Baxter targets place in top ten

Published on Monday 16 February 2004 00:00

ALAIN BAXTER today eyes a place in next month’s World Cup Finals thanks to his second best result of the World Cup season.

The Edinburgh-born racer skied to 12th place in the slalom in Austria yesterday.

Baxter, who was 11th in the Italian resort of Madonna this season, completed the first run in 49.43 seconds and the second in 46.80secs for a total time of 1min 36.23secs. The second run was his best ever in a World Cup event but he still needs a top ten finish in the remaining events to claim a slot in next month’s World Cup Finals in Italy.

His younger brother Noel finished 27th in the World Cup slalom at St Anton after runs of 49.30sec and 59.37sec giving him a total of 1min 48.67sec.

He said: "The first run was encouraging but I fell in the second. My problem is that I’m still erratic and I need to find consistency."

Britain’s No.1 downhiller Finlay Mickel showed improved form but still finished 33 out of 36 in the World Cup at St Anton. The 26-year-old from Edinburgh clocked 1min 59.53sec on the Austrian piste.