Exell ready to beat Freund in Vigo with his own weapon (WC Driving)

February 9, 2004

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).