Rose continues to make his mark in the initial Alpine World Cup races of 2008 in Abtenau, Austria whilst Willoughby earns her first WC points...
The first day of races in Abtenau saw Sean Rose continue his consistent performance with a 6th in the Slalom (SL) following two good runs just 3 seconds off the winning pace. Meanwhile disappointment for Joe Willoughby who had started well holding 3rd after her first run only to sustain a fall in the second (DNF) to put her out of contention.
Tuesday's races saw Willoughby get back in the groove and achieve her first World Cup points with a 5th in the GS whilst Rose on consistent form this season producing a comfortable 12th in this high class field.
Wednesday delivered the first of the three Super Combined (SC) events, Sean achieving a 13th in the Super G followed by a cracking SL race which brought him up to 10th in this exciting combination of speed and technicality. Joe managed a 5th in the Super-G unfortunately crashing out in the SL to record a DNF and no result for her first SC.
Thursday saw roles reversed with Joe doing enough in both the SG and SL to record a 6th overall in the second SC event, whilst Sean having again produced a worthy 11th in the SG crashed out during the SL.
The final day of races concluded on Friday with the third SC. The courses had continued to harden over the week as temperatures had dropped and rain earlier in the week had led to increasingly compact and difficult conditions on the race piste's.Both Sean and Joe produced respectable finishes in the SG with a 14th and 5th respectively but only Rose could consolidate on this in the SL completing to achieve another well deserved 10th in this third SC.
A brilliant achievement all round.
Abtenau World Cup – Full Results
| | SL (7Jan) | GS (8Jan) | SG1 (9Jan) | SC1 (9Jan) | SG2 (10Jan) | SC2 (10Jan) | SG3 (11Jan) | SC3 (11Jan) |
| Sean Rose | 6th | 10th | 13th | 10th | 11th | DNF | 14th | 10th |
| Joe Willoughby | DNF | 5th | 5th | DNF | 5th | 6th | 5th | DNF |
These World Cup athletes now make the 12 hour drive from Austria to Queyras, Hautes-Alpes, France for the second of the World Cup competitions (13 - 19 Jan 2008) which looks to provide a very exciting climax with the inclusion of two Downhill races at the end of the week to supplement the usual SL, SG and SC events.
Elsewhere, the unofficial results from NorAm Huntsman Cup, Park City Utah had Liz Miller adding to her earlier season successes with a 3rd and 5th in the two SL races followed by a 5th in the GS