It was quite difficult for the organizers of the fourth RED BULL World Cup competition in Hüttau, Austria, to get the track ready. “The guys worked 24-hours-shifts during the last days”, Gerald Kallan, local hero and second in the overall ranking, explained.
“Now we all are ready to look forward and to enjoy the race. For me, it will be more pressure, but it is also nice to compete under the eyes of friends and parents. Leader in the overall ranking is his Austrian teammate Robert Batkowski, but the fight between these two could be very close. Kallan, World Champion in 2000, does not care.
“I want enjoy my sport, and for sure I do not begin to calculate, what I have to achieve for the first place."
Nevertheless: Gerald Kallan has home ice advantage. Will it be his third World Cup victory in this season and in his career?

In the women’s competition, in the overall classification there should be a big duel between the Russian Ekaterina Lavrentjeva (240 points) and Sonja Steinacher (ITA/210), while in the double seaters favorites are again the Polish Andrzej Laszczak/Damian Waniczek, who won two out of three races this year and became second once.

After the competitions in Hüttau, the whole scene moves to Kindberg im Mürztal, Austria, where from Tuesday to Thursday the fifth race of the RED BULL-World Cup will be held.

Kindberg replaces Unterammergau, where it is not possible to compete because of the mild temperatures. German athlete Marcus Grausam says: „It was not possible to get the track in good conditions.”

Program from Hüttau:
Friday: Training
Saturday: Men’s competitions
Sunday: Women and Double seater
Program from Kindberg:
Tuesday, Jan 28th: Training
Wednesday, Jan 29th: Men’s competiton
Tuesday, Jan 30st: Women and Double seater