Dressen, 26th in Kitzbühel last weekend, clocked 1min 39.31sec on the famous Kandahar course to record his second downhill victory of the season.

The German racer finished 0.16sec quicker than Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway, while Frenchman Johan Clarey was third.

Clarey, fastest in yesterday's training run, was 0.01 adrift of the Norwegian.

Former world champion Beat Feuz of Switzerland, leader of the overall downhill standings, could only manage sixth.

Dressen's triumph saw him follow in the footsteps of Markus Wasmeier, winner of the downhill in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 1992.

"It's brutal that it's been so long ago," Dressen said, reports the Associated Press.

"For me this is a dream. 

"Winning Garmisch is really cool for us Germans.

"After Kitzbuhel I was pretty angry. 

"I took too many risks there, wanted to force a good result.

"For this race, I wanted to be more relaxed, to have fun at the start, and to enjoy the race."

Feuz leads the downhill rankings on 520 points, 136 clear of Italy's Dominik Paris in second.

Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen occupies top spot on the overall World Cup standings heading into tomorrow's giant slalom.