David Hatcher held his nerve and kept his faith in his unique style to capture the Welsh Dryslope title at Pontypool. With rising young racer Declan Huppach producing a great performance to take second and Ben Clark rolling back the years to make it two Master's racers on the podium in third. ...
The work that Snowsport Wales had put in to encourage more racers to attend the showpiece event for Welsh racers was to be applauded in this age of social media.
Chris Corr held the lead after the first run but struggled to hold the power he had generated across the ridge and crashed out. With his demise, this left Hatcher, who had trailed by twelve hundredths after the first run, in the finish and with the win.
The first run had, in the eyes of many racers been a little tame, yet the second run, set by Welsh Coach, Robin Kellen, gave the racers plenty to think about. If the feet moved quickly and the weight stayed on the outside foot, the middle combination after the ridge was achievable. With many of the racers thinking of the end of the season and friendships that have been growing over the summer, the exciting news of an Olympic based prize being offered by Snowsport England through their QR registrations on their newsletter, may be of interest to many.
Hatcher used his unique style to power his way down the slope while Huppach used his more traditional technique to take second. Clark, fifth after the first run, used his experience and the demise of Corr and Tom Hales to move up to third overall. Clark, one of four racers to go under the magical twenty second time for the second run, showed that despite getting older, he can still mix it with the younger racers.
Callum Witts put a disappointed first run to bed with a much improved second run to grab fourth place with Emile Evans taking fifth. With the race win, David Hatcher took the prize for the best Welsh racer.
The Age group prizes went to Toby Case (under 14, 9th Overall), Oliver Weeks (Under 16, 7th overall), Declan Huppach (Under 18, 2nd Overall), Emile Evans (Under 21, 5th Overall), Adam Lee (Senior, 8th) and David Hatcher (Master's, race winner).
Welsh Championships supported by Champery Mens Results
Picture: David Hatcher - Credit Racer Ready All rights reserved
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