Bobsleigh Europa Cup

Jersey bobsleighers Will Golder and Kevan Crowell picked up one point from the third round of the Europa Cup in Germany – but that will not be the memory they take away.

The pair, representing Great Britain as a development team, did not have the luck of the draw as they had to set off on the Koenigssee run in near darkness in 30th position and despite a top 15 start to the race they finished in 52.45 seconds for 30th place.

However, the event was overshadowed by a serious accident on the first day of training in which two Russian crews collided on the track leaving one athlete in an induced coma.

Having witnessed the accident the Jersey team spent an hour with police on their race morning. Crowell described it as ‘one of the most serious of accidents in the sport to date’.

Sliding was suspended following the crash but Golder and Crowell returned to action the following day for a second round of practice before their race on day three.

Describing their race Crowell said: “We smashed the start down to a 5.07 which was top 15 and considering there were eight World Cup circuit crews attending this event we were overjoyed.
If anything we ran on too long as both Will and I have natural speed behind the bob but a late load limited the velocity which in turn affected our speed through the first split and our overall down-time. All the same it was a steady drive, we finished 30th and enjoyed a new track whith a great amount of success so we were both happy with our week’s work.”

The next rounds of the Europa cup take the crew, who are sponsored by Camerons, to Winterberg this week.

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