Intro:

Patrick Kueng gave his home Swiss fans much to cheer about by winning the Lauberhorn downhill.

The race had to be shortened, with key sections removed due to the strong winds.

Script:

Cold and overcast conditions at Wengen, but that didn't stop Switzerland's Patrick Kueng taking the honours.

Due to strong winds, the course missed top sections - including the signature Hundschopf cliff face jump - that usually favour pure downhill racers, and became more suited to technical, super-G specialists.

Kueng clocked 1 minute, 32.66 seconds to earn his second World Cup victory - and first in downhill.

He joins a Wengen winner's roll that includes his more heralded teammates Didier Defago (2009), Carlo Janka (2010) and Beat Feuz (2012).

The Swiss, who turned 30 last weekend, is having a breakout season. He won a super-G in Beaver Creek, Colorado, last month for his first career win and has also recorded two fifths - in the Lake Louise, Alberta, super-G; and the Beaver Creek downhill; and was sixth in the downhill in Val Gardena, Italy.

Hannes Reichelt of Austria finished second, 0.06 seconds behind.

He said he lost crucial time in the bumpy s-turns into the finish area, though praised Kueng as a worthy winner.

Overall World Cup leader Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway was third, only one more hundredth further back.

Svindal now leads two-time defending champion Marcel Hirscher by 82 points in the overall standings. In the downhill rankings, Svindal leads with 360 points, Reichelt is next with 260 and Kueng is third with 221.

There was one spectacular crash from Germany's Klaus Brandner, but fortunately he was unhurt and skied down the remainder of the course.

A slalom is scheduled for Wengen on Sunday, then the men's circuit heads to Kitzbuehel, Austria, for the famed Hahnenkamm races next weekend.