Caribbean Cup to N.Z. pair

Press, 24 February 1988, Page 33

Caribbean Cup to N.Z. pair

By

PETER HUTCHINSON,

for NZPA Lex Peterson and Owen Pinnell were left wondering this evening where they could have finished in the two-man bobsleigh competition had they been given a better draw. As it was, Peterson and his brakeman, Peter Henry, finished a remarkable twentieth over all in the 41-strong field, and Pinnell and crew, Blair Telford, thirty-first. -Peterson was ecstatic with his placing, which earned him the inaugural Caribbean Cup, a contest amongst seven nations without bobsleigh tracks in their home countries. Pinnell was bemused, the victim of a draw which, in normal circumstances, should have been of great benefit to him. Starting last on the first day, he bore the brunt of a deteriorating track and lost at least two seconds. On Monday, he slid down the track in a time of 58.86 seconds to record the fastest time of 27

starters before the day’s competition was cancelled. Yesterday, when the competition was restarted Pinnell was again first away in the field, but ironically the ice track was slower than usual at the start and his time was almost three seconds slower, a problem the first dozen or so sledders faced before the track began to get faster. Pinnell says this is one of the oddities that sometimes happens in bobsledding, and it was most unfortunate that it had to happen in the Olympics. He says that while he is disappointed in finishing thirty-first, he is happy to have finished where he did considering the track conditions. Peterson’s twentieth placing augurs well for the future of bobsleighing in this country. He was just 8.56 seconds down on the

winners Kipours and Kozlov of Russia, while placed behind the New Zealand number one crew yesterday were Rumania, Australia, Monaco, Bulgaria and several other recognised bobsledding countries.

Peterson says he may have been able to manage a slightly higher placing had the track conditions not fluctuated so much over the four heats., “Winning the Caribbean Cup for the first time is great for us, because I believe that within the next few years it will become an Important competition amongst the top crews outside of Europe." At the end of the first two runs, Monaco and Australia, who are both eligible to contest the cup, were in front of the New Zealanders. However, the New Zealand number one team were able to record a better time over yesterday’s two heats. The New Zealanders will now start training for the four-man event which is scheduled to be contested next weekend.