Austrian Thomas Kammerlander celebrated victory on home soil at the ultimate Luge World Cup race at Umhausen. He wins at the final night race on the Grantau track, which was covered in white due to heavy snowfall. Second place went to Italian Patrick Pigneter, who secures the Overall World Cup win 2015/16. It is his eleventh title in a row. Alex Gruber from Italy finishes third.
The women's event wins Italian Greta Pinggera. It is her maiden World Cup victory. The 21-year-old from Laas dominates the qualification run and scores the second fastest time at the competition run. Fastest women of the nightrace is Ekaterina Lavrentyeva. The Russian advances with her run from third to second. Italian Overall World Cup winner Evelin Lanthaler finishes on third position. She lands on the podium at every World Cup race this season. Fourth place went to Italian Sara Bachmann ahead of young German Theresa Maurer.
At the doubles event the victory went to Italy and Patrick Pigneter and Florian Clara. They won every World Cup race in 2015/16 and score a "perfect season" on natural track. Pavel Porshnev and Ivan Lazarev finishes second ahead of Austrian local heroes Christoph Regensburger and Dominik Holzknecht.
STATEMENTS:
Thomas Kammerlander (AUT): "It was the best ending of a perfect season. Every year I try to win at Umhausen. My last victory here was my first and happened some years ago. It was time to celebrate in front of my home crowd again."
Patrick Pigneter (ITA): "The doubles season was amazing, because we have won all races and the big event of the year. My singles title is as important. There were a lot of challengers this season, but I was the most consistent athlete of the year."
Greta Pinggera (ITA): "I really wanted to score my first win this season. Thank god it happened at the ultimate race."
STATISTICS:
- a perfect season for Patrick Pigneter/Florian Clara (6 of 6 race victories + gold medal at European Championships)
- 10th World Cup win in a row for Pigneter/Clara
- 40th World Cup win for Pigneter/Clara
- Maiden World Cup win for Greta Pinggera
- Second World Cup win at Umhausen for Thomas Kammerlander (2007)
- 11th Overall World Cup win for Patrick Pigneter in a row
RESULTS:
DOUBLES (after qualification + competition run):
1. Patrick PIGNETER / Florian CLARA (ITA) 2:35.47
2. Pavel PORSHNEV / Ivan LAZAREV (RUS) 2:36.43
3. Christoph REGENSBURGER / Dominik HOLZKNECHT (AUT) 2:36.67
4. Rupert BRÜGGLER / Tobias ANGERER (AUT) 2:37.03
5. Aleksandr EGOROV / Petr POPOV (RUS) 2:38.08
6. Armin FOLIE / Elias GRUBER (ITA) 2:42.37
OVERALL WORLD CUP (after 6 of 6 events)
1. PIGNETER/CLARA (ITA) 600 Pkt
2. REGENSBURGER/HOLZKNECHT (AUT) 415
3. EGOROV/POPOV (RUS) 390
4. BRÜGGLER/ANGERER (AUT) 376
5. PORSHNEV/LAZAREV (RUS) 354
6. DRAGICEVIC/DRAGICEVIC (SLO) 284
WOMEN (after qualification + competition run):
1. Greta PINGGERA (ITA) 2:32.29
2. Ekaterina LAVRENTYEVA (RUS) 2:32.96
3. Evelin LANTHALER (ITA) 2:33.18
4. Sara BACHMANN (ITA) 2:34.54
5. Theresa MAURER (GER) 2:34.95
6. Tina UNTERBERGER (AUT) 2:35.58
OVERALL WORLD CUP (after 6 of 6 events)
1. Evelin LANTHALER (ITA) 540
2. Greta PINGGERA (ITA) 455
3. Ekaterina LAVRENTYEVA (RUS) 445
4. Tina UNTERBERGER (AUT) 415
5. Ludmila ASTRAMOVICH (RUS) 290
6. Michelle DIEPOLD (AUT) 281
MEN (after qualification + competition run):
1. Thomas KAMMERLANDER (AUT) 2:28.69
2. Patrick PIGNETER (ITA) 2:29.38
3. Alex GRUBER (ITA) 2:29.61
4. Florian CLARA (ITA) 2:29.73
5. Stefan FEDERER (ITA) 2:30.55
6. Florian GLATZL (AUT) 2:30.92
OVERALL WORLD CUP (after 6 of 6 events)
1. Patrick PIGNETER 516
2. Alex GRUBER 455
3. Thomas KAMMERLANDER 435
4. Aleksandr EGOROV 325
5. Florian CLARA 304
6. Florian GLATZL 286
Photo Credit: (Credit ÖRV/Chris Walch)