From Igls, AUT
(December 19, 2024) – Max Illmann rallied from behind to win the opening round of the IBSF Europe Cup two-man season, as he edged out two teammates for gold.
Illman and brakeman Jörn Wenzel sat third after the first heat, trailing Hans Peter Hannighofer and Tim Becker by .07, with Tobias Dostthaler and Alexander Schaller wedged in between, .05 behind Hannighofer.
Illmann drove to the lead in the second heat, well ahead of Austria’s Jakob Mandlbauer. He then held his lead after Dostthaler came in .17 behind his German teammate.
Hans Peter Hannighofer was looking for his first two-man gold medal outside of Germany, and pushed off with a race-quickest 5.05 start. While he was quick, Hannighofer made a small mistake mid-run that cost him just a bit of speed. His second downtime was second quickest, and enough for second place, .12 behind Illmann.
Illmann’s gold was his third straight in two-man Europe Cup competition, and his second straight in Igls. He’s won four of the last five races he’s entered.
For Hannighofer, the silver is his third straight in two-man, all behind Illmann.
Tobias Dostthaler won bronze in his first career Europe Cup start.
Mandlbauer and brakeman Daniel Bertschler took fourth, ahead of the Netherlands’ Dave Wesselink and Janko Franjic in fifth.
Great Britain’s Adam Baird and Oliver Butterworth rounded out the top six, up from eighth in the first heat.
The United States’ Kris Horn and Bryce Cheek slid to a ninth place finish, tied for Horn’s best career finish on the Europe Cup. Geoff Gadbois and Hakeem Abdul-Saboor slid to 11th, tied for Gadbois’ best two-man finish in Europe Cup action.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Axel Brown and Xaverri Williams finished 20th.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Finish |
| 1 | Illmann / Wenzel | GER | 13 | 5.18 | 5.17 | 51.50 | 51.62 | 1:43.12 |
| 2 | Hannighofer / Becker | GER | 12 | 5.08 | 5.05 | 51.43 | 51.81 | 1:43.24 |
| 3 | Dostthaler / Schaller | GER | 26 | 5.11 | 5.14 | 51.48 | 51.81 | 1:43.29 |
| 4 | Mandlbauer / Bertschler | AUT | 10 | 5.18 | 5.18 | 51.87 | 52.05 | 1:43.92 |
| 5 | Wesselink / Franjic | NED | 11 | 5.17 | 5.20 | 51.80 | 52.20 | 1:44.00 |
| 6 | Baird / Butterworth | GBR | 9 | 5.23 | 5.23 | 52.01 | 52.10 | 1:44.11 |
| 7 | Verginer / Lambrughi | ITA | 4 | 5.19 | 5.15 | 51.99 | 52.19 | 1:44.18 |
| 8 | Bollmann / Reuter | GER | 29 | 5.21 | 5.42 | 52.01 | 52.30 | 1:44.31 |
| 9 | Horn / Cheek | USA | 5 | 5.14 | 5.16 | 51.88 | 52.63 | 1:44.51 |
| 10 | Grantins / Ungurs | LAT | 16 | 5.29 | 5.28 | 52.14 | 52.39 | 1:44.53 |
| 11 | Gadbois / Abdul-Saboor | USA | 7 | 5.31 | 5.29 | 52.30 | 52.26 | 1:44.56 |
| 12 | Jones / Hersperger | SUI | 22 | 5.17 | 5.21 | 52.21 | 52.37 | 1:44.58 |
| 13 | Reich / Ndiaye | SUI | 17 | 5.24 | 5.24 | 52.17 | 52.46 | 1:44.63 |
| 14 | Prochazka / Jindra | CZE | 8 | 5.21 | 5.25 | 52.31 | 52.46 | 1:44.77 |
| 15 | Baechler / Novakovic | FRA | 14 | 5.33 | 5.38 | 52.29 | 52.58 | 1:44.87 |
| 16 | Hudson / ullah | GBR | 6 | 5.32 | 5.32 | 52.43 | 52.59 | 1:45.02 |
| 17 | Scherrer / Leutwyler | SUI | 18 | 5.35 | 5.42 | 52.49 | 52.70 | 1:45.19 |
| 18 | Matsuoka / Kariya | JPN | 19 | 5.30 | 5.35 | 52.49 | 52.79 | 1:45.28 |
| 19 | Chi / Sun | CHN | 28 | 5.18 | 5.20 | 52.64 | 52.76 | 1:45.40 |
| 20 | Brown / Williams | TTO | 15 | 5.45 | 5.74 | 52.63 | 53.62 | 1:46.25 |
| 21 | Diouf / Blairon | FRA | 20 | 5.27 | 52.73 | |||
| 22 | Zakrzewski / Sarnecki | POL | 27 | 5.31 | 52.74 | |||
| 23 | Guo / Zhang | CHN | 25 | 5.28 | 52.80 | |||
| 24 | Takeuchi / Okuno | JPN | 2 | 5.42 | 52.84 | |||
| 25 | Beierl / Drozda | AUT | 23 | 5.35 | 52.86 | |||
| 26 | Silic / Zelic | CRO | 1 | 5.61 | 53.20 | |||
| 27 | Pals / Terlage | NED | 24 | 5.57 | 53.38 | |||
| 28 | Lagrange / Lagrange | ARG | 21 | 5.50 | 53.50 | |||
| 29 | Ribeiro / Larrinaga | POL | 3 | 5.56 | 53.80 |