Latvian bobsleigh pilot Emīlas Cipulis’ crew of four took shared fifth place in the fifth stage of the World Cup in Norway on Sunday, while Jēkab Kalenda’s foursome was in 11th position. The day before, the Latvian crew piloted by Emīlas Cipulis and Jēkab Kalendas took eighth and ninth place respectively in the two-man competition.
Cipulis started together with pushers Dāvi Spriņgi, Lauri Kaufman and Krista Lindenblatt, while Kalenda – with Edgar Ungur, Dāvi Kaufman and Edgar Nemmi.
The victory was celebrated by the quartet of German pilot Francesco Friedrich, who set the fastest times in both races, breaking both the start and track records. Friedrichs beat the second place winner – his compatriot and closest competitor Johannes Lohner – by 0.22 seconds, but British Brad Hall lost by 0.65 seconds.
Cipulis lost 0.85 seconds to the winner, sharing fifth place with Swiss Michael Vogt and Italian Patrick Baumgartner. The top three were two tenths of a second apart.
In the first race, Cipulis’ crew had the fifth best start and fourth place in the finish, 0.36 and 0.26 seconds behind Friedrich and Lohner, as well as six hundredths of a second behind Hall. Three, five and six hundredths of a second behind the Latvian were three more crews
Kalenda and his partners had the seventh fastest start and were ninth at the finish, losing 0.68 seconds to Friedrich. Two more fours were one-hundredth of a second slower.
Cipulis had the sixth fastest start in the second race, the speed on the track was good enough, but after the 11th turn, the Latvian first crew made several mistakes, due to which the Latvians remained nine hundredths of a second behind the Swiss Zimon Fridli. Cipulis had the ninth result in the trip.
Kalend had an unfortunate drive, who with his partners pushed the seventh best start, but finished 13th, thus losing two positions.
19 crews of four took part in the competition.
Lohner is the leader in the overall World Cup standings with 1305 points, Friedrichs is second with 1295 points, and Cipulis is in third place with 1152 points. Kalenda is in 11th position with 832 points.
In the first week of February, the World Cup stage will take place in Sigulda, where the fight for the title of European champion in skeleton, two-person crews in bobsleigh and monobobsleigh will be held at the same time.
2024-01-28 15:21:31
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