Austrian Captures Downhill

VAL D'ISERE, France, Jan. 9 (UPI) - Erwin Resch of Austria won the World Cup downhill ski event today after a treacherous and spectacular ''S'' bend wiped out one-third of the top-ranked group of downhill stars.

The 21-year-old Resch, only fifth fastest at the intermediate point, mastered the icy compression bend that took a heavy toll of his rivals. His time was 1 minute 59.26 seconds. It was Resch's second World Cup victory.

Peter Mueller of Switzerland was just 6-hundredths of a second slower than Resch, but he was later disqualified. Second and third places then went to two other Swiss entrants, Peter Luescher with 1:59.44 and Conradin Cathomen with 1:59.56.

Mueller 's disqualification also cost him top place in the World Cup over-all standing, with Austria's Harti Weirather, who finished sixth in 1:59.71, moving into first place with 84 points, 4 ahead of Mueller.

Among those who fell victim to the bend were Franz Heinzer of Switzerland and Steve Podborski of Canada. Ken Read took fourth place in 1:59.67, putting in a fast second half after a mistake on the upper reaches of the course, and Michael Mair of Italy was fifth in 1:59.64. Franz Klammer of Austria did not finish in the top three for the first time this season. He finished 12th.

But Klammer still leads the downhill World Cup standing after four races, with 64 points. Second is Cathomen with 59. Irene Epple Is First

VERBIER, Switzerland, Jan. 9 (AP) - Irene Epple of West Germany, snapping a streak of disappointing performances this season, won the first women's super-giant slalom ski race ever held on the World Cup circuit today.

Hanni Wenzel of Liechtenstein was a close second. Two Americans, Tamara McKinney and Cindy Nelson, finished third and fourth. ''I don't know why it went well this time,'' said Miss Epple after the race, a 32-gate run over 1,350 meters with a 405-meter drop. Her victory gave her a total of 52 points, and fifth place in overall World Cup standing.