Rob Poth came into the race looking for FIS points that would edge him closer to the World's Top 150 and thus becoming the fourth racer to be eligible to compete in the World Cup Slalom races for next season. He left with the defence of his Slalom title, won back in 2019 and a huge smile. Robert Holmes gave more kudos to the Holmes family in taking second and Owen Vinter took third. The top five were rounded out by Ed Guigonnet in fourth and Leo Karavasilas in fifth.
This was a race of attrition. Early numbers on the first run put down excellent times to be at the top end of the results but come the second run, the conditions were not so favourable. Sadly Laurie Taylor straddled on the first run and was out.
Poth did not know, he explained after the race, that Taylor had come out on the first run when he left the start but still put in a decent run to be in touch with the race leaders and ahead of the British pack.
The second run was tough work he explained. Coming over the rise in to the finish, he made a big mistake and from then on in it was a case of making it into the finish. Small mistakes creeped in but Poth is a fighter and he wanted the title if he could not make the result that would see him creep into the top 150.
"All I heard when I came through the finish, was 'you are the leading British racer' and people clapping me," he explained after the race.
This was just desserts for a season that has seen him plug away at reaching the holy grail of goals: racing on the World Cup.
For Holmes, he was delighted to have been able to take second and have his name on the headlines while his sister has been bagging impressive results all championships. Coming from the same slope as Dave Ryding, Holmes is inspired by all that Ryding achieves and uses this too drive him on.
For Vinter, this was a good performance in the deteriorating conditions. Had he not crashed out of the GS, the end result in terms of the Overall could have been so different but with Ed Guigonnet keeping one eye on the points across the four races, it is Ed Guigonnet that has taken the British Men's Overall title as well as the Victor Ludorum title for the most points, male or female.
After the prize giving, while he was holding both the Overall and Victor Ludorum trophies, Noel Baxter came up and shook his hand, "Great trophies aren't they," Baxter explained, "Did you ever win these someone else asked, "Never the big one, the Ludorum trophy," Baxter ruefully answered.
The grin on Guigonnet's face said it all. A job well done.
British Men's Slalom results
Action shots from all the racers are on www.racerready.zenfolio.com