European Champion Hall with second place in Innsbruck, Johannes Lochner third
Innsbruck (RWH) Season's win number four, track record and World Cup lead: 4-man bobsleigh World Champion Francesco Friedrich is on his way to his fifth overall victory after the seventh of eight races this season.
At the BMW IBSF World Cup in Innsbruck (AUT) Friedrich won the penultimate race of the season in the big sled with Thorsten Margis, Candy Bauer and Alexander Schueller as the push athletes team. With a new track record (50,28 seconds) he relegated European Champion Brad Hall (GBR, 0,19 seconds back) to second place. Olympic silver medallist Johannes Lochner (GER, 0,34 seconds back) finished third with Florian Bauer, Erec Bruckert and Joshua Tasche.
Patrick Baumgartner (ITA) finished sixth in Innsbruck with Eric Fantazzini, Robert Micea and Lorenzo Bilotti, tied with Christoph Hafer's (GER) team. For the Italians it was the best World Cup result in 4-man bobsleigh.
In the overall ranking of the 2022/2023 BMW IBSF World Cup, Brad Hall (GBR) and Francesco Friedrich (GBR) entered the penultimate race of the season with equal points. Before the final on February 12 in Innsbruck, Friedrich (1512 points) now has a 15-point lead over Hall (1497). Johannes Lochner (GER, 1370) is third overall. The 4-man bobsleigh final for the 2022/2023 BMW IBSF World Cup will be held on February 12, also at the Olympia Eiskanal in Innsbruck.
For more detailed information including athlete profiles and results please visit ibsf.org. Photos for editorial use can be found at Flickr. ©RWH2023
Photos: IBSF / Viesturs Lacis
