GENEVA, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- Johannes Lochner of Germany has won the 2-man bobsleigh event at the BMW IBSF World Cup in St. Moritz on Saturday.
With his brake man Christopher Weber, Lochner laid the foundations for his win by setting the fastest time during heat one. In the second heat, the duo maintained the lead, finishing 0.21 seconds ahead of the Olympic and world champion, and defending World Cup title holder, Francesco Friedrich of Germany assisted by Alexander Schueller.
However, Lochner's performance in St. Moritz was about more than just World Cup points. According to an announcement made by the German bobsleigh coach Rene Spies before the race, a top-three finish was the only way that Lochner could secure his place in the 2-man event at the World Championships.
Third place on the St. Moritz-Celerina Olympia Bobrun went to Oskars Kibermanis/Matiss Miknis 0.28 seconds back. This marked the Latvians' second podium finish this winter.
In seventh place, Ivo de Bruin/Dennis Veenker (Netherlands) celebrated their best result of the season to date.
The Chinese pairing of Li Chunjian/Shi Hao finished 10th in for their first ever top-ten finish.
The best result for the World Cup hosts Switzerland went to Michael Kuonen/Marco Tanner. Kuonen, who finished second in the 2017 European Championships as the brake man for Clemens Bracher, only just missed out on the top 10 during his first World Cup appearance as a pilot and finished 11th.
In the overall standings for the 2019/2020 BMW IBSF World Cup, Francesco Friedrich (Germany, 1,320 points) remains in the lead ahead of the final stop on the World Cup tour.
Race number seven and eight are set to take place in Sigulda, Latvia on Feb. 14-16. Friedrich was even able to further extend his lead over second-place Justin Kripps (Canada, 1,066 points), who finished fifth in St. Moritz. Oskars Kibermanis of Latvia is now third overall with 1,028 points.
