The beautiful site of the Hippodrôme de Deauville Clairefontaine in Normandy, France, was the stage of the R.I.D.E. Normandy this weekend. R.I.D.E. stands for Rencontres Internationales des Disciplines Equestres, which means an international get together of equestrian disciplines.
The top fifteen four-in-hand drivers, including two additional French drivers, were invited to provide the spectators four days of spectacular carriage driving sport. The drivers did not only compete to guarantee a starting ticket for the FEI World Cup™ Driving season 2007/2008, but also competed to win a share of the 50.000 euro prize money.
Australia’s Boyd Exell won this new type of driving competition with wins on the first and last competition day. Exell took home 15.000 euro, which is a rare prize in competition driving. It was not an obvious win however. Exell won the first competition, which was a regular cone driving competition in the main arena of the R.I.D.E. Deauville. The marathon on the second day consisted of six rather technical obstacles, designed by French course designer and National Trainer Jacques Tamalet, and had to be taken after each other with just two minutes to get from one obstacle to the next.
Exell was well on his way as last competitor on this marathon but encountered difficulties in the sixth obstacle. When his team galloped towards the ‘rope bridge’, his leader horses jumped beside the bridge. Exell managed to bring them back, but then the wheels of his carriage came off the bridge. Exell miraculously managed to get his team and the carriage into the right direction and he was able to finish the obstacle without any extra penalties. Exell took revenche in the second round of the marathon on Sunday, which was equal to the first round. He set the fastest time in three obstacles, amongst which the last one, and won the marathon as well as the overall competition.
Dutch competitor Mark Weusthof came second in today’s marathon and this was just enough to put him in 10th position in the final classification and to guarantee a starting place in the FEI World Cup™ Driving: “I knew I had to end on the second place in order to enter the Top Ten. I thought to myself that if I had to go for it anyway, I might as well go for the full win!” Weusthof tied with Sweden’s Fredrik Persson on the 10th place, but since Weusthof had higher scores throughout the season, he was able to enter the World Cup.
Final result CAI-A Deauville (23.09.07):
1. Boyd Exell (Aus)
2. Mark Weusthof (Ned)
3. Werner Ulrich (Sui)
4. Benjamin Aillaud (Fra)
5. Daniël Würgler (Sui)
6. Jozsef Dobrovitz (Hun)
7. Thibault Coudry (Fra)
8. Laszlo Juhasz (Hun)
9. Hans Heus (Ned)
10. Fabrice Martin (Fra)
Final standings (competitors)
FEI World Cup Driving qualification 2007-2008:
1. IJsbrand Chardon (Ned) – 82 pnt.
2. Boyd Exell (Aus) – 79 pnt.
3. Zoltan Lazar (Hun) – 76 pnt.
4. Jozsef Dobrovitz (Hun) – 68 pnt.
5. Werner Ulrich (Sui) – 65 pnt.
6. Tomas Eriksson (Swe) – 65 pnt.
7. Benjamin Aillaud (Fra) – 62 pnt.
8. Daniël Würgler (Sui) – 62 pnt.
9. Koos de Ronde (Ned) – 53 pnt.
10. Mark Weusthof (Ned) – 51 pnt.