LATSCH/LACES. At the doubles’ event of the GRM Group Luge World Cup on Natural Track from January 5th to 7th in Latsch/Laces (ITA), the Austrian pairing Rupert Brüggler and Tobias Angerer won their first world cup race ever. After narrowly missing the podium at the world cup kickoff in Kühtai (AUT), the Austrians were the fastest this time and managed to beat, among others, serial winners Patrick Pigneter/Florian Clara (ITA). “The first four pairings were close together, but we tried to stay calm. And now we are more than happy about our first victory in a world cup,” said Brüggler after the race. His partner Angerer added: “The equipment has been perfect. Although we made a few mistakes in the second run, we were able to handle the difficult parts well.” Clara, who ranked third with his partner Pigneter in the qualification, also wasn’t unhappy with the second rank: “We had to attack in the final run and did a good job, unfortunately it wasn’t enough today,” said the Italian, who congratulated the victorious pairing: “The competitors are very strong and close together.” The Russians Pavel Porshnev and Ivan Lazarev ranked third, they managed to gain one rank compared with the qualification and replaced the Austrians Christoph Regensburger/Dominik Holzknecht on the podium. In the overall standings of the doubles, Pigneter/Clara are still in the lead, followed by Brüggler/Angerer and Schopf/Schopf (AUT), who share the third rank with Porshnev/Lazarev.

At the women’s event, Evelin Lanthaler (ITA) triumphed over Tina Unterberger (AUT) and Greta Pinggera (ITA). The reigning World and European Champion was happy after her victory: “The first run was thrilling, and my second run wasn’t without mistakes. I knew I had to give all I have, otherwise it wouldn’t have been enough. But I stayed calm, and now I’m happy everything turned out fine,” said Lanthaler, who is second in the overall standings of the women, just behind Unterberger.

The Austrian reached the podium in Latsch/Laces for the first time. “For me, Latsch is like a lion’s den, I have never been better than fifth on the Gumpfrei-track”, said Unterberger, who was not only pleased with the second rank but also with the successful defense of the world cup leader-shirt. “It’s the first time for me to defend this shirt. To me, it shimmers like gold.” Local hero Sara Bachmann ranked fourth: “Of course, I had higher expectations for my home track, although I’m not unhappy with the fourth rank.” In the overall standings, she also ranks fourth behind Pinggera.

As well as at the women’s event, there has also been an Italian victory at the men’s competition: Patrick Pigneter, who ranked first in the qualification, could even expand his lead – in the end, he was 1.31 seconds faster than runner-up Thomas Kammerlander. “My qualification run was great, in the final run it was crucial to find a balance between attack and defense. But I was in control of the track,” said Pigneter, who considers the track in Latsch/Laces as one of his favorites. Kammerlander could only congratulate the winner: “You have to admit, it was a real demonstration of power from Patrick. But in Latsch, the South Tyroleans always dominate. This in mind, we are happy with the results of our team.” Third in the men’s event was Alex Gruber (ITA), who was a little bit annoyed after the race. He thought he could have done better on this challenging track. The overall standings of the men are the same as the standings in Latsch/Laces: Pigneter leads, Kammerlander and Gruber come behind.

At the team competition, six squads started in Latsch/Laces. Eventually, Italy with Lanthaler, Gruber and Pigneter/Clara was triumphant, runner-up was the Austrian team with Unterberger, Kammerlander and Brüggler/Angerer. Russia with Darija Malieva, Jurii Talikh and Porshnev/Lazarev ranked third.

The next station of the GRM Group Luge World Cup on Natural Track is Moscow (RUS). In the Russian capital, the races will take place from January 13th to 15th.

Results:
http://www.fil-luge.org/en/multimedia/grm-group-luge-world-cup-on-natural-track