Wok racing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 ProSieben as special edition of Raab's show TV total.
Contents |
[edit] History
Wok racing was inspired by a 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 on 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 with woks to determine the starting order. Further the sport event was professionalized.
[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
November 6, 2003: Winterberg
March 4, 2004: Innsbruck- March 5, 2005: Winterberg
- March 11, 2006: Innsbruck
- March 9, 2007: Innsbruck
- March 8, 2008: Altenberg
[edit] World Champions
[edit] One-person Wok
| Year | World Champion |
| 2003 | Stefan Raab |
| 2004 | Georg Hackl |
| 2005 | Georg Hackl |
| 2006 |  Joey Kelly |
| 2007 | Georg Hackl |
| 2008 | Georg Hackl |
[edit] Four-person Wok
| Year | World Champion | Drivers |
| 2003 | Dick Brave and the Backbeats | Sasha & Co. |
| 2004 | ProSieben team | Ralf Zacherl, Stefan Gödde, Dominik Bachmair, Simon Gosejohann |
| 2005 | ProSieben team | Joey Kelly, Stefan Gödde, Charlotte Engelhardt, Lukas Hilbert |
| 2006 | Fisherman's Friend team | Sandra Kiriasis, Christoph Langen, Silke Kraushaar, Susi Erdmann |
| 2007 | SEAT team | Sven Hannawald, Susi Kentikian, Christina Surer, Markus Beyer |
| 2008 | Frosta team | Christoph Langen, Susi Erdmann, Silke Kraushaar-Pielach, Felix Loch |
[edit] Records
- Speed Records
- Course Records
- Winterberg:
- One-Person-Wok: 47.621 seconds (Georg Hackl, 2005)
- Four-Person-Wok: 57.117 seconds (TV total, 2005)
- Innsbruck:
- One-Person-Wok: 54.840 seconds (Georg Hackl, 2007)
- Four-Person-Wok: 52.527 seconds (Fisherman's Friend, 2006)
- Winterberg:
