Benjamin Karl has been competing 19 times in Bad Gastein so far, now, the Austrian raceboard crack is ready for his 20th appearance.

After a disappointing start to the season with a 9th and 27th rank finish in Carezza and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, the rider from Lower Austria did a complete analysis of his first two World Cup races in order to leave nothing to chance for his Bad Gastein jubilee.

Plus: the two-time Olympic medallist also underwent a punitive training on Dec 24th.

“I had to clear my mind. That worked out fine,” the four-time world champion said.

In addition, the two days of training with the team on Friday's race hill also paid off: “It was important to adjust to the slope conditions. That made me feel safe.”

Safe with his riding and safe with his new Kessler equipment which arrived just in time for Bad Gastein; a total of six brand new tailor made race machines.

“We have invested a lot of time in the development of the boards. I'm very confident that we will benefit from the effort we put in.”

That combined with some very good training impressions over the last couple of days led to the conclusion that “I traveled to Bad Gastein with a very good feeling.”

It seems that Karl, a married father of one little daughter, is well-prepared for his 20th start in Bad Gastein.

After one FIS race, two Europa Cup competitions, five national championships events and eleven World Cup races on at the foot of the Stubnerkogel including one second rank and one win in 2011, tellingly under the lights just like tomorrow's event, the 30-year-old has one goal:

“We had some thrilling duels under the lights, always in front of a great audience. I hope I can capitalize from the home field advantage again.”

Source: fis-ski.com