John Jackson and Great Britain’s four-man bobsleigh kicked off 2014 with a 15th-place World Cup finish in Winterberg, Germany.
Having signed off from 2013 in superb style with silver in Lake Placid, Jackson and the team headed into the New Year in confident mood with the Sochi Winter Olympics edging ever closer.
And the quartet looked on course to record their third top-ten finish of the season after the first run as they came home in 55.27 seconds to sit tenth.
However a tough load on the second run saw the team slip five places to finish 15th in 1:50.86 minutes, with compatriot Lamin Deen and his crew four places further back.
The result means Jackson sits eighth in the overall World Cup standings while Deen is 22nd.
There was plenty for the home crowd to shout about in Winterberg as Germany secured gold and silver.
Maximilian Arndt took gold in 1:49.97 minutes, 0.17 seconds ahead of compatriot Francesco Friedrich who had to settle for second.
Completing the podium in Winterberg was Russian Alexander Zubkov who prevented Germany from completing a clean sweep of medals with Thomas Florschütz finishing fourth.
Arndt sits atop the overall World Cup standings on 813 points, 70 ahead of American Steven Holcomb, who crashed in his second run, while Zubkov currently hold third.
© Sportsbeat 2014