After more than a yearlong development process, BMW of North America presented a new prototype of its two-man bobsled for the official U.S. team.
Designed in collaboration with the USA Bobsled & Skeleton Federation (USBSF), the high-tech bobsled will be used for the first time today at the FIBT World Cup in Igls, Austria.
“The results of our testing thus far have been promising, but the true test of a bobsled’s speed is determined in competition,” said U.S. men’s bobsled head coach Brian Shimer. “The team couldn’t wait to get this sled on the ice, so we bumped up its debut to Igls and we’re looking forward to seeing it in action. We need to test it under race conditions to see what improvements to make for next season.”
The two-man bobsled pairs lightweight materials, such as carbon fiber, with optimized aerodynamics. It is BMW’s second two-man bobsled prototype created for Team USA, and it will remain in development for the rest of the 2012/2013 FIBT World Cup competition season, with the German brand to continue to gather data and feedback in preparation for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.
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