Poutiainen and Palander make a flying start; Räikkönen winds up season on podium

print this

Finland’s two brightest alpine skiing stars, Tanja Poutiainen and Kalle Palander, both made excellent starts to their FIS World Cup campaigns at the weekend.
      Poutiainen was 2nd in the women’s giant slalom at Sölden on Saturday, and Palander took third spot in the men’s event on Sunday.
      Poutiainen was headed only by Anja Pärson, the defending overall, giant slalom and slalom champion, and she recorded her best-ever placing in the giant slalom. She pushed Pärson all the way, and even took a small piece out of the Swede’s lead in the second run, eventually losing by 0.32 seconds.
      Kalle Palander responded to the peer-pressure and made it two Finnish podium places on Sunday by finishing third, behind the overwhelming victor Bode Miller  of the United States. Palander was level with Massimiliano Blardone in second spot after his first run, but was passed by the Italian on the second run down the hill.
      Miller’s victory was seldom in any doubt, as he produced a blistering first run of 1.08.84 to put himself nearly a second ahead of the pack. Only Palander and Blardone managed to get under 70 seconds. Despite going last on a surface that was breaking up, the American secured the 9th fastest time and eventually won by a comfortable margin of 1.17 seconds.
     
On Sunday Kimi Räikkönen wound up his rather disappointing Formula One season with a podium appearance, after he narrowly failed to catch Juan Pablo Montoya in the Brazilian GP. Räikkönen started from 3rd position on the grid, but in a race affected by tricky wet/dry conditions, he soon took the lead, only to lose it to Montoya. Rubens Barrichello, who was on pole for the race, came in third.
      Räikkönen’s season was plagued by technical problerms affecting the McLaren-Mercedes, and he eventually finished in 7th place in the drivers’ championship, with 45 points. The drivers’ title and the manufacturers’ race were both settled long ago, with Michael Schumacher  and Ferarri being completely dominant.
     
Note: We shall be publishing a report on Kalle Palander's new stature among the alpine skiing elite in our weeklies on Tuesday.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Kalle Palander is now one of the superstars on the alpine skiing circuit (23.10.2004)

Links:
  FIS Alpine World Cup results
  FIA

Helsingin Sanomat