The equestrian community for horse people everywhere
ExELL PUTS THE PRESSURE ON IN HANNOVER by Cindy Timmer
Australian Boyd Exell laid down a marker for his rivals as the FEI World Cup™ Driving season got underway in Germany.
The Double World Cup Champion and recent World Four-in-Hand Champion won the first
competition of the season in Hannover, finishing ahead of Hungary’s József
Dobrovitz and IJsbrand Chardon from the Netherlands.
The 10th season of the FEI World Cup™ Driving
kicked off traditionally during the German Classics show where the drivers and
their horses received a warm welcome from the enthusiastic spectators at the
near-capacity Hannover Messe Halle.
Different carriages
Starting just two weeks after the conclusion of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian
Games™ in Kentucky, many of the drivers were without
their usual carriages, which were still being transported from
America.
Dutchman Koos de Ronde was forced to compete with a marathon carriage he last used during the
2008/2009 season. Chardon used a carriage he had never competed with before,
while Exell borrowed the carriage of his friend and fellow competitor Robert
Wilkinson and Christoph Sandmann used the marathon carriage of his compatriot
Christian Plücker.
Lipizzaner power
József Dobrovitz was the first starter, the organiser of the CAIO in Vecsés (HUN)
making up for his disappointing performance on the first day, by driving a clear
round in a quick time. Dobrovitz had added the experienced black Orlov Trotter
Spitfire, previously owned and driven by Michael Freund and Tucker Johnson, to
his team of Lipizzaner horses. Dobrovitz completed the course without error to
put the pressure on the following six competitors.
IJsbrand Chardon, who bought Dobrovitz’ Lipizzaner team last season, came close to the
Hungarian’s fast time but having knocked down two balls did not expect to
qualify for the Winning Round.
Equipment failure
However, the Dutch competitor was forced to stay in the arena after he passed the finish
line when it was discovered that Exell had suffered equipment failure. A bolt
had fallen off the leader bars of the Australian driver’s carriage which needed
to be replaced. Whilst Exell received help from his fellow competitors Chardon
gave an impromptu performance for the near-sell out crowd.
Communication error
Having fixed his carriage, Exell drove a magnificent round; fast and close to the
obstacles, using every centimetre of the ground he beat Dobrovitz’ time by two
seconds.
Dutch driver Koos de Ronde was last to go but a first place finish went begging as he
knocked down a ball early on. A top three finish still seemed likely as the team
gold medallist from the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky continued to drive a
quick round. But as he came through the final gate, De Ronde missed the finish
line losing valuable seconds as he corrected his team and got them back through
the line again.
Winning Round
Chardon went on to drive a clear Winning Round, putting the pressure on Dobrovitz, who knocked two balls
down. But the Hungarian narrowly claimed the second spot by just 0.93 seconds.
Exell knew he was well ahead of his rivals but it did not stop him from putting in
another fine performance. Even a risky manouvre in the last phase of the course
was not enough to endanger his first win of the season. Exell and Germany’s
Christoph Sandmann had however competed with wild cards so the two drivers were
unable to collect World Cup points from the event.
Quotes:
Boyd Exell (AUS):
“I had
forgotten how good my dream team is! With my horses and with Michelle my
navigator, we form a great team. This is the same dream team I had in Geneva
last April when I won the FEI World Cup™ Final. Being a wild card driver I used
Hannover as an opportunity to try things, such as a new harness. I will
transport six horses to the next four FEI World Cup events I am competing in, so
I can rotate my horses,” explained Exell, who is based in Leicestershire, Great
Britain.
Jozsef Dobrovitz (HUN):
“The course was quite
difficult, but my horses did very well. They are not very experienced yet as a
team and I hope that will grow as the season continues. It was wonderful to
drive in such a wonderful atmosphere with so many spectators!”
IJsbrand Chardon (NED):
“It was my first competition
again with the Lipizzaner horses and I have not been able to train them much
after Kentucky. But they are much easier to drive than last season. They are
very fit and fresh and I was very pleased with them.”
Results CAI-W Hannover 2011:
1. Boyd Exell (Aus) 242,36 (5)
2. Jozsef Dobrovitz (Hun) 254,36 (10)
3. IJsbrand Chardon (Ned) 255,29 (10)
4. Koos de Ronde (Ned) 134,37 (5)
5. Christoph Sandmann (Ger) 143,41 (10)
6. Zoltan Lazar (Hun) 145,32 (15)
7. Tomas Eriksson (Swe) 169,40 (40)
Classification after 1 of 7 events:
1 Jozsef
DOBROVITZ HUN 10
2 IJsbrand CHARDON NED 7
3 Koos DE RONDE NED 5
4 Zoltan LAZAR HUN 3
5 Tomas ERIKSSON SWE 2
The 2010/2011 FEI World Cup™ Driving series now moves on to Stuttgart, Germany on Saturday, 20 November.
For information on the next leg go to www.stuttgart-german-masters.de
or contact Press Officer Hartmut Binder, Email hartmut.binder@mps-agentur.de, Mobile +49 172 972 2848
More information: www.feiworldcup.org
FEI World Cup™ DRIVING 2010/2011
CALENDAR OF EVENTS:
FEI World Cup™ Driving has entered its 10th season. The series, created in 2001, today
comprises seven leagues. The best six drivers from seven preliminary
competitions will qualify for the final in Leipzig, Germany which takes place
from 27 April-1 May 2011.
The Federation Equestre Internationale
(FEI), founded in 1921, is the international body governing equestrian
sport recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and includes 133
National Federations. Equestrian sport has been on the Olympic programme since
1912 with three disciplines - Jumping, Dressage and Eventing. It is one of the
very few sports in which men and women compete on equal terms. It is also the
only sport which involves two athletes - horse and rider. The FEI has
relentlessly concerned itself with the welfare of the horse, which is paramount
and must never be subordinated to competitive or commercial influences.
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