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Four-person wok in starting position (Note the ladles worn under the feet)
Wok racing is a sport developed by the German TV host and entertainer Stefan Raab. Modified Chinese woks are used to make timed runs down an Olympic bobsled track. There are competitions for one-person-woksleds and four-person-woksleds, the latter using four woks per sled. The World Wok Racing Championships are aired by the German television channel Pro7 as special edition of their show "TV total".
[edit] History
Wok racing was inspired by a lost bet in the German tv show Wetten, dass..?. In November 2003 the "first official Wok world championship" was broadcast from Winterberg. The immediate success led to the second world championship in Innsbruck March 4, 2004. Participants are mostly b-list celebrities like pop singers, actors and tv hosts, but there are also known athletes that have ongoing professional careers in winter sports, like three time Olympic Champion Georg Hackl and the Jamaican Bobsled Team. The third championship took place again in Winterberg on March 5, 2005. In contrast to the previous championships there were two runs in which all contesters participated. The times of both runs were added. As a further innovation a qualifying round was created in which the participants had to jump from a trickski-jump (of course with woks) to determine the starting order. Further the sport event was professionalized. The 4-person-woksleds were sponsored by Nissan, IKEA and BRAVO Magazine.
[edit] Equipment
The typical racing woks are the ordinary round-bottomed chinese pans, usually directly imported from China. The only modifications are that the bottom is reinforced with an epoxy filling and the edges of the wok are coated with polyurethane foam to avoid injuries. Four-person woksleds consist of two pairs of woks, each of them is held together by a rounded frame. The two pairs are connected by a coupling. Due to the rather risky nature of the sport the participants wear heavy protective gear, usually similar to ice hockey equipment. To further reduce friction and the risk of injuries, the athletes wear ladles under their feet.
To improve performance, the underside of the woks are often heated with a blowlamp before the race.
[edit] Statistics
[edit] Venues
[edit] World Champions
[edit] One-person Wok
[edit] Four-person Wok
| Year |
World Champion |
Drivers |
| 2003 |
 Dick Brave and the Backbeats |
Sasha & Co. |
| 2004 |
 Pro7 team |
Ralf Zacherl, Stefan Gödde, Dominik Bachmair, Simon Gosejohann |
| 2005 |
Pro7 team |
Joey Kelly, Stefan Gödde, Charlotte Engelhardt, Lukas Hilbert |
| 2006 |
Fisherman's Friend team |
Sandra Kiriasis, Christoph Langen, Silke Kraushaar, Susi Erdmann |
[edit] Records
Due to the fact that times may differ from track to track, only speed records are listed.
- One-person-Wok: 88.40 km/h (Joey Kelly/2006)
- Four-person-Wok: 109.58 km/h (Nissan Wok Racing Team/2005)
[edit] 2006 World Wok Racing Championship Results
|
|
| Four-person Wok |
| Rank |
Team |
Time |
| 1 |
Fisherman's Friend Gold-Wok |
1:46.960 |
| 2 |
Seat Hackl-Wok |
+ 1.084 |
| 3 |
betandwin Sport-Wok |
+ 3.765 |
| 4 |
Mister+Lady Jeans Ladies-Wok |
+ 4.057 |
| 5 |
Pro7 Märchen-Wok |
+ 4.303 |
|
[edit] External links
March 4, 2004: Innsbruck
Joey Kelly
