Bansko, Bulgaria  - Fabienne Suter of Switzerland claimed her first alpine ski World Cup victory of the season with a downhill win in Bansko, Bulgaria on Friday, while Lindsey Vonn of the United States was again on the podium to increase her overall lead.

Suter posted 1 minute 45.68 seconds for a comfortable 1.15-second advantage over Austrian Andrea Fischbacher. Vonn shared third place with Nadia Fanchini of Italy, both 1.24 seconds back.

Vonn, who has now appeared on the podium for six straight races, moved further ahead to 1,434 points in the overall standings.

Nearest rival Maria Riesch of Germany was well off the pace, 3.24 seconds back in 18th place, while Anja Paerson of Sweden failed to finish. Riesch improved slightly to
1,088 points while Paerson remained third on 960.

Vonn also leads the downhill standings, on 380 points, ahead of Dominique Gisin of Switzerland (262), who failed to finish, and Paerson (220).

Vonn had fallen heavily on her back in training Thursday and said the accident "played a role" as she was not able to train fully.

"I was a bit nervous today," she said.

"I didn't run the whole course yesterday and it is a difficult piste, very uneven. I didn't race aggressively. I fought hard but it wasn't enough. I hope things go better tomorrow."

It was meanwhile a third career World Cup win for 24-year-old Suter following two super-g victories last season. It also follows two second-placed finishes in super-g this season, including the last race in Tarvisio, Italy five days ago when she finished behind Vonn.

It was the first World Cup race in Bulgaria for 25 years, and will be followed by another downhill on Saturday and a super-g on Sunday at the Bansko resort about 160 kilometres south of the capital Sofia.

Friday's race had been rescheduled from St Moritz, Switzerland when stormy weather forced organizers to cancel the downhill there on December 21.

Bulgaria last featured on the World Cup schedule in the 1981 and 1984 seasons when men's slalom and giant slalom races were held at Borovets. (dpa)