KÜHTAI. With the final races of the women’s and the men’s event on Sunday, December 11th, the Natural Track Luge GRM Group World Cup came to an end. The runs have been held as Parallel Race, which was a big challenge for the athletes.

At the men’s event, Patrick Pigneter (ITA) has won again. He and his team mate Florian Clara (ITA) were triumphant at the Doubles Competition on the day before, so Pigneter looked towards the race in a fairly relaxed mood: “Since we have won yesterday, I was pretty laid-back today,” said Pigneter, who has been challenged by runner-up Gregori Bukin (RUS). “I want to congratulate Gregori, he is better with the starts, which of course are very important at a Parallel Race,” Pigneter acknowledged the performance of his rival. In training, the Russian had, with good reason, focused on the starts, and he was very happy about his first-ever podium position. Bukin is the fourth Russian in two years who made it under the top three. Thomas Kammerlander (AUT), who has had the best results in the training runs, came in third: “On Friday, everything went fine, but in the last two days there have been some difficulties with the equipment,” said the Austrian, who had problems with adjusting to the warm temperatures in Kühtai.

At the women’s event, Tina Unterberger (AUT) came in first, followed by the Italians Greta Pinggera and Evelin Lanthaler. The Austrian seems to like the race track in Kühtai, it was her second victory here in a row. “It’s not only the track, it’s also the Parallel Race mode. To me, it’s something special, I really like the speed and the steepness,” said Unterberger. Runner-up Pinggera is also happy with her performance, especially regarding the troubles she had with the track on Friday and Saturday. The South Tyrolean Lanthaler, who raced against her compatriot Pinggera in the half final, was also content with the race and her rank, but she also said she still can improve herself.

The next races will take place on the 7th and 8th of January, when the GRM Group World Cup will visit Latsch (ITA).