Flawless Friedrich motoring again ib bobsleigh World Cup

Francesco Friedrich's two-man bobsleigh domination continued after claiming his seventh win from eight World Cup races at Innsbruck-Igls.

The German once again joined forces with Alexander Schuller to great effect, with the two reigning supreme in each of their four races this campaign.

In fact the podium had a rather familiar feel with Oskars Kibermanis and Matiss Miknis taking second place ahead of Johannes Lochner and Christian Rasp, just as they had in the first race of the double-header on Saturday.

A time of 1:42.40 was comfortably enough for Friedrich to prevail, with their halfway lead never looking likely to be threatened.

A 0.78 second gap was the eventual winning margin, with Kibermanis doing enough for second place on the Austrian ice.

But they had plenty of company on the podium with Lochner and Rasp sharing third place with compatriots Hans Peter Hannighofer and Marcel Kornhardt after both pairs finished in 1:43.40.

Hannighofer and Kornhardt had sat fourth following the first run but matched their time of 51.65 to earn a share of third spot.

Britain's Brad Hall and Nick Gleeson once again found consistency on the ice, with two solid runs enough for eighth place, just over a second off the pace.

Lamin Deen and Ben Simons, meanwhile, came home 18th as they continue to find their feet on the World Cup circuit.

Friedrich's latest success takes him to 1785 points in the World Cup standings, almost 150 clear of his closest challengers.

Lochner sits in second having failed to make the podium just once this season, while Kibermanis rounds off the top three.

The Latvian has finished in the top three in his past four races having done so just once in the opening four, which were all held on his home Sigulda ice.

The four-race stint in Innsbruck-Igls has now come to an end with Winterberg next to play host in January.

Sportsbeat 2020