HAUS, Austria (CP) — No one took Gerry Sorensen seriously as she stood at the starting gate Sunday morning, the 30th skler to challenge the women’s World Cup downhill course. Less than two minutes later, the 22-year-old native of Kimberley, B.C., was the centre of attention, having registered her first World Cup victory. “T can’t believe it, I can’t believe it!'’ she yelled when her time of one minute, 39.27 seconds was posted. _ The usually partisan Eu- ropean spectators were equally surprised and a West German television crew was left redfaced with embarrassment. It had just finished inter- viewing West German Irene Epple as the race winner when Sorensen started her run down the 2,590-metre course. Epple stopped shaking hands when the race an- nouncer called out Sorensen’s first inter- Teediate time. It was the fastest of the day and Epple knew she was in trouble, “Who's that?’ asked Austrian Lea Soelkner, defending World Cup slalom champion, as Sorensen swept into the final two turns before the finish, flanked by 15,000 screaming spectators. y Swedes score double - OSLO, Norway (AP) — Swedish superstar Ingemar Stenmark and his 19-year-old cousin, Bengt Fjaellberg, scored Sweden's first double victory in the Alpine skiing World - Cup. The pair placed first and secomi in a Slalom race Sunday at nearby Kirkerudbakken. ” With Stenmark second in the first run, trailing Vladimir Andreev of the Soviet Union by 0.15 seconds, and with Fjaell- berg in fifth place 0.34 secords behind, the two Swedes from Taernaby then posted the two best times in the second run and pushed the Russian down to third place. ° Asked if he plan to become Sweden’s second Stenmark, the blond Fjaeliberg replied: “I'm a half Stenmark already. My mother Ulla and Sten- foark's father are sister and brother.” .,Stenmark, who increased his lead in the Worid Cup standings, posted an over- all time of one minute, 32.51 seconds with runs of 45,63 and 45.88 seconds. Fjaellberg was timed in 1:33.09 and Andreev 1:93.16, Phil Mahre of Yakima, Wash., whé was in third place after the first run, dropped to fourth over all, 0.76 seconds Stenmark with an agere- gate time of 1:33.27. He re- mained second behind the Swedish Olympic and wortd champion in the World Cup slalom stan- dings. . Alexander Zhirov of the Soviet Union placed fifth in 1:33.51 and Steve Mahre, Phil's twin brother, was sixth in 1:33.80. Paul Frommelt | of Liechtenstein was seventh in 1:34.03, Piero Groa of Italy eighth in 1:34.07, Jarle Halsnes of Norway ninth in 1:34.63 and Sig Strand = foliowed up Sweden's success by placing 10th in 1:34.96. Both runa Sunday were: 492 metres long with adroyr of {4% metres and had 60 gates. behind | Page 10, The Herald, Monday), February °, 19761 B.C. skier surprise winner. of big Epple was second in 1:39.35. Sorensen became the first Canadian woman to win a World Cup downhill since Nancy Greene earned the nickname Tiger in 1968. Like many of her male counterparts on the Canadian World Cup team, Sorensen has had to overcome a series of in- juries to make it to the top, ‘In 1979, while a member of the national team, she hurt her left knee in fall training and. doctors removed the cartilage from the joint, She worked herself back into shape last winter . skiing for British Columbia on the Nor-Am | circuit. At the beginning of this ra winter, she was back on the World: Cup circuit but . parjlally separated her ’ shoulder in the first race at Val d'Isere, France.” Her - performance wwas -ham- " pered while it healed, but: _ late last month’ everything . started. to fail -into. place. a picked-up her first’ World Cup downhill points * finish at Megeve,- France. The next day she was fifth. On Sunday, ‘she: wes a. winner, *" . “{ didn't give up because . this' 1s where I wanted ta . be,” Sorensen said. - _ She said her late starting number probably helped. "The track certainly © became faster as. the. weather improved, but that.” - didn't problems, I love speed. we ‘present Cornella Proell . of Austria was third in 1:39.47.. Marie-Theres Nadig of Switzerland, over- all leader in the downhill standings, could do no. better than 11th, even thougti she was less than one second behind Soren: sen. oT a * ao any ° tet ete Ly thst hips cake pele LY ‘downhill - Shane Leavitt of Calgary “was 17th in 4:40,68 for the .begt regult of her brief - World Cup: career. Kathy - Kreiner of Timmins, Qnt., | Was Sith in 1:41.15 and. Diane Lehodey of Calgary '3ist ‘in 1:41.27; Lynda Robbins of Toronto did not finish the race, She took a spectacular spill. but was not injured: . | The next World cui fe downhill race, the last of the season, is Marché ‘at Aspen, Colo. Next, year, Sorensen won't have to come out of” the second seed. Her -- triumph Sunday and her fifth-place at Megeve will, put her in the top seed,. ranking her among the top 45 downhillers in the world. od ‘Jana ‘with a 13th-place WHAT'S _ -EALR.IN 1981? 1980 saw the implementation of Phase I of the ’ Fundamental Auto Insurance Rating program. The whole idea behind EA_LR, is ultimately to remove any form, of discrimination in automobile in- . surance rates for reasons of age, sex, marital status or where a person lives in the province, It seeks to link Autoplan rates solely to an individial’s driving - record, habits and attitudes. And that’s fair. Phase II of the five-year FA.LR. program willtake effect on January 1, 1981. Here are the highlights: 1, REMOVAL OF AGE AS A RATING FACTOR - This step completes the removal of age, sex and marital status as factors in determining how much you pay for your Autoplan insurance. From now on, no individual or group will be penalized or favoured solely on the basis of age. . 2. INTRODUCTION OF A DRIVER ACCIDENT PREMIUM In order to place financial responsibility squarely where it belongs-~on the individual behind the . wheel -a Driver Accident Premium will be introduced on January 1, 1981. It will apply to drivers of vehicles . rated for pleasure or drive-to-work use. It means that drivers of such vehicles who are responsible for an accident which results in property damage or bodily injury to others will pay an additional prenium of $390 for each accident. ‘ This premium may be paid in one lump sum or in three equal instalments - the first payable at the time liability is determined, and the second and third on the next two anniversaries of the accident. If the total claim is $100 orless, this Driver Accident Premium will not be charged. If the lability is divided, each driver whose share of the claim is more than $100 will be charged the full Driver Accident Premium. If the claim is less than $390, the driver who is at fault may choose to make a single payment equal to the amount of the claim, ratherthan pay _— the Driver Accident Premium. This premium is charged to the driver of the vehicle, whether or not he or she is the owner Failure to pay a Driver Accident Premium after notice ‘from the Corporation will result in denial of Own Damage coverage for a subsequent claim for a vehicle owned by that driver. There are two exceptions to this new Driver Accident Premium: {a} It does not apply to drivers of vehicles tated for commercial or business use. Since the cost of insurance is a business expense, its unfair thatanem- ‘ ployee-driver should pay the Driver Accident Premium when responsible for an accident while driving an employer's vehicle. However, accidents wilfstill mean higher insutance costs for owners of such vehicles because , t business and commercial vehicles will continue to be rated under the existing Safe Driving Vehicle Discount system in 198]. : {b} The Driver Accident Premium will also not apply to drivers of motorcycles or trailers. This is because the cost of the accident premium could excced the total cost of Autoplan insurance for . these low-premium vehicles. However, motorcycles and ‘trailers will still be rated according to the Safe Driving Vehicle Discount system in 1981. - 3. CONTINUATION OF THE SAFE DRIVING VEHICLE DISCOUNT — The Safe Driving Vehicle Discount system will continue to be applied throughout 1981. For instance; if your vehicle was involved in an accident at any time in the three years prior to — December 31, 1980, you will lose, or already have lost, ‘ part of your Safe Driving Vehicle Discount. Despite any changes inthe EA.LR. program, you _ will still have to ‘earn back’ the full 3-year discount with the required one, two or three years of accident- free driving. ° Anaccident occuring after December 31, 1980, on which a Third Party claim is paid, will result in assessment of a Driver Accident Premium. 4, REVISIONS TO THE PENALTY POINTS PREMIUM PROGRAM In addition to the new Driver Accident Premium ‘ for people who cause accidents, 1981 will see a revision of the Penalty Points Premium program as a deterrent to irresponsible drivers who acquire penalty points for traffic violations. The minimum number of points a driver ¢ can acquire withourfinancial penalty 1s now 4 instead of 5. The maximum number is now 25 instead of 20. The dollar amount of the additional Penalty Points Premium is calculated by squaring the number of points, equating that figure to dollars and adding 30%. 5, ADJUSTMENT OF TERRITORIAL RATES Further changes will be made in the EA.LR. pro- pram towards climinating differences in territorial rates. In 1981, these differences will be adjusted to a maximum spread of 20% between territories. NEW IN 1981? Several insurance options will be available to you in 1981 when you renew your Autoplan insurance. Please take time to check them out before you renew. They are part of ICBC's continuing program to provide a broader range of coverage to meet your specific needs. 1. UNDERINSURED MOTORIST PROTECTION © _from your local This option provides extended protection to the victims of accidents where the insurance carried by the driver at fault is not sufficient ~ injuries are also i increasing each year. to pay claims for bodily injury and death. It provides . carries $100,000 Third Party Liability coverage but the victim carries $500,000, the higher amount can be applied to the claim. zZ. INCOME REPLACEMENT would be inadequate to cover your lost earnings ' in the event of an injury resulting from an accident, 3. LOSS OF VEHICLE USE - aspects of Autoplan for the victim’s own Third Party Liability coverage to be applied to bring the total payment to the higher amount of coverage. Forexample, ina situation where adriver at fault If you consider that the standard No-Fault benefits , you may wish tp consider this endorsement. It pro- vides limited additional lost i income protection and death benefits. You can purchase this endorsement in con- junction with an Own Damage policy. It provides for reimbursement on a fixed scale to caver the ex- penses of a rental vehicle when you make a valid claim for Own Darnage coverage. . , “You can choose reimbursement to start 24, 48 or - 72 hours after the accident is reported to ICBC or the police. It will end with completion of repairs, replacement of your vehicle, or the date on which ICBC tenders settlement for the loss of your-vehicle. 4, AUTOPLAN RATES FOR 1981 Unavoidably, Autoplan rates will increase in 1981. Why? Quite simply because the number of acci- dents is going up; the severity of personal injuries is increasing, the cost of settling claims—both col- lision and personal i injury-is skyrocketing. We can't control these factors. The costs we can control, like the administration of Autoplan, are among the lowest for any corporation in the auto in- surance industry in North America: 16 cents of the premium dollar versus an industry average of 30 cents. - Inflation plays a large part in the rising cost of settling insurance claims, but so does the increas- | ing complexity and soph istication of today’s © automobiles. Dual headlights, unitized bodies, light- _ weight materials, catalytic converters .. these are just some of the advances in Safety, environmental protection, fuel economy and styling that make every accident that much moie costly. Settlements for $0, hereare theratei increases scheduled for 1981: An average increase of 31% for compulsory Third Party Liability coverage, An average increase of 48% for extended Third Party Liability and Collision ’ coverages. Further detailson all may be found in the 1981 Motorist Kit available Autoplan Agent and from Motor Licence Offices.