Preparations of bobsleigh, various shots. Discussion, evaluation of data. Control room, computer, view of bobsleigh in wind tunnel, various shots. BMW wind tunnel. Visual display of speed. Test of two-man bobsleigh, team Leitner/Resch, various shots (preparation, wind tunnel, computer, view from control room into wind tunnel). Patric Leitner: Wenn es dann schneller wird, so ab 140 km/h, da fängt dann doch der Kopf so leicht zum Wackeln an, dann muss man ihn stabil halten, man sucht halt immer die optimale Lage, man muss darauf achten, dass man die Füße auch genau gestreckt hat. Jetzt bin ich mal gespannt, was herausgekommen ist. Two-man bobsleigh riders Leitner/Resch discussing. Patric Leitner: We have unfinished business to complete at the Olympics as we were never satisfied with the sixth place in Turin, so we said we want to compete again in Vancouver and win a medal, this being the last time for both of us. So Vancouver and the Olympic Games will be our last race, so we also aim to stand on the podium one more time. This is our goal and what we will be working for during the next two years. Test two-man bobsleigh riders, team Wendl/Arlt. Wind turbine, various shots. Test two-man bobsleigh riders, team Wendl/Arlt. Tobias Wendl: Yes, it does put a strain on your muscles, because you have to keep your body tense and that is pretty strenuous. Tobias Arlt: We were probably in there for three minutes when we started to notice that our concentration was dwindling somewhat. But it’s okay. Tobias Arlt: Yes, I notice for instance when something changes slightly when we’re travelling at higher speeds. Then I noticed that my suit began to flutter or move somewhat. Tatjana Huefner, preparation. Control room, discussion. Women preparing, various shots. Changeover, women. Tatjana Huefner: Yes, I was in Vancouver in March and we noticed that the track was pretty fast, faster than others, and so we want to grasp the opportunity here to test our stability at high speeds. Natalie Geisenberger preparing, various shots. Control room, discussion, evaluation. Natalie Geisenberger: Vancouver is a fast run as we know, so a high speed test is certainly interesting with regard to the bob’s aerodynamics as well as my own.

Yes, during the last two summers we have optimized our bobs with a view to participating in the Olympics. This time we are dealing with a very, very fast run, with great importance attached to aerodynamics. Accordingly, we have modified our bob once again, adapting it to suit each individual athlete. And we wish to compare these modifications to the previous versions, plus a few aerodynamic modifications to the bob itself with regard to handling. There is cladding underneath the bob that is what we are mainly working on. We have made modifications to it, tried to reduce cross-sectional areas and adapted it even better to the athlete. And here in the wind tunnel, we are trying to optimize posture of the athlete individual in relation to his luge.

Here we have the opportunity to test in a wind tunnel the bobs we have already optimized. We are able to ascertain drag coefficients and determine their positive effect on the athlete riding the bob, i.e. whether we have achieved improvements or whether it has produced a negative or even worse effect. Modifications are made according to the values determined. We evaluate which foot position is better for the athlete, who wil try to achieve the optimum position during training as well when competing. The favourites in the German men’s team are definitely our two top athletes, David Moeller and Felix Loch. In the women’s team the favourites are Natalie Geisenberger und Tatjana Huefner. Not to forget our two-man bobs where we have three strong doubles. A very young team closes on the heels of Florschuetz/Wustlich und Leitner/Resch and who already made second place in this year’s championships, namely Tobis Wendl and Tobias Arlt.

Four-man bob, various shots. Speed is made visible by means of smoke, various shots. Discussion in control room, various shots. Material improvements on bob, various shots. Kevin Kuske: I think this kind of wind tunnel test is focused strongly on aerodynamics, which is a significant aspect when driving bobs down the ice channel. Like cars, we are relatively fast – a fact of which many people are unaware – up to 160 km/h, or even faster in Vancouver I would say. Control room, discussion, computer, display, evaluation, various shots. Wind tunnel, four-man bob, various shots. Control room, evaluation, discussion, various shots. Karl Angerer: As we said, we hope that it is faster, but how much faster, we cannot say. It could be a tenth or a couple of hundredths. But in bobsleighing, even hundredths count tremendously. If it is just two hundredths, then it will have been well worth the trouble we have taken. We are preparing for races in the summer with training, that is athletic training. We commence training in April, this being mainly running, jumping and weight training. We try to optimise the bob start, to accelerate the bob as fast as possible at the start, and in winter we have training sessions on the track and material optimization on the bob itself. Test of four-man bob, assembly. Wind turbine with visual display of speed, various shots. Speed is made visible in the wind tunnel by means of smoke, various shots. Discussion standing next to the bob in the wind tunnel. Removal of bobsleigh.

We expect to achieve an enhancement of overall aerodynamics, which we are entitled to hope for after receiving today’s results and an improvement of our results on the track, which is associated with it.

The main issue is undoubtedly the long-term preparation for the Olympic Games in Vancouver. Last year we did have a few problems with the four-man bob and this is why this bob is the top priority at present. And the track in Wistler is also a high-speed track, so aerodynamics will play an important role and, of course, even one and a half years prior to it, preparations are in full swing.

Question: Why are the bobs being tested in the BMW Wind Tunnel? Question: Wind tunnels are in actual fact designed for testing cars. How is it possible that bobsleighs are also tested here? Question: How significant is the drag coefficient in this regard?