Lavrentjeva (RUS) and Pigneter (ITA) win Ural race Leading with a comfortable 75 points margin and undefeated in the last four races (three World Cups and the World Championships) Patrick Pigneter (ITA) still does not want to relax and will attack once more in the last race of the season: “I know that faster times are still possible, so I will stay focussed and give my best. Thomas Schopf could still beat me in the World Cup”, said Pigneter after another clear win with fastest times in both runs. Thomas Schopf (AUT), on the other hand, is already working out his strategy to beat the World Champion: “I have touched the board in the flat part of the track which is very bad and should not happen tomorrow. I will try to be a bit more aggressive, I thing I was holding back a little bit in both my runs. It is about time to beat Patrick.” Very happy about his third place was Gernot Schwab (AUT), who changed his sled for the World Championships: “I had the sled at home, I just had not used it in a while. After having tried six different ones I came back to this one and I know that I can keep up with the top group again. Still, I had not expected a top-three finish here”, said the Austrian teacher who – as so many others – suffers from a bad cold: “I have a hard time dealing with the temperature differences here between the over-heated rooms and the extreme cold outside.” The final decision in the women´s overall World Cup has been postponed to the very last race of the season. By winning today´s race Ekatharina Lavrentjeva (RUS) has made a huge step towards the trophy, though. “My second run was full of little mistakes, but basically everything is very good for me here. Home is home”, said the sports teacher from Kandalaksha, which is more than 1000 miles away from Novouralsk, but in Russia. Her eternal rival Renate Gietl (ITA) lost important points for the final count by finishing third today. “I will try to fight until the very last moment. We will definitely optimize the equipment, I will watch my runs on video and I will try to do better tomorrow, that´s all I can do”, said the Italian. Before tomorrow´s last race in the PEWO World Cup both athletes stand at 440 points. The worst result of the season is not taken into account, right now this is for both of them a third place. The laughing third between the two of them could be Melanie Batkowski (AUT) who achieved the fastest time in the second run and finished second, just between Lavrentjeva and Gietl. “In my first run I crashed into the board in a flat part of the track which took away all my speed, even in the second run I touched here and there, so there is room for improvement”, said the Austrian who feels very much at home on this track. Final Result Women (13): 1. Ekatharina LAVRENTJEVA (RUS), 1:02,21(1), 1:03,17(2), 2:05,38 2. Melanie BATKOWSKI (AUT), 1:03,10(3), 1:02,74(1), 2:05,84 3. Renate GIETL (ITA), 1:03,00(2), 1:03,27(3), 2:06,27 4. Julia VETLOVA (RUS), 1:03,28(4), 1:03,41(4), 2:06,69 5. Renate KASSLATTER (ITA), 1:04,28(7), 1:03,46(5), 2:07,74 6. Evelin LANTHALER (ITA), 1:04,25(6), 1:04,24(6), 2:08,49 7. Marlies WAGNER (AUT), 1:04,09(5), 1:04,58(7), 2:08,67 8. Tina UNTERBERGER (AUT), 1:04,85(8), 1:05,15(8), 2:10,00 Final Result Men (31): 1. Patrick PIGNETER (ITA), 1:00,95(1), 1:01,00(1), 2:01,95 2. Thomas SCHOPF (AUT), 1:01,25(2), 1:01,36(2), 2:02,61 3. Gernot SCHWAB (AUT), 1:01,31(3), 1:02,16(5), 2:03,47 4. Michael SCHEIKL (AUT), 1:02,20(7), 1:01,94(3), 2:04,14 5. Hannes CLARA (ITA), 1:02,17(6), 1:02,04(4), 2:04,21 6. Rudi RESCH (ITA), 1:02,57(10), 1:02,26(6), 2:04,83 7. Anton BLASBICHLER (ITA), 1:02,07(4), 1:02,77(11), 2:04,84 8. Stefan GRUBER (ITA), 1:02,50(8), 1:02,51(9), 2:05,01 9. Marcus GRAUSAM (GER), 1:02,66(11), 1:02,42(8), 2:05,08 10. Robert BATKOWSKI (AUT), 1:02,95(13), 1:02,26(6), 2:05,21 16. Kaj JOHNSON (CAN), 2:08,14 21. John GIBSON (CAN), 2:09,41 26. Greg JONES (CAN), 2:10,68 World Cup Standings (5/6): Women´s Singles: 1. Renate GIETL (ITA) 440 1. Ekatharina LAVRENTJEVA (RUS) 440 3. Melanie BATKOWSKI (AUT) 370 4. Evelin LANTHALER (ITA) 300 5. Renate KASSLATTER (ITA) 276 6. Julia VETLOVA (RUS) 252 7. Marlies WAGNER (AUT) 238 8. Tina UNTERBERGER (AUT) 190 9. Tamara SCHWARZ (ITA) 173 10. Irma KARISIK (BIH) 158 11. Katrin MLADEK (AUT) 137 12. Nina BUCINEL (SLO) 128 Men´Singles: 1. Patrick PIGNETER (ITA) 431 2. Thomas SCHOPF (AUT) 356 3. Gerald KAMMERLANDER (AUT) 292 4. Gernot SCHWAB (AUT) 290 5. Michael SCHEIKL (AUT) 282 6. Hannes CLARA (ITA) 266 7. Robert BATKOWSKI (AUT) 260 8. Anton BLASBICHLER (ITA) 245 9. Stefan GRUBER (ITA) 190 10. Rudi RESCH (ITA) 175 11. Florian BREITENBERGER (ITA) 151 12. Marcus GRAUSAM (GER) 145 14. Kaj JOHNSON (CAN) 125 24. John GIBSON (CAN) 76 31. Greg JONES (CAN) 49 ck FIL Media Service