Lochner, pushed by Sebastian Mrowka, Joshua Bluhm and Christian Rasp, drove to victory in an overall time of 1min 48.73sec after two runs.

The Germans were fastest in both runs, beating Russian Alexander Kasjanov's team by 0.41 seconds.

Pushed by Alexey Zaitsev, Aleksei Pushkarev and Maxim Belugin, Kasjanov posted a combined time of 1:49.14.

Another German team, led by Francesco Friedrich, took third place.

Friedrich, alongside Candy Bauer, Martin Grothkopp and Thorsten Margis, were 0.67 back in a time of 1:49.40.

Austria's Benjamin Maier, the runner-up in the European Championships, and his team of Stefan Laussegger, Markus Sammer and Danut Moldovan, celebrated their best World Cup result so far this season as they took fourth place.

World Cup leader Rico Peter of Switzerland endured a poor day as he finished in fifth.

Peter still sits atop the standings after three races on 619 points, in front of Kasjanov on 595 and Steven Holcomb on 554.

American pilot Holcomb, pushed by Carlo Valdes, James Reed and Samuel McGuffie, finished in ninth.

Meanwhile, Oskars Melbardis of Latvia made his long awaited return to competition today.

The four-man world champion was forced to undergo surgery on his back last summer and missed the two World Cup events so far this season to continue his rehabilitation.

It would not be a perfect return to action though as he finished way back in 11th position.