ATOMIC STAR MARCEL SHINED
AT THE NIGHT RACE
Alpine
JAN 26, 2017
44,000 spectators, a sea of flags in red and white, pilot and material ready for the next top performance.
For Marcel Hirscher and Atomic not much could go wrong with this 20th Night Race in Schladming. And eventually: 55 hours after the power act of Kitzbühel, the Redster rocket Marcel thrilled all of us with two awe-inspiring races - in the end only nine hundredths were missing for a double hit in the prestigious slalom. More than remarkable: The World Cup frontrunner now heads into the last third of the season with 368 points.
"I am convinced that the ‘luck with the hundredth’ will soon be coming back to me", Marcel was sure after the ninth second place, the 13th podium of the winter. Maybe already at the World Cup slalom in St. Moritz in three and a half weeks? On the Planai Marcel already had "green" lighting up (14 hundredths of an advantage) at the very last split time, but in the end he won the second place. "In the last part I was disheartened, there was more in it", Marcel noted, who once again trusted the same skis, who had rendered him valuable services in the final of Wengen and Kitzbühel.
“Especially in the flat, the basic speed was extremely impressive. We are certainly not going to sit back, but we are delighted to have developed a package together with Marcel that works quite well in these conditions!”
MARCEL’S TACTIC FOR THE SEASON FINISH: MORE RISK, MORE FUN
For Marcel's remaining races this season, Höflehner expects further major performance improvements. "The more soothing his lead in the overall World Cup, the more he will be ready to add to his current performance. The Redster Race Director was also very satisfied with Manuel Feller, who finished sixth in the last slalom race - after five drop outs, four of them due to thread ins – giving him access to St. Moritz in this last race before the World Cup. "Great respect for his performance. Delivering such a performance with this background is evidence of great class. "
The final third of this World Cup season starts with two Downhill runs and a GS in Garmisch. After the GS at the Kronplatz (5th place for Redster ace Mikaela Shiffrin), the women will compete in Cortina (Downhill, Super-G). Whether or not the World Cup leader (currently 70 points ahead) races on the Tofana will be decided on short notice.
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