Sunshine, wind, and colder temperatures prevailed over the second downhill training run of the 2004 Pontiac GMC Canadian Championships at Le Massif on Wednesday. And with two training runs successfully completed, race organizers have chosen to make a schedule change for this week's speed events to accommodate expected flurries on Friday and Saturday.
With periods of snow forecast in the Charlevoix region for Saturday and Sunday, the race jury convened following Wednesday's training runs and made the decision to adjust the schedule for the speed events to ensure course crews have a good window to minimize the impact of fresh snow on this weekend's races. Under the new schedule, the men's Pontiac GMC Canadian Championships downhill will run on Thursday following a women's FIS downhill, and the women's Championships downhill will be held on Friday along with a men's FIS downhill race.
With the revised schedule, the Super G races planned for Sunday will now be split over two days. The men's race is slotted to run on Saturday, and the women's on Sunday.
The schedule for the technical races currently holds as originally planned.
In Wednesday's downhill training, Cap Rouge resident Vincent Lavoie of the Canadian Alpine Ski Team had the fastest time at one minute, 26.67 seconds. Lavoie's regular teammate on the World Cup circuit this season, Whistler's Jeff Hume, finished second in 1:27.17, showing he's recovered from injuries suffered in a crash at Kitzbuehel last January. Meanwhile, Canadian Alpine Ski Team rookie John Kucera of Calgary was third in 1:27.27.
“Finishing first yesterday was good, but race day is what really matters,” said World Junior multi-medallist Fran
EXPECTED SNOW AMOUNTS TO SCHEDULE CHANGE AT PONTIAC GMC CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
