Vatra Dornei (ck) - Technically Vatra Dornei is not situated in Transylvania, the movie home of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, but it is close enough to justify the Dracula hotels in the touristy skiing area in the Carpathian Mountains in the north of Romania. The brand new “Bucovina” track gets busy already. Athletes of all nations try to get as many as possible training runs before the track gets closed for the race. The track with its 1012 meters length and 11 curves is one of the longest in the world cup and promises an exciting world cup final. For the first time in years Patrick Pigneter (ITA) is not in the leading position in the final phase with only two races left. Hannes Clara (ITA) is in the lead with one point more than Pigneter. However, to keep Pigneter from winning his eighth consecutive overall world cup title, Clara will have to defeat him at least once. Thomas Kammerlander (AUT) with 24 or 25 respectively points less than the leading duo might also have his chances. The first official training runs on Friday will show who adjusted best to the new „Bucovina“ track. The women’s event faces a totally different situation: Ekatharina Lavrentjeva (RUS) can only in theory kept from winning her tenth overall world cup. However, with two more wins in Vatra Dornei, she could tie and beat her own record of 11 consecutive world cup wins. But like all the others she has never raced in Vatra Dornei and will have to get along with the track. The competition for the best rank behind the Russian will be held within the Italian team between Great Pinggera, Evelin Lanthaler and Melanie Schwarz. Throughout the season Michaela Maurer (GER) closed the gap between herself and the Italian trio and a podium finish for her has become a real possibility. In the doubles’ event Pavel Porshnev/Ivan Lazarev (RUS) failed to challenge their eternal rivals Patrick Pigneter/Florian Clara (ITA) as they had done in the previous seasons. Only in Umhausen the Russians reached the goal ahead of Pignter/Clara. So now Christian Schopf/Andreas Schopf (AUT) are the only ones who could get in the way of Pigneter/Clara winning the overall world cup. They are ranked second with a 75 point margin to catch up. Training runs will start Friday, February 22nd at 10am, first decisions will fall in the qualification runs of women and doubles starting at 1pm on Friday. Track Info „Bucovina“: Length: 1012m Vertical Drop: 124m Start Elevation: 984m Finish Elevenation: 860m Average Descent: 12,7% Maximum Descent: 17% Minimum Descent: 9% Number of Curves: 11 Program in Vatra Dornei: Friday, 22.02.2013 10am: Training runs men, women, doubles (WC 5) 1pm: Qualification women, seeded women (WC 5) afterwards Qualification doubles, seeded doubles (WC 5) Saturday, 23.02.2013 10am: Qualification men, seeded men (WC 5) 12pm: 1st Competition run world cup doubles (WC 5) Nations’ Cup doubles (WC 5) 1st Competition run world cup women (WC 5) Nations’ Cup Women (WC 5) 2nd Competition run world cup doubles (WC 5) Sunday, 24.02.2013 10am: 1st Competition world cup run men (WC 5) Nations’ Cup men (WC 5) 2nd Competition run world cup women (WC 5) 2nd Competition run world cup men (WC 5) 30 Minutes break, afterwards Team Event (WC 5) 3pm: Medal Ceremonies (WC 5) Monday, 25.02.2013 break Tuesday, 26.02.2013 10am: Training runs men, women, doubles (WC 6) 1pm: Qualification women, seeded women (WC 6) afterwards Qualification doubles, seeded doubles (WC 6) Wednesday, 27.02.2013 10am: Qualification men, seeded men (WC 6) 12pm: 1st Competition run world cup doubles (WC 6) Nations’ Cup doubles (WC 6) 1st Competition run world cup women (WC 6) Nations’ Cup Women (WC 6) 2nd Competition run world cup doubles (WC 6) Thursday, 28.02.2013 10am: 1st Competition world cup run men (WC 6) Nations’ Cup men (WC 6) 2nd Competition run world cup women (WC 6) 2nd Competition run world cup men (WC 6) 30 Minutes break, afterwards Team Event (WC 6) 4pm: Medal Ceremonies World Cup 6 and Overall World Cup