Bob team Stanbridge battles against the best on ice

"Building on our successful debut season last year for GB we had our sights set on further development and maximising as much ice time as possible. Our goal this season was to try and secure a top 10 finish and remain within the top 20 in every single race. Our original plan for the 2021/2022 European Cup season was to secure 12 weeks on ice and part take in five 2-man races and make our debut in the double 4-man race at Innsbruck, Austria.   

However, things don’t always go to plan and we had to resort to Plan B.  A familiar track in Germany was removed from the calendar for this season due to a flooding disaster and with the Beijing Olympics just around the corner, nations and teams were booking up ice time quicker than ever. Athlete availability and covid restrictions were just another challenge for us to overcome. Our revised plan brought us down to 8 weeks of ice time and 4 European 2-man races with an introduction to 4-man sliding scheduled at the end of the season.

We began our schedule in Norway with a Double European cup race in Lillehammer, home of the Olympic games in 1994. A prestigious track for us to learn and a hell of a long way to get there, a 3000mile round trip to be exact. The absence of last season's Brakeman Alex Cortes-Tankard because of work commitments saw 21-year-old Rookie brakeman Joshua Hudson step up. Coming from a rugby background, Hudson impressed with his natural strength and positive attitude as a rookie. Before the official IBSF race week started, we scheduled a week of training on the track to get to grips with our race lines. Building up from the lower start on day one to sprinting off the top by day 3. Progress is key, and this season we had the pleasure of working with GB four man bronze medallist Sean Olsson, whose expertise and coaching skills put us in an excellent position ahead of our race in November. Our preparation the week before paid off as we grabbed a PB 12th in our first race of the season followed by a 14th a day later. After a late draw of 21st, Josh did an amazing job of pushing for his debut race. We also outdrove more experienced pilots and better starters in the competition. The fact that we achieved a PB at a brand-new track really demonstrated how hard work has paid off over the summer months and we are on the right path. 

After a few weeks back in the UK, I then travelled to La Plagne, France to support the RAF Bobsleigh squad during a training novice week. This is a new track to me, and I would be able to gain more exposure and development as I strive to become a World Cup pilot in the future. While it's never easy to learn a new track, my experience in Lillehammer helped me to quickly adapt to the French track. I had the opportunity to give back by sliding with the RAF as many of the RAF athletes were experiencing their first time on ice and in a bobsleigh. Taking an athlete down for the first time at 125kph is one hell of a rollercoaster and being able to pass on my knowledge and insight of the sport, displaying what is achievable at a grass roots level was an amazing experience.

As the World Cup event was moved to Innsbruck, Austria, our plan to step into a 4-man before Christmas was not possible. Due to this, our Christmas holiday was cut short and we travelled to Innsbruck late on Boxing Day. Recent changes in Covid guidelines and border restrictions meant we had to book Covid tests to ensure we were prepared to travel. Our preparation paid off as we arrived without any issues apart from an impromptu stop by the German police en-route. After a successful 16^th place result here last year we followed the same format and began sliding earlier than the competition gaining an extra 14 runs on ice before the race week started on the 3^rd Jan. We also recruited in RAF 60m/100m track athlete Michael Measter who had just returned from a training camp in USA. Innsbruck is a relatively easy track to get down and not overly technical, it is the place where many pilots start their career including myself. Because of this the start is very important and bringing in Michael created some healthy competition for the race spot and gave us the best chance of a strong result. Heading into the race week we were certainly prepared, the field had swelled with many smaller nations arriving from the North Americas cup and world cup crews dropping down from the world cup to secure points for Olympic qualification. In our toughest race to date we managed to walk away with a top 20^th place in a field of 40, Michael was successful in making his GB debut and gave us the best shot possible, however he’s not exactly built for bobsleigh and only weighing 80kg it meant we were pushing the heaviest bobsleigh on circuit at 205kg. The challenges of balancing weight and start times is always difficult but our confidence on track prevailed as we drove ourselves to that top 20 spot and in the mix with the 11 world cup crews who showed up.  A great start for Bob Team Stanbridge in 2022 and showing that even with a deficient start we can perform on track.

A short 9-hour journey later we arrived for our last race of the season in Winterberg, Germany. After last season’s results of 30^th & 32^nd place I knew that if we applied ourselves and used the experience that we gained this year a better result was on the cards. We couldn’t apply the same format here like the other tracks this season to train prior due to track availability.

It’s always nerve racking returning to a track where you’ve crashed at before, Winterberg has a habit of biting back if you’re not on your game 100% of the time. Limited to just 7 runs on ice before the race could commence the stakes were high and we came through to tame the track that caused us an issue the year before. We were fortunate to get a great start draw and start as the first sled off, this meant that the ice would be clean. With Joshua Hudson pushing the sled to a reasonable time we came down in 21^st place and 0.05 hundredths of a second outside the top 20. 3 tenths separated 12^th-21^st in what was another heavy field of world cup and Olympic crews.

Although our race season has finished this year our training and preparation begins for next season as we travel out to Innsbruck, Austria in February. Taking the next step as a team to start 4-man training! 4-man can be described as the Ferrari of the bobsleigh world and poses an even greater challenge to master. The increased weight and choreography needed to put 4 100kg athletes in a sled at speed requires a strong team bond and familiarity. With extra weight comes extra speed and these larger sleds travel around a second quicker and up to 10kph faster than their smaller 2-man counterpart.

It’s important that we recognise our achievements of what has been a flexible and very successful season. Our results show that we are on the right path and have progressed dramatically, securing PB’s placements and times at every track against Olympic and world cup crews. 

With the right financial support and progression, I know that we are on the right path to develop further as a team. The introduction of 4-man sliding will further increase our skillset as we look to push towards securing Top 10 results consistently in the European Cup next season and challenge for a World Cup spot for Great Britain next year. 

As ever, the support from our sponsors has been vital to our success. Without the expertise of Acres engineering and the repairs KS Composites/SHD Composites carried out, our sled wouldn’t have been ready for competition. The fresh support from Catalyze consulting and continued support from tlmNexus, Matrix power and Nova Express ensured that we remained on ice. Becoming an ambassador for IASTI has opened doors for STEM opportunities and has enabled us as a team to help promote engineering and inspire future generations through sport. The equipment provided by UK Supreme fitness has helped our team maintain performance whilst out on the road and Chris at Move Improve managed to prevent our bodies from breaking down."

Bob team Stanbridge members are Team Captain/Pilot: John Stanbridge, Brakemen: Joshua Hudson, Michael Measter and Jack Heslop

Pictured are John Stanbridge with the sled; John Stanbridge and Josh Hudson at the start of the track; an aerial view of the track in Winterberg