Bob: Four: Lochner leads German triple victory

Nine weeks before the Olympic Games, the German four-man bobsleigh team celebrated its first triad victory in the World Cup in two years. World champion Johannes Lochner won the first home race of the season in Winterberg on Sunday, ahead of Nico Walther and Francesco Friedrich. It was the third victory of a German sled in the fourth four-man World Cup this winter.

“Such a success gives self-confidence towards the Olympics, I had some doubts about our starting performance”, said Lochner on ARD television:”But we can continue like this, I am overjoyed”.

With a view to the Winter Games in Pyeongchang, the team of national coach Rene Spies is thus well positioned in the top discipline.

At the World Championship in February, the three pilots had already occupied the podium in the four-seater, Lochner and Friedrich were simultaneously world champions at the Königssee.

A triple victory in the World Cup was last achieved in Winterberg in December 2015, when Friedrich won before Maximilian Arndt and Walther, who had retired in the meantime.

On Saturday Stephanie Schneider also gave the German women their first World Cup victory in almost three years, while Mariama Jamanka finished third and contributed her share to the excellent result.

At the moment, however, it is much harder for the men in the pair, the smaller German sledges are not yet running as desired.

On Saturday, World Champion Friedrich saved the second place behind Clemens Bracher from a good second run and supported by capricious weather conditions.

“This is a very good result this weekend, but we have a few construction sites,” said Friedrich, who is the only German pilot without victory this winter:”We have to work on ourselves, things have to get better again.