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'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 Raab's show "TV total".

Contents

History

Equipment

Statistics

Venues

World Champions

One-person Wok

Four-person Wok

Records

2006 World Wok Racing Championship Results

External links

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 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.

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.

Statistics

Venues

★ November 6, 2003: Winterberg

★ March 4, 2004: Innsbruck

★ March 5, 2005: Winterberg

★ March 11, 2006: Innsbruck

★ March 9, 2007: Innsbruck

World Champions

One-person Wok

'Year'	'World Champion'
2003	Stefan Raab
2004	Georg Hackl
2005	Georg Hackl
2006	Joey Kelly
2007	Georg Hackl

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
2007	SEAT team	Sven Hannawald, Susi Kentikian, Christina Surer, Markus Beyer

Records

★ 'Speed Records'

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★ Winterberg:

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★ One-Person-Wok: 89.98 km/h (Georg Hackl, 2005)

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★ Four-Person-Wok: 109.58 km/h (Nissan Racing Team, 2005)

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★ Innsbruck:

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★ One-Person-Wok: 91.70 km/h (Georg Hackl, 2007)

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★ Four-Person-Wok: 97.00 km/h (FROSTA, 2006)

★ 'Course Records'

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★ Winterberg:

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★ One-Person-Wok: 47.621 seconds (Georg Hackl, 2005)

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★ Four-Person-Wok: 57.117 seconds (TV total, 2005)

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★ Innsbruck:

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★ One-Person-Wok: 54.840 seconds (Georg Hackl, 2007)

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★ Four-Person-Wok: 52.527 seconds (Fisherman's Friend, 2006)

2006 World Wok Racing Championship Results

'One-person Wok' 'Rank' 'Athlete' 'Time' 1 Joey Kelly 1:54.395 2 Georg Hackl + 2.797 3 Stefan Raab + 4.817 4 Sven Hannawald + 7.412 5 Markus Prock + 9.460 6 Andre Lange + 10.036 7 Smudo + 15.087 8 Christina Surer + 18.098 9 Elton + 20.589 10 Bruce Darnell + 1:02.711

'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

External links

★ Official information on the 2007 championships (German)

★ Official information on the 2006 championships (German)

★ Official information on the 2005 championships (German)