Molly Butler continued her super impressive run of form to take the win in the ANC slalom at Mount Hutt in New Zealand. Butler finished comfortably ahead of Swiss World Cup racers Aline Danioth and Amelie Klopfenstein. Vici Palla finished in 13th after a mistake on the second run.
Butler came into the race seeded tenth but had made a mockery of the seed points by posting the third fastest first run time and then the fastest second run time to go into the lead. Butler heard on to the win and her most impressive result to date, scoring 16.15 FIS points (down from her list points of 26.56.
Looking at the bigger picture, the top seed coming into the race was Liv Moritz of America. Moritz has 17.89 points and is ranked 37 in the world. Butler could, if results go her way, be starting in the thirty to forty group in Slalom World Cup by the time the Slalom World Cup starts in Levi In November.
This is a tremendous result for Butler and considering she is self funded and has a new training group this winter, the future is bright. Having finished third in the first ANC Slalom, this moves Butler up to joint lead in the slalom series with Aline Danioth (who has two second places). Butler leads the overall when you add her second in the opening GS earlier this month.
Butler's results are even more impressive considering the off hill logistical issues in trying to keep costs down. Constant moving of apartments between race venue and then training venue and the resulting packing and unpacking to make the move, all takes its toll.
Vici Palla was also racing in the race and after a strong first run made a mistake on the second run to drop down to 13th. A valuable 20 ANC points taking her into tenth is the series slalom standings.
Final word to Butler as she posted on her instagram page "That felt good!"
Results
20 Aug Slalom Mount Hutt
21 Aug Slalom Mount Hutt