Olympic Champions Wendl/Arlt hot on the heels of record holders Leitner/Resch

Oberhof (RWH)  Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt from Germany are well on their way to overhauling the all-time record holders in the Viessmann World Cup. The Olympic Champions and two-time World Champions took their 33rd individual victory in Oberhof, leaving them just one win behind Patric Leitner/Alexander Resch, who retired from the sport in 2010 having amassed a total of 34 wins in the Viessmann World Cup doubles.

With their fourth victory of the season, the two Bavarian sliders relegated their teammates Toni Eggert/Sascha Benecken and Austrian pairing of Peter Penz/Georg Fischler into second and third places respectively. Wendl/Arlt remain the hot favourites going into the 46th International Luge Federation (FIL) World Championships on the artificial track in Königssee in two weeks, from 29-31 January 2016.

Wendl/Arlt, who improved on their own track record of 41.368 seconds, set last year, to post a best-ever 40.693 seconds, ended up with an advantage of more than six tenths of a second. They now lie on 667 points in the overall standings of the Viessmann World Cup, increasing their margin over defending champions Eggert/Benecken to 22 points. Penz/Fischler are currently third with 610 points.

The Viessmann World Cup is set to take a break next weekend ahead of the main event of the season, the 46th International Luge Federation World Championships in Königssee. The 7th Viessmann World Cup of the season will take place in Sochi, Russia, on 6-7 February 2016.

Quotes

Tobias Wendl (GER / Olympic Champion 2014, World Champion 2013 and 2015)
“We surprised ourselves by posting that time on our first run, and we didn’t expect to have such a margin at the end. But some parts of the first run just really flowed, let’s hope it continues in a similar vein.”

Toni Eggert (GER / World Championship runner-up in 2012 and 2013)
“We’re a worryingly long way behind now. But we’ll get another chance on another track soon”

Peter Penz (AUS /World Championship runner-up in 2015)
“We’ve made it onto the podium at every race bar one. When everything is working, it’s plain sailing. Even if the two Tobiases were in a league of their own today. They have an amazing advantage.”