20 Dezember 2014

London Olympia: Exell extraordinary again at London Olympia

Erneut erwies sich der Australier Boyd Exell als unschlagbar, auch die Weltcup-Prüfung in London Olympia beendete er mit einem klaren Sieg. Die volle Weltcuppunkte-Ausbeute sicherte sich IJsbrand Chardon (NED), das Exell mit einer Wild Card fuhr

It was the first time this season that Boyd Exell and Dutchmen IJsbrand Chardon and Koos de Ronde, who are considered as the favourites, competed against each other. Dutch level 4 course designer Johan Jacobs had laid out a very good course with fast and technical elements, which remained exciting until the very last moment. All drivers were extremely happy with the event in Olympia, for which the tickets were sold out already five weeks ago. The stands were full with enthusiastic fans, who supported the drivers throughout the whole competition.

Boyd drove his regular team of horses at London Olympia and admitted he could have been a bit more accurate in the first round, where one of his leader horses knocked a ball off the cones. But his speed in the second round, which took place over the same course, was unbelievable and Boyd flew through the arena, leaving all elements in place, securing his fourth win of this season.

Last starter in the Winning Round IJsbrand Chardon had driven a new leader horse in the two previous classes in Olympia, but decided to take no risk and put his experienced leader horse in for the World Cup competition. The four-times individual World Champion gave everything he had and drove a clear round, but was unable to beat Boyd’s time, which put him into the second place. Since Boyd competed with a wild card and is therefore not entitled to points, the 10 points went to Ijsbrand which moved him to the second place in the standings behind Boyd. Both top drivers have already secured their ticket for the Final in Bordeaux.

While Boyd, Ijsbrand and Koos fought it out, it was Fredrik Persson who drove very clever and steadily and was the third driver placed for the Winning Round. Persson drove his team of old horses, the youngest one is 17 years old, clear and at good speed through the course. In the Winning Round the driving teacher from Sweden’s National Stud Flyinge took a bit too much risk and knocked three balls down in the last phase of the competition, but he was nevertheless happy with his performance.

Koos de Ronde competed with the same team of horses as with which he won the FEI World Cup™ Driving competition in Budapest. The speed of his team is very good, the golden team medallist of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Normandy put down the second time in the first round, but three knockdowns prevented him from getting into the Winning Round. Koos realises his new team still needs some time for fine-tuning.

Young driver Glenn Geerts started off very well at London Olympia by winning the first class, which did not count for the World Cup. In the FEI World Cup™ Driving competition however, Glenn was unable to get his special indoor team of Lipizzaner horses into the right speed and finished on the fifth place, ahead of bronze individual medallist in Caen Theo Timmerman. Timmerman, who will move to a new yard in Varsseveld in the Netherlands next month, swapped his leader horses around, but missed the necessary speed in the marathon type obstacles and came sixth.

Daniel Naprous (GBR) earned the second wild card by winning the British indoor qualifiers at Merrist Wood, Bury Farm and the British Masters at Addington Manor. The 37-year-old stuntman received the Wild Card at Olympia before in 2012. Boyd kindly lend Daniel a bay leader horse for his indoor team at Olympia, which was made up of two of his film horses and an older outdoor horse. Daniel, who is a stuntman by profession, enjoyed competing in Olympia very much and was pleased despite the fact that he had no front brakes on his carriage during his round. This resulted in four knockdowns and Dan finished on the seventh place.

Quotes:

Boyd Exell (AUS): “This indoor team is going to become like my old and famous indoor team with Bill. They have got the top line speed that Bill brought to my team. I just got to have a bit more accuracy and a bit more reliability. The second round I could drive safe and fast whilst as in the first round I fumbled a few loops. I didn’t give them their best ride, but they got me out of trouble. The second round I gave them a good ride and they operated.”

IJsbrand Chardon (NED): “I could not go any faster with this team in order to stay clear. Today’s competition was very important for me, I needed the World Cup points so that is why I decided to use my experienced leader horse again. At the moment it is very difficult to win from Boyd. I gave everything I had and I am now in the Final so I can test my new leader horse at my last competition in Leipzig.”

Fredrik Persson (SWE): “I tried to stay clean in the first round and I was lucky that I did. In the Winning Round I took some risk and had several knockdowns, but I am still very happy. The feeling in the arena at Olympia is amazing, the spectators are fantastic, they really help you by creating such a great atmosphere. The feeling is in the air.”

1. Boyd Exell (AUS) 240,44
2. IJsbrand Chardon (NED) 244,11
3. Fredrik Persson (SWE) 266,59
4. Koos de Ronde (NED) 136,63
5. Glenn Geerts (BEL) 139,78
6. Theo Timmerman (NED) 140,12
7. Daniel Naprous (GBR) 154,35

1 Boyd EXELL AUS 30
2 IJsbrand CHARDON NED 24
3 Koos DE RONDE NED 15
4 Christoph SANDMANN GER 14
Fredrik PERSSON SWE 14
6 Jozsef DOBROVITZ HUN 13
7 Glenn GEERTS BEL 10
8 Georg VON STEIN GER 6
9 Werner ULRICH SUI 5
10 Theo TIMMERMAN NED 4

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Foto: Rinaldo de Craen

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Zum ersten Mal in dieser Saison traten Boyd Exell und die Niederländer IJsbrand Chardon und Koos de Ronde, die zu den Favoriten auf den Gesamtsieg zählen, in einem direkten Vergleich an. Der niederländische Level 4, Parcourschef Johan Jacobs hatte einen sehr guten Parcours entworfen, der schnelle und technische Elemente enthielt. Der Wettkampf war bis zur letzten Sekunde spannend. Alle Fahrer waren mit dem Turnier in Olympia, das vor fünf Wochen bereits restlos ausverkauft war, mehr als zufrieden. Die Ränge waren prall mit begeisterten Fahrsportfans gefüllt, die die Fahrer während des gesamten Wettbewerbs anfeuerten

Boyd fuhr seinen normalen Viererzug in London Olympia und räumte ein, er hätte im ersten Umlauf etwas genauer fahren können, als eines seiner Vorderpferde einen Ball von den Kegeln holte. Aber seine Geschwindigkeit in der Siegerrunde, die über den gleichen Parcours führte, war unvorstellbar hoch. Wie im Flug schwebte Boyd mit seinen vier Pferden durch die Arena, ließ alle Bälle liegen und sicherte sich den vierten Sieg der Saison

Ijsbrand Chardon versuchte als letzter Starter zwar alles, aber an die Zeit von Exell kam er nicht heran. Der Schwede Fredrik Persson hatte es mit einer beherzten, aber auf Sicherheit bedachten Fahrt bis in die Siegerrunde gebracht, in der es zum dritten Platz reichte..

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London Olympia: Exell extraordinary again at London Olympia