Kitzbühel: Officials decide on lower super G start

Race officials in Kitzbühel are optimistic that the program will be run in full despite the fact that heavy snow has fallen on the upper stretches of the Streif course and rain has pelted the lower sections in the past 24 hours.
   Plans now call for the start of Friday’s super G to be moved lower on the course so workers can focus on the Streif. The super G will start at the Alte Schneise, which has served as the downhill starting point in past years. With a length of 2,060 meters the course now has 41 gates with 35 direction changes. The change was made to accommodate a weather forecast that calls for fog and wind on the upper parts of the course on Friday.
     Initially, a grace period day was set for Monday in the event that any races had to be postponed, but race chief Peter Obenauer on Thursday sounded confident that all three days of racing would go off as planned.
RACE OFFICIALS in Kitzbühel are optimistic that the program will be run in full despite the fact that heavy snow has fallen on the upper stretches of the Streif course and rain has pelted the lower sections in the past 24 hours.
    Initially, a grace period day was set for Monday in the event that any races had to be postponed, but race chief Peter Obenauer on Thursday sounded confident that all three days of racing would go off as planned.
    Plans now call for the start of Friday’s super G to be moved lower on the course so workers can focus on the Streif. The super G will start at the Alte Schneise, which has served as the downhill starting point in past years. With a length of 2,060 meters the course now has 41 gates with 35 direction changes. The change was made to accommodate a weather forecast that calls for fog and wind on the upper parts of the course on Friday.
    In addition, race officials have enlisted the help of more than 100 volunteers who will work through the night to clear the course.

Camera will measure racers' acceleration out of the start
For the first time at Kitzbühel, racers’ acceleration out of the start house will be measured. A special speed camera has been built and fixed to the start house, and it will follow racers until the first gate, where they have to get into position for the jump into the Mausfalle. Racers’ speeds will be shown to viewers on the host broadcaster ORF.
    “A car with 180 horsepower accelerates 4.2 seconds from 0 to 60 kph, a Ferrari Spider F1 accelerates in 2.4 seconds. In the training runs the last two days, when we tested this system, the athletes need 3 seconds on average to reach 60 kmh out of the start,” said Michael Huber, chairman of the organizing committee. “On race day we can most likely expect acceleration times under 3 seconds.”