If you thought the achievements of Tina Maze were impressive last season, the way Lara gut is going this year, she will surpass the points record set by the Slovenian fairly easily. This was the third start of her World Cup season and her third win, ... all three wins in different disciplines! Prior to the race, the Swiss racer had won three races in her career, now she has won three more in just 35 days and in three different disciplines! It looked like Lizz Goergl had taken second (and in the process had become the third oldest woman to podium) before she was disqualified for a technical infringement on her ski height. Anna Fenninger moved up into second and Niki Hosp, who has started at number 1 took third place.
While Fenninger was the fastest on the top section of the Raptor course, Gut made an uncharacteristic mistake that saw her rethink her strategy she admitted afterwards:Â “I wasn't sure what the right technique was going to be before the start”, said Gut. “I was very aggressive in the top section and made two mistakes because of that. I understood then what was the best way to continue and I managed to be very clean on the line until the finish line.” Clean she was, going through the speed gun at over 108kmh, fastest of all the racers.
Fenninger spoke after the race having taken her tenth World Cup Super G podium: "For now, I believe I am stronger in super g races than I am in downhill", she said. "In yesterday's downhill race I made too many mistakes. I managed to ski better today espacially in the upper part. Unfortunately I lost speed and time in the bottom part. But overall being on the podium is a really good feeling. I know I can be fast on my skis. If I can get rid of some small mistakes, I hopefully will be able to keep up with Lara who has been outstanding this week."
The raptor course is gnarly. It was a course that demanded respect and clean technique. For those that managed to do this, they were rewarded with good times. While none were able to live with the Swiss racer, preparation and learning about the first new speed course since the Schladming course was built for the World Championships last season, was a key motive for most racers.
With Gut moving further into the lead of the Overall at an early stage of the season, the pressure is building for the rest of the racers. Again the American team failed to deliver on their home slopes. Questions will be asked at a later date but the World Cup season is long and racing at home brings added pressures, especially in an Olympic season.
According to Austrian TV, ORF, the reason for Goergl's skis being too wide was down to her ski tech forgetting to file both sides of the ski. 0.12mm was all it takes!
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