Lamin Deen added the British Two Man Bobsleigh title to the Inter Services Title that he had won the previous day down the same track in Igls, Austria. Deen was delighted to keep the momentum going from the ...  Inter Services having also taken part in the two and four man in Sochi at the Olympics. "Having had the fastest four heats in the Inter Services and the fastest two heats in the British it is great and a lot to take away from the race," he explained after the event.
With 19 sleds in the field British two man Bobsleigh is in a healthy state. A few years ago the sport was dominated by Services sleds but these days the sport has more private entries emerging. Deen along with John Jackson and Paula walker, amongst others, are now the exception rather than the rule in the sport being dominated by the military. The rise of the privateer is very noticeable and even a few schools are now sending teams out to compete.
Deen said after the race that "It was a very exciting competition, on the back of the Inter-Service competition yesterday, it was good to continue the momentum."
Asked if he now felt that after qualifying for the Olympics in both the two and four man, does he now see the two man as his favoured event? "Quite the opposite.," he answers, "I really enjoy driving the four man, however, my coach at the start of the season he said 'Look Lamin, you are a four man specialist. Use the two man to be the best you can be, the focus should be the four man. When people tell me when i cannot do something, or not suited to that, this has resulted in my focus being equal for the two and four man. Even though I feel more comfortable in the four man, I have been trying to develop in the two man. Hence why I got the qualification in the two man for the Games as well."
How much difference is there in driving the two and the four man? Deen puts it this way: "The two man is more like driving a sports car: it is harder to control and little more fidgety, it will skid out on you quite easily while the four man is more like a truck: Faster but the margin for error is much, much smaller. If you make a mistake it is a lot more painful when you do make that mistake."
Deen only took part in the two man as his crew from Sochi could not make the British Championships and his sled is still impounded in Moscow for unknown reasons. "If I was going to compete, I wanted to be competitive," Deen explained.
Deen and Baines took the win with John Jackson taking second with his brakeman McLoughloin. In his first race as a driver Bruce Tasker and his brakeman Joel Tasker took third but had the satisfaction of posting the fastest starts on both runs. The Taylor / Benson crew took fourth and Golder / Benson rounded out the top five finishers.
Pictures of all crews are available on www.racer-ready.ifp3.com
Picture of Lamin Deen exciting the exciting 270 degree turn of Kreuzel at Igls during the British Championships. Credit & Copyright RACER READY