Davies captures Welsh Open Title
Charlotte Davies made no mistake after taking the lead from the first run in the Welsh Open slalom to extend her lead in the second and capture one of the big races of the summer season. Davies, in only her third race of the summer due to other commitments, showed the rest of the field just how far they have to go to compete. With her three closest rivals all crashing out, Davies margin of victory was huge but as the old saying goes, if you want to come first, first you have to get down. Alex Bullock took a promising second with Kirsty Hatcher making it two Welsh girls in the top three, in third place.
With this being the third of the top ranked races for the summer, there was a degree of added pressure on those racers looking for overall victory. With Charlotte Davies the first of the big four racers to go on the first run, this was her opportunity to put more pressure on those following. Davies put in a strong run, not her finest but she was down and in the finish area and the rest now had to try and match what she had done. Sarah Lambden going two behind her raised her game from the previous day and finished 0.35 behind her Gloucester club mate. Charlotte Gould struggled over the ridge and become the highest ranked casualty of the run. Alice Hales was next up and she finished 0.70 behind Davies with Alex Bullock in fourth and Hannah Bozier taking fifth after the first run. All to play for then on run two.
With ten to go on the second run, Kirsty Hatcher took the lead. Going into the run, Hatcher had the opportunity to move up five places as she was the tail of a group of girls separated by a few tenths. Hatcher skied well to grab the lead and put the pressure on the rest of the girls. Next down was Ellen Hathway and her wretched bad luck continued with another straddle and out she went. Despite having a quarter of a second lead over Hatcher, Emily Hopkins was not able to keep on to this and Hatcher held on to the lead by just two hundredths of a second. Georgia Hallett was next down and she struggled losing time and her chance was gone. Ellen Brown was the next of the tightly bunched five from the first run and she failed to show the promising form that has marked her season. Into third she went.
So into the top five from the first run and Hannah Bozier came unstuck three quarters of the way down and after missing a gate, saw her chance of success evaporate. Still Kirsty Hatcher lead – what a birthday present this would have been for Hatcher!
Alex Bullock has had a season that has shown great moments: winning the Grand Prix in Sunderland earlier in the summer and yet other results have just not been there. Within a second of first run leader Davies and knowing that Davies is susceptible to blowing out on the second run, Bullock put in a determined charge that saw her better Hatcher’s time and grab the lead. Could she stay there with Hales and Lambden still to come?
Alice Hales had benefited from Davies’s capitulation in the Welsh National the day before and was on a charge before making an error coming into the finish and missing a gate. There would be no double victory for Hales this weekend.
Sarah Lambden, as has become fairly common for her this summer, has put in great first runs and then things have gone awry in the second. This race was no exception and she too failed to make the finish. Bullock still held the lead, could she hold on to the lead with just Davies to come?
Charlotte Davies used her strength and guile to not blow out for the third race in a row in bettering Bullock’s time by almost a second. The determination is there but the confidence is sometimes lacking in the Gloucester racer yet on this occasion she proved she was the racer to beat. There have been better racers on plastic but you can only beat those in the race on the day and Davies showed the rest just how far they need to raise their own games if they are to challenge.
While the rain just about held off for the girl’s race, Pontypool once again proved to be an excellent venue for the dry slope racing!
If you would like to see the thumbnails from the weekends racing, please click here (and tell those that may not know about the service offered!)
