Testorelli Wins Final of Australia-New Zealand Cup Slalom

Cafe and Jarvis Show Well for New Zealand

Mt Hutt, New Zealand – 11th September, 2009 – Switzerland’s Moreno Testorelli and Sweden’s Magnus Andersson were both in top form, with Testorelli winning the ANC Final slalom in the morning and Andersson taking out the afternoon race as the Australia-New Zealand Cup Finals continued at Mt. Hutt Friday.

Moreno Testorelli. Credit Mt Hutt.  

France’s Richard Antolioni was a close second in the morning Final and Great Britain’s Noel Baxter an impressive third in the afternoon race, a make-up for the slalom that was postponed earlier this season at Australia’s Mt. Hotham.

Kiwis Sarah Jarvis and Tim Cafe seemed to enjoy the spring conditions on the Jonnie Doles Course. Cafe was top Kiwi in both races, finishing 10th in the ANC Final in the morning. Jarvis finished a strong fourth in the afternoon.

The day was especially gratifying to Queenstown’s Cafe because his primary focus has been on speed events, and a mid-season hand injury meant he wasn’t doing too much slalom training this Southern Hemisphere season.

“I was stoked,” he said. “It was nice to get some solid slalom training in. It will bring my ranking down, but I’ll focus on speed. Super G is my strongest discipline.”

Indeed, Cafe is planning to make his run for Vancouver with a string of early-season Super G races in North America in the next few months.

Angus Howden (14th) and Andrew Wylie (19th) were the other top Kiwis in the morning. In the afternoon, Ben Griffin and Wylie again were the top Kiwis behind Cafe.

For her part, Jarvis trailed only the Polish trio of Katarzyna Karasinska, Agnieszka Gasienica Daniel, and Aleksandra Klus, who finished 1-2-3 in the afternoon race. Karasinska and Daniel also went 1-2 in the morning Final with Fance’s Florine De Leymarie in third.

Top Kiwi women in the Final were Lucie Tait-Jamieson (7th), Taylor Smith (13th) and Taylor Rapley (14th). Tait-Jamieson improved to 6th in the afternoon while Smith was 15th.

Mt Hutt race and events crew had all hands on deck today, setting and maintaining a world-class course in spring-like conditions for two back-to-back slalom races, each with two runs.

“Logistically, it’s a long day to have back-to-back races, so I can’t say enough about the job the Mt. Hutt crew and all the volunteers are doing,” said Snow Sports New Zealand Alpine Director James Lazor. “It’s been a great week of racing and Mt Hutt deserve a lot of credit for ensuring that we had a world-class course and event for an international field.”

The final race of the ANC Finals, a Giant Slalom, is scheduled for Saturday.

FULL RESULTS: www.fis-ski.com  

The Australia New Zealand Cup (ANC) is proudly supported by Mt Hutt and Coronet Peak (www.nzski.com), Ski Racing New Zealand (www.skiracing.org.nz), Ski and Snowboard Australia (www.skiingaustralia.org.au) and Apogee (www.apogee-sports.com)

Snow Sports New Zealand is the official governing body and National Sports Organisation representing all snow sports in New Zealand. Ski Racing New Zealand is a member of Snow Sports New Zealand.

ENDS
For further information:
James R. Lazor, Alpine Director
021 941 033

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