Giant Slalom Baxter and Alcott Win
With the weather finally letting racing run to the planned
schedule for the first time this week, Noel Baxter (24, Aviemore/The
British Land Alpine Ski Team) and Chemmy Alcott both retained
their British titles in today's giant
slalom on the Du Corbey piste in Meribel, France.
After Wednesday's heavy snow then rising temperatures followed
by an overnight freeze, conditions were excellent thanks to
the pisting work from the race arena's local personnel. But
there were still bumps and rolls to catch those who did not
anticipate them, and one particular gate on the fast, relatively
straight first men's course which dashed the hopes of several
of the top seeds. Among the early casualties were Finlay Mickel,
who damaged his chances of defending the overall Men's title
when he crashed out of the first run.
After his career best international GS result on Monday,
Andy Noble's showdown with Noel and Alain Baxter also came
to nothing. Noble (21, Edinburgh) also crashed out of the
first run. Noel Baxter lead after the first run despite losing
his ski stick in the start gate. The same thing happened again
in the second run but Baxter still won by 1.73 seconds over
Daniel Berry (19, London/The British Land Alpine Ski Team)
who leads the overall combined standings. Jan Michael Kochalski
(19, Banchory/The British Land Alpine Ski Team) looked set
to give Baxter a run for the title, lying just 13 hundredths
of a second behind after the first run, but a mistake on the
second run left him fourth. A first run error cost Alain Baxter
nearly a second when he fell and he had to settle for third
behind Berry.
"It was a good race and I was pleased to win."
Said Noel Baxter, "They did a decent job on the piste
and the courses were different. The first was really straight
and fast and the second much more turny. I lost my pole twice
which sounds daft but the start was really flat with sticky
snow. I knew I had it in the tank and so I was pretty relaxed
and confident throughout. I was skiing well and confidently
in GS in Argentina in the summer and I have that feeling back.
It's like when you lose your line and get late you can still
make the turn and keep speed and that makes so much difference."
"But it is hard here because all of the good guys have
similar start numbers and so there is no advantage."
Daniel Berry (19, London) was pleased to finish runner-up:
" I did not quite know what to expect. I hoped to do
well. I put down two good, solid runs and so I was pleased
with that. And it is good to beat a world cup racer like Alain.
Slalom is my favourite so I am looking forward to that."
As the women's race produced a podium which was the same
as last year's, Chemmy Alcott had no real competition to her
superiority. Mel Piper (18, Auchterarder/The British Development
Team) took second 5.15 seconds behind Alcott with Katrina
Head (21, Oxford/The British Development Team) in third.
"I still never ski my best at the British. There are
always nerves. People always expect me to come here and just
walk it but it is just not like that. I could have skied better
but it's always good to win." Said Alcott.
Results:
British Land National Ski Championships, Meribel, France,
Thursday.
Women's Giant Slalom:
1 C Alcott (Hove/The British Land Alpine Ski Team) 53.44
secs 58.59 secs 1:52.03
2 M Piper (Auchterarder/The British Development Team) 56.03,
1:01.15, 1:57.18
3 K Head (Oxford/The British Development Team) 57.43, 1:02.16,
1:59.59
5 E Norton (Carrbridge/The Scottish Alpine Ski Team) 57.44,
1:03.63., 2:01.07
Men's Giant Slalom:
1 N Baxter (Aviemore/The British Land Alpine Ski Team) 1:08.38,
1:13.72, 2:22.10
2 D Berry (London/The British Land Alpine Ski Team) 1:08.77,
1:15.77, 2:23.83,
3 A Baxter (Stirling/The British Land Alpine Ski Team) 1:09.21,
1:14.70, 2:23.91
4 J-M Kochalski (Banchory/The British Land Alpine Ski Team)
1:08.51, 1:16.03, 2:24.54
5 A Tipping (Sidcup/The English Alpine Ski Team) 1:13.72,
1:15.85 2:29.57.
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