Hannes Reichelt forced his way into contention for the downhill globe by leading an Austrian 1-2-3 in a delayed meet at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup on Saturday.
Heavy fog saw the time of the race delayed at the German venue, while skiers started their run from the super-G start.
When the action did get under way it was Reichelt who managed to top the timesheets with a run of one minute and 11.90 seconds, edging compatriot Romed Baumann by a mere 0.1 seconds, to move second in the discipline standings.
Matthias Mayer headed to Germany in fine form having secured back-to-back World Cup wins in the downhill and super-G last weekend.
Top spot proved elusive on this occasion, but a third-placed finish saw him chip away at downhill leader Kjetil Jansrud - who posted finished a disappointing 19th.
Jansrud, who could have won the downhill globe had results gone his way this weekend, now holds a lead of 84 points over Reichelt with two downhill races remaining this term.
Frenchman Dominik Paris was the nearest challenger to Jansrud before the race, a fifth-placed finish means he drops to third in the standings, one place above Mayer.