LATZFONS/LAZFONS. On Saturday, January 6th, the first race day of the GRM Group Luge World Cup in Latzfons/Lazfons (ITA), the first competition runs of the men’s and the women’s event as well as the final runs of the doubles were executed. Overall, 53 men, 32 women, and 13 doubles took part in the races, 20 nations were represented.

Due to the poor weather conditions in Latzfons/Lazfons, the winners of the doubles’ event were determined in only one competition run. In the end, Patrick Pigneter/Florian Clara (ITA) emerged victorious once again: The Italians, who had also triumphed at the kickoff event in Kühtai (AUT), won the race in Latzfons/Lazfons ahead of the Russian pairings Pavel Porshnev/Ivan Lazarev and Aleksandr Egorov/Petr Popov. “For us, everything went smoothly today,” Pigneter stated after the race. “We have made good use of the short break after the event in Kühtai and gained confidence – confidence, we may have lacked in the last season.” His partner Clara agreed: “We have rediscovered our easiness, that’s one reason for our current success. Now our competitors have to attack, while we can stay calm.” The fact that Pigneter/Clara not only dominated every run since the first training but also won the race with a lead of over one and a half seconds ahead of the runner-ups Porshnev/Lazarev, proves the good form of the Italians.

Pigneter was also the best athlete in the first competition run of the men: With a time of 1:02.96 minutes, he was ten hundredths faster than runner-up Alex Gruber (ITA), the Austrian Thomas Kammerlander came in third with a gap of 35 hundredths.
At the women’s event, Evelin Lanthaler (ITA) was not to beat in the first competition run: The Italian came down in 1:03.51 minutes and thus outpaced her compatriots Alexandra Pfattner and Greta Pinggera with a lead of more than a second.

The men’s Nations’ Cup was also dominated by Italian athletes: Florian Clara (ITA) won the race ahead of his teammates Armin Folie and Laurin Jakob Kompatscher. At the women’s Nations’ Cup, Daniela Mittermair (ITA) ranked first, followed by Aleksandra Suvorova (RUS) and Tamara Fissore (ARG). 

On Sunday, January 7th, the GRM Group Luge World Cup in Latzfons/Lazfons will come to an end with the final runs of the men’s and the women’s event.

Results:
http://www.fil-luge.org/en/multimedia/grm-group-luge-world-cup-on-natural-track-10