In what was one of the most exciting confrontations of the weekend, rising talent and star of Scottish ski racing, Zak Vinter, held on to win his first Scottish Dry Mat title in the Giant Slalom. Vinter destroyed the rest of the field in ... Â the first run to lead by over a second and despite a second run fight back by Callum Henderson, the older racer could not eek out enough on the second run to claw back the younger racer. Ross Taylor, while just two tenths back from Henderson on the first run could not live with the battle raging for Overall Supremacy and held on comfortably for third. Duncan Kuwall and Owen Vinter rounded off the top five Overall.
Callum Henderson is a great benchmark for the young racers coming through on the Scottish Dry Mat scene as well as those on the Indoor Scene. An ex Scottish Team member who decided to go down the educational route when his racing career looked like it had reached its zenith, Henderson now is the benchmark for all the racers coming up through the ranks. Henderson also coaches at Hillend and so knows the hill well. He likes to win though as well and this is what gives the rest of the field a challenge. He may be nine years older than the likes of Vinter but he is not quite ready to give up the mantle of being the dry mat racer in Scotland to beat.
Vinter on the other hand is the man with the success on snow this summer and is skiing very well. Vinter was on a mission. With his first run was immense and this showed with a time that left the rest trailing by over a second.
Run two saw Henderson on a charge. This was his hill and he did not want the man from Glasgow stealing his thunder. Henderson was a man on a mission and posted a time that was almost two seconds quicker than anyone had managed at that point. If Vinter was going to win, he would have to earn the win. The pressure was on.
With over a second in hand, Vinter did not have to risk his all. He skied intelligently and used his head. Although he was not as clean or aggressive as Henderson, Vinter held on to have a combined time that was a third of a second faster than Henderson. Victory for Vinter with Taylor taking the best of the rest in third.
There were age group wins for Owen Vinter (Under 14), Andrew Greenshields (Under 16), Zak Vinter (Under 18), Ross Taylor (under 21) and Callum Henderson (Senior)
Results 14scotchslres
Picture: Zak Vinter on his way to winning the Giant Slalom at Hillend in the Scottish Championships. Credit Racer Ready - all rights reserved
More pictures available to see on www.racer-ready.ifp3.com