Johannes Lochner second in the two-man bobsleigh ahead of Oskars Kibermanis

Winterberg (RWH): Bobsleigh pilot Francesco Friedrich of Germany has secured his third win of the season in the BMW IBSF World Cup as well as the title in the 2017 IBSF European Championships. In Winterberg (GER), Francesco Friedrich/Thorsten Margis finished 0.71 seconds ahead of their German team mates Johannes Lochner/Joshua Bluhm in the two-man bobsleigh.
It was Francesco Friedrich’s second victory in the European Championships after taking the title in 2015. Lochner, who was the runner-up in the 2015 and 2016 World Championships, achieved a double success in Winterberg with his first podium finish in the two-man bobsleigh World Cup and his first ever medal in the European Championships.
The athlete in third place in the World Cup also celebrated another first: Oskars Kibermanis of Latvia (0.77 seconds behind) won bronze in Winterberg to secure the first European Championship medal of his career.
Alexey Stulnev/Kirill Antukh of Russia, who finished in fourth place, and Brits Bruce Tasker/Tobi Olubi, who finished twelveth, all celebrated their best World Cup results to date in Winterberg.
Yunjong Won of Korea finished in eighth place and now has a total of 736 points, defending his position at the top of the 2016/2017 BMW IBSF World Cup standings ahead of Rico Peter (SUI, 714), who finished fifth in Winterberg. Alexander Kasjanov of Russia (698), ninth in Winterberg, is third overall at the halfway point in the season. ©RWH2016-2017

Francesco Friedrich (GER, 2013, 2015 and 2016 World Champion)
“Our start times were good today, so were the runs, well the top section at least. You always want to win – I just hope we can continue our run.”

Johannes Lochner (GER, runner-up in the 2015 and 2016 World Championships, 2016 Junior World Champion)
“It’s a shame that we were runners-up to Francesco again, it was the same at the World Championships and last year. But he’s simply unbeatable on this track. We gave it our best and are delighted with the silver!”

Oskars Kibermanis (LAT, eighth in the 2015 World Championships)
“Our season is going really well. I hope it stays that way! I have changed a few things since last winter in terms of technology and my driving style, too.”