / Riou / Borges / Vatrican | MON | 22 | 5.33 | 5.34 | 51.91 | 52.13 | 1:44.04 |
| 19 | Brown / Roberts / Williams / John | TTO | 17 | 5.55 | 5.45 | 52.21 | 51.86 | 1:44.07 |
| 20 | Rohn / Casutt / Binggeli / Toure | SUI | 2 | 5.49 | 5.47 | 52.21 | 51.89 | 1:44.10 |
| 21 | Turea / Bucur / Cordos / Dumitrache | ROU | 1 | 5.51 | 52.46 | |||
| 22 | Nica / Asurdoaie / Oleinic / Dinca | ROU | 13 | 5.45 | 52.79 | |||
| 23 | Silic / Strahija / Curin / Nimac | CRO | 21 | 6.14 | 54.03 | |||
| DNS | Bangiev / Bryer / Guibert / Caffier | BUL | 20 | DNS |
