DEUTSCHNOFEN/NOVA PONENTE. On Sunday, January 29th, the final runs of the men and the women as well as the team competition of the GRM Group Luge World Cup in Deutschnofen/Nova Ponente (ITA) were executed.

At the women’s event, the winner of the qualification was also successful in the final run: Greta Pinggera (ITA) won the race in Deutschnofen/Nova Ponente ahead of her teammates Evelin Lanthaler and Sara Bachmann. With a time of 1:50.48, she was able to win her second race in this season. “I’m very happy today, I did two great runs here in South Tyrol,” said Pinggera, who stated that the track in Deutschnofen/Nova Ponente is one of her favorites. “The track is technically challenging, but it’s also fun to race here. In addition to that, I really like the atmosphere, and there’s always a great audience.” Due to her second triumph in a row, Pinggera was able to shorten the gap to Lanthaler in the overall standings, but Lanthaler is still in the lead with 30 points ahead of Pinggera. “I’m not really expecting to win the World Cup this season – maybe I would have a chance if there would be one or two more races,” joked Pinggera. She and Lanthaler also had a thrilling duel in Deutschnofen/Nova Ponente, but in the end Pinggera emerged victorious. Lanthaler said that she had already lost the race in the qualification run: “Everything went well in the training, but I was too nervous and tried too hard in the first run – thus, I made too many mistakes. It’s the first time in a long while that I was really annoyed after a run,” stated Lanthaler, who added that she nevertheless has to be satisfied with the second rank in South Tyrol, regarding the overall standings. Pinggera’s and Lanthaler’s teammate Bachmann was also happy after the race in Deutschnofen/Nova Ponente. The track seems to suit her: “I like the track, it’s definitely one of my favorites. Every time I raced here, I ranked third,” said the Italian.

At the men’s event, there has also been an Italian victory: Alex Gruber (ITA) had a time of 1:46.85 minutes and celebrated his first win of the season in South Tyrol: “It was a great weekend for me. From the beginning, everything went well. I already was optimistic after the training, and then I managed to do two perfect runs in the race,” said Gruber, who seems to be a specialist on the track in Deutschnofen/Nova Ponente: He has won the last three World Cup races there. “I know the track by heart, I feel confident here. That allows me to take risks – and today I knew I had to go all in, because Thomas put a lot of pressure on me.”

In the end, Thomas Kammerlander (AUT) came in second with a gap of 58 hundredths, and the Austrian was visibly relieved. “The tension was high in the last weeks, and I never expected to rank better than third here in South Tyrol. But I ranked second and even could increase my lead in the overall standings, so I’m more than happy now,” said Kammerlander, who has 25 points more than runner-up Patrick Pigneter (ITA) before the GRM Group Luge World Cup final in his home town Umhausen (AUT). Anyway, Pigneter won’t give up: “Of course I will fight until the end,” said the World Cup Champion of the previous season. Pigneter, who came in third in Deutschnofen/Nova Ponente, was not satisfied with his performance, especially because he was nearly one and a half seconds slower than his compatriot Gruber: “The gap to Alex is way too big. It just didn’t go well for me today.”

In the team competition, the Italians were able to triumph once again: The Italian squad with Alex Gruber, Greta Pinggera and Patrick Pigneter/Florian Clara, won the race ahead of the Austrian team, which consisted of Thomas Kammerlander, Tina Unterberger and Christian Schopf/Andreas Schopf. The Russian team with Gregori Bukin, Daria Maleeva and Pavel Porshnev/Ivan Lazarev ranked third.

The final event of the GRM Group Luge World Cup on Natural Track 2016/2017 will be held at the Grantau-track in Umhausen (AUT) from February 17th–18th. But before that, there’s another highlight: the FIL World Championships, which will take place in Vatra Dornei (ROU) from February 3rd to 5th.

Results:
http://www.fil-luge.org/en/multimedia/grm-group-luge-world-cup-on-natural-track-3