Triple FEI World Cup™ Driving Champion Boyd Exell (AUS) is the uncontested winner of the third FEI World Cup™ Driving competition of the season in Sweden’s capital Stockholm. Exell drove two fluent clear rounds and finished well ahead of wild card driver Tomas Eriksson (SWE) and IJsbrand Chardon (NED).
After two ‘practice competitions’ in Hannover and Stuttgart where he competed with a wild card, Boyd collected his first World Cup points of the season. He began using a new horse this season to replace some of the older horses on his four-in-hand team. After two competitions and some good advice from the previous owner Jozsef Dobrovitz, the eight-year-old trotter Bajnok is now a reliable member of Boyd’s team.
Boyd drove two impeccable rounds in the Globen Arena in Stockholm where the enthusiastic spectators contributed to a fantastic atmosphere. Sweden’s Dan Henriksson had challenged the drivers by designing a technical course with many different options. This resulted in a very exciting competition the highlight of which were the fireworks going off when the competitors crossed the finishing line on the bridge.
Boyd Exell was able to relax during the first round, knowing that Eriksson and Chardon had both knocked balls down. In the winning round, Boyd did not have to take any risks since both Eriksson and Chardon had again hit balls, which gave the Australian an advantage of nine seconds. The reigning World Champion knew what he had to do and drove another fast and clear round securing his first victory and full World Cup points of the season.
After his 2009 and 2010 FEI World Cup™ Driving victories on home ground in Stockholm, Tomas Eriksson was eager for a hat-trick in Stockholm. Tomas competed with the same team of horses as he did in Hannover where his horses fell down. All four have recovered from the accident without any problems. Despite the heavy footing, Tomas set a fast time in the winning round, but knocked two balls down and had to settle for second place.
Ijsbrand Chardon experiences a brief moment of miscommunication in the second marathon obstacle, which cost him precious seconds. Chardon pushed his team of Lipizzaner horses to the limit but could not prevent two balls from falling and came in third.
Standings after 3 of 7 events:
1 IJsbrand CHARDON NED 24
2 Koos DE RONDE NED 17
3 Boyd EXELL AUS 10
4 Jozsef DOBROVITZ HUN 8
5 Tomas ERIKSSON SWE 5
5 Zoltan Lázár HUN 5
5 Rainer DUEN GER 5
8 Georg VON STEIN GER 3
9 Theo TIMMERMAN NED 2
9 Werner ULRICH SUI 2
The 2011/2012 FEI World Cup™ Driving series now moves on to Budapest, Hungary on Sunday, 4 December.
