Rob Holmes continued his impressive form in taking a second win in Super G in two days at the English Alpine Championships in Bormio. Holmes followed up his win in race one with a commanding win in race two, this time by 0.68 ahead of Jack Cunningham with Tom Butterworth taking third place in an Evolution lock out of the podium. Jack Upton took the fastest time in the Under 14’s in taking tenth place overall.
Holmes is fast making his mark on the under 16 age group. Since the Lowlands Indoor Championships in September, he has won seven races overall and been in the podium in three other races that he has contested. The last five races have all seen him on the top step of the podium! Since winning the British Ski Academy sponsored GBR Series last summer on the dry mat, Holmes has continued in fine form. It is not just in the British races that Holmes is making people stand up and watch him. At the recent World Schools Giant Slalom, Holmes took the fight to the Austrians and was not out of place in finishing in the top eight!
While Holmes was fortunate to draw bib 1 on both races, Jack Cunningham started 11 in the second race. While the conditions did not deteriorate as they may have done in other years, Cunningham showed that he too can mix it with Holmes and was a worthy runner up. It was a strong performance by the Evolution racers as they filled four of the top five places in the finish. Tom Butterworth placed third with Seamus O’Brien finishing fifth. Max Pini stopping the Evolution juggernought in finishing fourth.
While Tom Upton is starting to dominate the Under 14 age group, once Luca Carrick Smith starts having his seed points on the board, the two will be starting in the same area. While Upton was able to start with a relatively smooth course from bib 5, Carrick Smith started 75 and came in second in the age group while Max Laughland, who had started 91, produced the third best time in the younger age group.
With over 110 racers taking part in the speed races in Bormio, the lure and desire to compete in speed events of the younger racers may be something the higher echelons of the governing bodies of the sport might want to take notice of. The English Championships have a record entry this year and the appeal to race on a World Cup race piste is as strong as ever.
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