Atle Lie McGrath produced a stunning first run to lead from Henrik Kristoffersen and Tanguy Neff. Daniel Yule and Lucas Pinheiro Braathen completed the top five. Dave Ryding sits in 20th with Billy Major in 24th.
After the five days of sunshine that had bather Wengen during the speed races, Wengen woke up to an overcast day. This did not stop the racing from being a great spectacle.
Manuel Feller and then Timon haugan set the pace but it was McGrath from bib 4 that really showed everyone how to ski the Kevin Page (France) set course. As has been a trend this season neither Clement Noel or Stephen Amiez, France's top racers were able to master the course set by their coach. Noel sits in joint 11th (1.10 back) with Amiez just 0.93 off the lead in sixth.
Ryding was in great form at the top of the course, setting the second fastest first split. Ryding was on point in this section but then started skiing safer, a little further away from the gates and this cost time.
For Major he was skiing with much more confidence after having scored points and beating Ryding in Adelboden. Major was smooth, tight but maybe just not quite aggressive enough. What was great to see was his smile in the finish as he came into 23rd spot and hung on to qualify in 24th.
For Laurie Taylor, a great top section was followed up by the ninth best section two before he was too heavy on his edges and lost the momentum in section three. This cost him speed and time and the British Ski Academy alumni ended up finishing with the 34th best time and out of the qualification spots.
It is all go for run 2.
First run live timing