Lochner leads Germany clean sweep in Winterberg

During the previous three World Cup outings, Germany have been represented on the medal rostrum by a crew each time, including after victories in the two Park City competitions.

And they kept that record going in some style on Sunday as home advantage came to the fore.

Lochner, Joshua Bluhm, Christopher Webber and Christian Rasp were the fastest over both runs to finish with a combined time of 1:49.03 – adding to their victory in the second Park City competition earlier this season.

Nico Walther, winner of the season-opening race, then piloted his crew to second, 0.23 seconds behind while current world champion Francesco Friedrich took third, a further tenth of a second back.

Lochner said: "A win like today is always amazing as it boosts your confidence. I am proud of my squad, they did a great job at the start."

Victory leaves Lochner top of the four-man standings on 826 points, with Walther second on 787 and Canadian pilot Justin Kripps third on 754 after finishing fourth on Sunday.

The British teams meanwhile could not maintain their recent medal charge as Lamin Deen and his crew were joint ninth, with Bradley Hall's outfit 13th.