Following an exciting outdoor season with the FEI World four-in-hand Driving Championships in Riesenbeck (GER) as the highlight, the Driving world can expect more thrilling competition as the sport moves indoors for the 12th season of the FEI World Cup™ Driving.
Ten top class drivers will battle for the Driving World Cup title and nine of them will be trying to beat four-time FEI World Cup™ Champion Boyd Exell (AUS), who has been unbeatable at the past four Finals.
The qualification season consisted of 14 competitions throughout Europe and 10 top drivers have qualified for the 2012-2013 season, with the list headed by the man from Australia, Boyd Exell.
Chester Weber (USA), who was very successful this season and completed his European circuit with individual silver and team bronze at Riesenbeck, is unable to join his fellow competitors in Europe for the World Cup season, despite finishing seventh overall in the qualification standings. As a result, Fredrik Persson (SWE), number 11 in the standings, will come in as the 10th driver this season.
Double World Champion and four times FEI World Cup™ Champion Boyd Exell has been virtually unbeatable for the past four seasons, but his opponents are getting closer every time and the gap between the top drivers is getting smaller.
FEI World Cup™ Driving 2012-2013
The FEI World Cup™ Driving series is made up of eight competitions in Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Hungary, Great Britain, Belgium and France. London-Olympia is joining the FEI World Cup™ Driving series for the first time after a successful try-out competition in 2011.
Five drivers from the Top 10 will compete at each event and organisers may give wild cards. Scores from each driver’s best three events count to decide the start list for the Final. The top six drivers qualify for the Final, which will take place in Bordeaux (FRA) for the second consecutive year.
Competitors FEI World Cup™ Driving 2012-2013/ Final Standings World Cup Qualification:
1 Boyd Exell AUS 92
2 IJsbrand Chardon NED 85
3 Koos de Ronde NED 82
4 Theo Timmerman NED 75
5 Christoph Sandmann GER 70
6 Werner Ulrich SUI 69
7 Chester Weber USA 64
8 Tomas Eriksson SWE 63
9 József Dobrovitz HUN 62
10 Georg von Stein GER 61
11 Fredrik Persson SWE 58
2012-2013 Calendar
Hannover (GER) 25-28 October 2012
Boyd Exell (AUS)
IJsbrand Chardon (NED)
Koos de Ronde (NED)
Tomas Eriksson (SWE)
Georg von Stein (GER)
Stuttgart (GER) 14-18 November 2012
Theo Timmerman (NED)
Christoph Sandmann (GER)
Jozsef Dobrovitz (HUN)
Georg von Stein (GER)
IJsbrand Chardon (NED)
Stockholm (SWE) 30 November – 2 December 2012
Fredrik Persson (SWE)
Tomas Eriksson (SWE)
Christoph Sandmann (GER)
Werner Ulrich (SUI)
Georg von Stein (GER)
Budapest (HUN) 30 November – 2 December 2012
Boyd Exell (AUS)
IJsbrand Chardon (NED)
Koos de Ronde (NED)
Theo Timmerman (NED)
Jozsef Dobrovitz (HUN)
Geneva (SUI) 6-9 November 2012
Boyd Exell (AUS)
Tomas Eriksson (SWE)
Theo Timmerman (NED)
Werner Ulrich (SUI)
Fredrik Persson (SWE)
London Olympia (GBR) 17-23 December 2012
Koos de Ronde (NED)
Theo Timmerman (NED)
Fredrik Persson (SWE)
Christoph Sandmann (GER)
Georg von Stein (GER)
Mechelen (BEL) 26-30 December 2012
Werner Ulrich (SUI)
Boyd Exell (AUS)
Jozsef Dobrovitz (HUN)
IJsbrand Chardon (NED)
Christoph Sandmann (GER)
Leipzig (GER) 17-20 January 2013
Koos de Ronde (NED)
Fredrik Persson (SWE)
Tomas Eriksson (SWE)
Werner Ulrich (SUI)
Jozsef Dobrovitz (HUN)
Bordeaux (FRA) FINAL 8-10 February 2013