Opel bobsleigh
The Opelbob (code name: LP 13, of the press also Wunderbob called) was one of the company Opel for the West German Olympic team in 1980 developed two and four . Some of its innovations are still used today in the construction of high-performance bobsleighs.
The two-man and four-man bobsleigh were developed by Opel for the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid for over one million DM and could not be tested adequately. Even in advance there were voices in the press that enthusiastically celebrated the new development, as it was necessary to overcome the then dominant GDR bobsleigh teams.
Technical innovations were the individually and resiliently suspended runners and a new type of front section designed in the wind tunnel . The bob also had a rear spoiler that could be inflated with compressed air when the last pusher was open. If it was possible to bring the Opel bobsleigh in the ideal line to the valley, it was a good second faster than conventional sleds. Its aerodynamic drag coefficient of 0.19 was far below that of conventional sledges (drag coefficient 0.39).
The driver was initially Stefan Gaisreiter , who gave up after two falls and declared: "I'll never ride this speedster again". Georg Grossmann , who later competed in the four-man bobsleigh in Lake Placid , initially declined because he was responsible for his three passengers and did not want to endanger them.
The winners at the Olympic Games were the teams from the GDR and Switzerland, the West German teams did not make it into the top six. "Good material does not win without a good team", triumphed the East Berlin "Sportecho".
An Opel bobsleigh is in the "Autohaus Waltershausen" in Thuringia. A former toboggan athlete from the GDR restored it and placed it in the sales room as a permanent exhibit.
In 2015 a team took part in the European Seniors' Cup in Innsbruck with the Opel bobsleigh.
literature
- Deutsche Sporthilfe Foundation (Ed. Editor-in-Chief: Bruno Moravetz): Sarajevo '84 . ProSport Verlag, Munich 1984
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hamburger Abendblatt, No. 39 of February 15, 1980, page 16
- ↑ Frankfurter Allgemeine, March 9, 2015
- ↑ DER SPIEGEL 48/1980 of November 24, 1980, page 218
- ↑ Frankfurter Allgemeine, March 9, 2015