 |
Federation
Equestre Internationale News
FEI World Cup Driving News: Exell ready to beat Freund in
Vigo with his own weapon
|
Exell
ready to beat Freund in Vigo with his own weapon The fifth and
sixth leg of the FEI World Cup Driving will take place in Vigo,
Spain, on 13th and 14th February 2004. After Bordeaux had dropped
out of the World Cup Driving circuit, the organisation of Vigo
offered to host two World Cup events instead of one.
Leader
of the World Cup standings Michael Freund expects a lot of competition
from his Global Team partner Boyd Exell from Australia. Exell
already proved several times to be able to drive faster than Freund,
and he is ready to beat Freund in Vigo with his own weapon; he
will drive a team of Orlov trotters and German Warmbloods owned
by Michael Freund!
Exell
felt that the long trip to Vigo without the stop in Bordeaux would
be too heavy for the aging Cobs he drove during last season and
in Stockholm. He will, however, compete with this team again in
Os-Hertogenbosch. Exell, winner of the CAIO Aachen 2003, tested
his new but experienced and fast team last weekend at a high level
indoor marathon competition, which he won.
But
the Global Team partners can also expect strong competition from
Mechelen-winner Gert Schrijvers, driving his team of Arabo Friesian
sporthorses. The Hungarian drivers Bozsik and Dobrovitz will both
drive their second and third competition in Vigo and are eager
to prove their skills during their first World Cup season. Juan
Robles received the wild card like last year and he will start
with his team of Spanish horses. Juan Robles, who is a professional
carriage driver, has been champion of Spain
eleven times. He competed at the World four-in-hand Championships
in The Hague 1994 and Waregem 1996. Robles was the best Spanish
driver at the World Championships in Jerez de la Frontera. There
will be one warm up competition on Thursday, 12th February at
14.30 hrs. The first World Cup competition takes place on Friday,
13th February at 11.00 hrs. and the second World Cup will be driven
on Saturday, 14th February at 21.30 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:
CAI-W Vigo: www.csivigo.com
World Cup Driving: www.worldcupdriving.com
FEI: www.horsesport.org
www.horsesport.org
.
