PASSEIER VALLEY/VAL PASSIRIA. On Sunday, January 14th 2018, the final runs of the third GRM Group Luge World Cup on the Bergkristall track in the Passeier Valley/Val Passiria (ITA) were held in presence of the FIL delegates Harald Steyrer (FIL Vice President of Finance) and Peter Knauseder (FIL Vice President Natural Track). This time, it was the turn of the men and the women, as the doubles’ finals were completed on the day before.

At the women’s event, local hero Evelin Lanthaler (ITA) was victorious: The Italian dominated the race on her home track and won the competition with a time of 1:51.59 minutes. Lanthaler, who had been the fastest athlete in every single run in the Passeier Valley/Val Passiria, confessed after the race: “Of course I wanted to win here, any other outcome would have disappointed me.” Even so, she did not feel a lot of pressure before the race. “Actually, I wasn’t nervous, I tried to relax. I might have made a few mistakes, but now I’m just happy about the victory – to win at home is twice as good,” said Lanthaler, who managed to get in the lead of the overall standings due to her triumph at the Bergkristall track. In the Passeier Valley/Val Passiria, Ekaterina Lavrentyeva (RUS) came in second. The Russian ranked among the top three for the first time since her comeback this season, and for obvious reasons, she was satisfied: “I’m very happy to stand on the podium again,” said Lavrentyeva, who aims to deliver similar performances in the next competitions. “After the long time without training and a few experiments with the equipment, it finally gets better. I’ll try to get on the podium again at the next race, let’s see how it will turn out.” In South Tyrol, Greta Pinggera (ITA) ranked third, but she had hoped for more: “I’m not really satisfied with my performance, for I know that I can be faster on this track,” said the Italian, who was 1.32 seconds slower than Lanthaler.

At the men’s event, there has also been an Italian victory: Alex Gruber, who had ranked second after the first run, eventually was able to outpace his greatest rivals Thomas Kammerlander (AUT) and Patrick Pigneter (ITA) and won the race. “In the first run, I’ve been more cautious, and I was braking a lot. But in the second run I’ve risked more, and that turned out well, it was a nearly perfect run,” said Gruber, who considered his performance in the final run as a key to his success in the Passeier Valley/Val Passiria. “The races in Passeier are always thrilling, the track is technically difficult, hundredths can be crucial. Furthermore, the competitors at the men’s event are at a high level, there’s no room for any mistakes.” In the end, only 14 hundredths separated Gruber and runner-up Kammerlander, who nevertheless could live with this gap: “It was a difficult competition, Alex just was the best athlete today. But I haven’t been that much slower, so I’m happy with the outcome of the race,” said Kammerlander, who was able to expand his lead to Pigneter in the overall standings. “On the one hand, I gained 15 more points than Patrick today, but on the other hand, Alex got back into the game. The next race will be crucial.” However, for the time being, Pigneter had to be content with the third rank in the Passeier Valley/Val Passiria. “I went all in today, and if you risk a lot, there’s always the possibility of making mistakes. But I have to congratulate Alex and Thomas, they were in a league of their own today,” said Pigneter.

At the men’s Nations’ Cup, the Italian Florian Breitenberger was victorious. Stanislav Kovshik (RUS) came in second, and Bernd Neurauter (AUT) ranked third.

The fourth GRM Group Luge World Cup will take place from January 19th to 21st 2018 in Austria. However, due to poor weather conditions the races will not be held in Kindberg, as originally scheduled, but in St. Sebastian.

Results:
http://www.fil-luge.org/en/multimedia/grm-group-luge-world-cup-on-natural-track-7