 |
Federation
Equestre Internationale News
FEI
World Cup Driving in Mechelen
|
The
third competition of the FEI World Cup Driving takes place during
the Flanders Christmas Horse Show in Mechelen, Belgium from 26
to 30 December 2003. Mechelen also hosts the FEI World Cup Jumping
and Dressage. Seven drivers will compete in Mechelen on 26 and
27 December, amongst which two wild cards. Achille Snoeys, the
59-year old driver from Oostmalle, also competed in the Nekkerhal
last year, where he drove his team of Nonius horses to the seventh
place. Snoeys is a well-known face in the international driving
circuit. He represented Belgium many times at Championships and
CAIO¹s, such as in Aachen 2003 where he was member of the
golden team. Valère Standaert has been given the second
wild card. Standaert was member of the silver medal winning team
at the World Championships in 1994 and helped Belgium win the
gold medal in 1996. Standaert came third at this year¹s national
Championships and he will compete in Mechelen with his team of
German and Belgian warmblood horses. The wild card drivers will
have to compete against their fellow countryman Gert Schrijvers,
who started his third indoor season several weeks ago in Stockholm.
Foreign drivers Rainer Duen from Germany, who will drive his first
World Cup event of this season, Werner Ulrich from Switzerland,
Tomas Eriksson from Sweden and IJsbrand Chardon from the Netherlands
will complete the field of seven drivers.
The
carriage driving competition in Mechelen will be opened with a
performance of pair driver and harness maker Henk van der Wiel.
The warm up competition takes place on Friday 26 December at 20.30
hrs. The World Cup competition is scheduled on Saturday 27 December
at 20.35 hrs.
Created
in 2001, the Driving World Cup has provided an innovative new
style of competition for indoor events, with courses combining
marathon and cone driving obstacles. The 2003/2004 season of the
World Cup includes seven events with eight competitions: Stuttgart
(GER), Stockholm (SWE), Mechelen (BEL) in 2003; Leipzig (GER),
two competitions in Vigo (ESP), 's-Hertogenbosch (NED) and Göteborg
(SWE) in 2004. The winner of the first two editions of the World
Cup was Michael Freund
(GER).
Relevant
internet addresses:
Flanders Christmas Horse Show: www.jumping-mechelen.com
World Cup Driving: www.worldcupdriving.com
FEI: www.horsesport.org
www.horsesport.org
.
