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Federation
Equestre Internationale News
FEI
Driving News - Exciting carriage driving sport in Leipzig
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The
international horse show Partner Pferd in Leipzig, Germany, hosted
the fourth leg of the FEI World Cup Driving on Sunday, 25 January
2004. Supported by some 7500 spectators, seven drivers performed
at their best in the arena of the Leipziger Messe. Amongst them
double World Cup Champion Michael Freund, who had received a wild
card from the organization and was therefore not eligible to win
World Cup points. German course designer Wolfgang Asendorf had
designed a challenging course with both technical and speed aspects,
which was much appreciated by the drivers. The level of the driving
sport in Leipzig was extremely high, which resulted in exciting
sport. During the first round, the battle took place between Ulrich,
Sandmann, Eriksson, Chardon and Freund. Germany¹s Rainer
Duen and second wild card driver Steffen Scholz had to be satisfied
with place six and seven in Leipzig. Sandmann beat the time set
by Ulrich, while Eriksson beat Sandmann¹s time again. Chardon
put down a fast round, but knocked three cones down, which made
him drop to the fifth place. Michael Freund, Tomas Eriksson and
Christoph Sandmann qualified for the winning round, which was
driven over a shortened course. The crowd¹s favourite Michael
Freund was yet again the fastest driver and although Eriksson
came close, the Swede could not close the gap of 8 seconds. Christoph
Sandmann had 10 penalty seconds added to his score and came third.
Freund¹s fellow competitors proved in
Leipzig they are gaining ground on him, it will be only a matter
of time until they will take over his position.
Michael
Freund is in the lead of the standings after Leipzig with 20 points
with two more events to go. Eriksson and Sandmann share the second
place with 14 points.
Because
Bordeaux has dropped out of the World Cup Driving series, the
next two events will take place in Vigo, Spain, on 14 and 15 February.
Results
CAI-W Leipzig:
1. Michael Freund (Ger) 215,38
2. Tomas Eriksson (Swe) 223,67
3. Christoph Sandmann (Ger) 225,68
4. Werner Ulrich (Sui) 117,01
5. Ijsbrand Chardon (Ned) 126,20
6. Rainer Duen (Ger) 139,30
7. Steffen Scholz (Ger) 144,37
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:
Partner Pferd Leipzig: www.partner-pferd.de
World Cup Driving: www.worldcupdriving.com
FEI: www.horsesport.org
www.horsesport.org
.
