1st RED BULL World Cup/ Valdaora, ItalyDec 14th to 16th , 2001Five Austrians in front in Valdaora"It came as quite a surprise for me," says serial winner Gerhard Pilz, who raced to his 14th victory in his carreer. "I would have expected more advantages for the Italians, they had some more training runs here than we had." But with a smile he also adds: "But then again, I do not need that many runs to get used to a track." Which he proved right as his times were constantly improving from the first training run to his fastest time in the second run, which could not be beaten by anyone. But Gerhard Pilz was only one of five Austrians who ended up on top in the ranking. Second was Gerald Kallan who became World Champion on this track in Valdaora in the year 2000. And third was a new comer in the Austrain team: Gernot Schwab only made it into the team in yesterdays qualification. "I am so happy," he says after the race. "This is my best result so far. In the first run I experienced a little bit with my sledge, but in the second run everything went perfectly well." His second run ended up being the second best time, only beaten by Gerhard Pilz.A personal victory celebrated William Ogilvie at the end of the ranking. Or better: Not at the end for the first time. He and his team mate Nick Schellenberg from Great Britain normally end up at the last places. But today it was Ogilvie ahead of Schellenberg at the very first time. Both did not take it too seriousely. Schellenberg says: "Well, I have not beaten William today, but I am sure I am the only racer in the field who already took part in an artificial track race here in Valdaora back in 1986."In the women´s race it was a wellknown face on top of the podium as well: always nice, always smiling Sonja Steinacher celebrtaed her 9th victory in her carreer. "I knew it would be tight, so I could win with a safety run, I had to go full risk in the second run as well." Full risk brought her the best time of the day and of course rank one. Still problems with her injured ankle has former World Champion Elvira Holzknecht. "It still gives me a lot of pain when I am using my foot to break and this race today has been my first time back on track," says Holzknecht, who had to settle with the 7th rank.Tonight the RED BULL World Cup will be continued with a night run for men and women´s singleseaters, which starts the second race in the World Cup. It will be finished tomorrow with the second runs and the double seater competition.Results Men´s Singleseaters:1. Gerhard PILZ (AUT), 1:08,71 (3), 1:08,12 (1), 2:16,832. Gerald KALLAN (AUT), 1:08,66 (2), 1:08,79 (4), 2:17,453. Gernot SCHWAB (AUT), 1:08,90 (5), 1:08,69 (2), 2:17,594. Ferdinand HIRZEGGER (AUT), 1:08,85 (4), 1:08,93 (6), 2:17,785. Robert BATKOWSKI (AUT), 1:09,03 (6), 1:08,78 (3), 2:17,816. Florian BREITENBERGER (ITA), 1:09,21 (8), 1:08,92 (5), 2:18,137. Anton BLASBICHLER (ITA), 1:09,29 (9), 1:08,99 (7), 2:18,288. Daniele PIEILLER (ITA), 1:09,29, 1:09,04 (8), 2:18,339. Daniel QUITTA (ITA), 1:09,43 (11), 1:09,28 (9), 2:18,7110. Andreas CASTIGLIONI (ITA), 1:08,51 (1), 1:10,78 (13), 2:19,2911. Marcus GRAUSAM (GER), 1:09,07 (7), 1:10,51 (12), 2:19,5812. Roland KALLAN (AUT), 1:10,85 (14), 1:09,62 (10), 2:20,47Results Women´s Singleseater:1. Sonja STEINACHER (ITA), 1:10,26 (1), 1:10,06 (1), 2:20,322. Ekaterina LAVRENTJEVA (RUS), 1:10,52 (3), 1:10,50 (2), 2:21,023. Christa GIETL (ITA), 1:30,38 (2), 1:10,65 (4), 2:21,034. Irene MITTERSTIELER (ITA), 1:10,59 (4), 1:11,10 (6), 2:21,695. Sandra MARINER (AUT), 1:11,14 (5), 1:10,59 (3), 2:21,736. Renate GIETL (ITA), 1:11,51 (6), 1:10,66 (5), 2:22,177. Elvira HOLZKNECHT (AUT), 1:11,76 (7), 1:12,22 (8), 2:23,988. Julia VETLOVA (RUS), 1:13,60 (9), 1:11,67 (7), 2:25,279. Ewelina ZUREK (POL), 1:12,83 (8), 1:12,76 (9), 2:25,5910. Michaela MAURER (GER), 1:13,85 (12), 1:12,77 (10), 2:26,62
