Great Britain are on track for just a second 4-man bobsleigh World Championship medal since the Second World War after the first of two days of racing in Lake Placid.
Brad Hall, Arran Gulliver, Taylor Lawrence and Greg Cackett are in third place ahead of Saturday’s final two runs as they look to repeat their medal winning feat from two seasons ago when they took silver to become the first 4-man team to make the podium in 84 years.
Third place initially looked like it would be second at halfway, however, with an outstanding second run seeing Hall and co go quickest of all the sleds and open up a half second lead between themselves and Adam Ammour in third.
They had cut the gap on leader and six-time 4-man champion Francesco Friedrich to 0.29 seconds before the race jury ruled that the second heat should be cancelled due to ‘track conditions’.
The decision came after an appeal was lodged by the German federation on behalf Johannes Lochner, after the 2-man silver medalist had slipped to joint sixth after the second run, fully 1.10 seconds behind the Brits. The appeal related to apparent runner damage suffered late in the second run, with the jury initially ruling that Lochner should get a rerun before instead deciding to cancel the entire completed heat.
The British Bobsleigh & Skeleton Association lodged an official protest and requested a full explaination from the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation but, at the time of writing, are yet to receive a response.
With Run 2 cancelled, Lochner sits two hundredths ahead of Hall and his team in the silver medal spot at the end of Day One, with GB 0.33 seconds in front of Ammour and a further six hundredths clear of home favourite Frank Del Duca in fifth.
Runs 3 and 4 take place tomorrow at 12pm GMT.
The women’s bobsleigh competition begins at 5pm GMT today, with Adele Nicoll and Ashleigh Nelson going for GB.
World Championship schedule
All times are GMT
Thurs 6 &Fri 7 Mar
Men's Skeleton:Weston 1st; Wyatt 2nd; Bostock 18th
Women's Skeleton:Stoecker 8th; Coltman 14th; Tarbit 18th
Sat 8 & Sun 9 Mar
2-man Bobsleigh:Hall & Lawrence 6th; Baird & Butterworth DNF
Women's monobob:Nicoll 16th
Sun 9 Mar
Skeleton Team Event:Stoecker & Weston 2nd; Coltman & Wyatt DSQ
Fri 14 Mar
4-man Bobsleigh Runs 1&2 1pm
Women's Bobsleigh Runs 1&2 6pm
Sat 15 Mar
4-man Bobsleigh Runs 3&4 1pm
Women's Bobsleigh Runs 3&4 6pm