MICA McNEILL continued her preparations for March’s World Bobsleigh Championships with another strong showing at the latest round of the World Cup series.

The Consett driver teamed up with Montell Douglas to finish sixth in the overall rankings at the German winter resort of Konigssee.

The fourth round of World Cup racing also doubled up as bobsleigh’s European Championships, with McNeill finishing fifth after the results of non-European racers were removed from the standings.

The 25-year-old’s performance was especially creditable as a chest condition had prevented her from taking part in a full training schedule in the build-up to the World Cup races.

Bad weather meant the warm-up to the World Cup weekend was further curtailed, so while McNeill and Douglas were unable to match their result from the previous round of racing, when they finished fourth in Altenburg, they were nevertheless pleased with their performance.

They were within one hundredth of a second of the top four after their first run in Konigssee, with their second run dropping them down to sixth.

“After being unwell and having less rounds than everyone else, we are happy to come away with the result we got,” said McNeill, who competed at the last Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang after embarking on a crowdfunding drive after her funding from the British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association was cut. “With six weeks to go, we are continuing to work hard towards the main event in March.”

The World Bobsleigh Championships begin in the Canadian resort of Whistler on March 1, and McNeill will return to World Cup action this weekend when the series moves on to Igls in Austria.