BMW bobsleigh concept

BMW has designed a two-man bobsleigh for the official US team. The bobsleigh is the second sled that BMW has designed for Team USA, via its US-based Designworks subsidiary.

The two-man bobsleigh is constructed from carbon-fibre, using the materials expertise gained from developing BMW’s Project i cars.

“After more than a year-long development process, we’re thrilled for the USA Bobsled and Skeleton Federation to finally race this bobsled,” said Michael Scully, Creative Director, BMW Group DesignworksUSA.

“BMW EfficientDynamics techniques are at the heart of the sled’s design, making it sleeker, lighter and we hope faster: essentially a BMW on ice. We’re anxious to see how it performs against Team USA’s competitors.”

The latest bobsleigh has been created in conjunction with the USA Bobsled & Skeleton Federation (USBSF), and raced for the first time this weekend at the FIBT World Cup in Igls, Austria, where the USA teams finished in 5th, 9th and 14th places.

US men’s bobsleigh head coach Brian Shimer said: “The results of our testing thus far have been promising, but the true test of a bobsled’s speed is determined in competition. We need to test it under race conditions to see what improvements to make for next season.”

BMW says that it will continue to develop the bobsleigh over the rest of the FIBT World Cup competition season, in preparation for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games to be held in Sochi, Russia.

The BMW bobsleigh is part of Team USA’s effort to win a two-man Winter Olympic bobsleigh gold medal for the first time since 1936.