Sweden’s Tomas Eriksson has won the first leg of the FEI World Cup™ Driving 2006/2007 season at the German Classics Horse Show in Hannover. Germany’s Christoph Sandmann came second in the exciting competition, ahead of title defender Ijsbrand Chardon from the Netherlands.

It is the second consecutive time that Eriksson wins in Hannover and the double World Champion was obviously very pleased: ‘I really enjoy this competition and I believe we gave a very good show today.’
International course designer Dr. Wolfgang Asendorf had designed a nice course. Not too technical and nice to watch for the enthusiastic spectators in the Hannover Messe.

Eriksson drove a clear first round and finished just one second behind Chardon. Chardon started off very fast but knocked a ball off in the first multiple obstacle. He put up the speed even more, but after two more balls had fallen, his hopes for victory were gone. This took some of the pressure of Eriksson’s shoulders, but he knew he had to stay ahead of Sandmann, who was performing very well. Eriksson finished in a total time of 205.22 seconds, including one knock down.

Golden World Champion team medallists Christoph Sandmann and Michael Freund had received wild cards from the organisation. Sandmann already had a good start of the show by winning the warm up competition and was determined to win the World Cup competition as well. He was well underway with his team of bay geldings and it looked as if he was driving towards his victory, but he unfortunately knocked a ball of the last gate. ‘It was great to win yesterday and I knew I had to take more risks today, but I am very pleased with the second place,’ commented Sandmann, who as well as Freund received a wild card for the next FEI World Cup™ Driving competition in Stuttgart.

The fourth place went to Hungary’s Jozsef Dobrovitz, who drove a clear round with his team of Lippizan horses, but missed a little speed to qualify for the winning round. Michael Freund was in Hannover to say goodbye to the spectators. ‘Hannover is one of the events who have always supported me. I will say ‘Tschuss’ to the crowd in Stuttgart and Leipzig as well. Those events mean a lot to me. I don’t say goodbye forever, I might be back as a groom for my son Marco in the future!’

Hungarian World Cup™ debutants Laszlo Juhasz and Atilla Bardos drove well, but they clearly lacked indoor driving experience. Both drivers and their teams need some time to get connection to the top, who are currently driving at top speed level.

Paul Schockemöhle Logistics adopted the competition in Hannover for the third time. Schockemöhle himself was thrilled by the speed and excitement of the driving competition. His wife Bettina took the decision to support the World Cup™ again in Hannover and hopes are high that they will take a positive decision for the 2007 edition of the German Classics in Hannover.

Results CAI-W Hannover:
1. Tomas Eriksson (Swe) 205.22
2. Christoph Sandmann (Ger) 207.46
3. Ysbrand Chardon (Ned) 212.22
4. Jozsef Dobrovitz (Hun) 108.61
5. Michael Freund (Ger) 115.45
6. Laszlo Juhasz (Hun) 119.00
7. Atilla Bardos (Hun) 128.50

Classification after 1 of 7 events:
1. Tomas Eriksson (Swe) 10
2. Christoph Sandmann (Ger) 7
3. Ysbrand Chardon (Ned) 5
4. Jozsef Dobrovitz (Hun) 3
5. Michael Freund (Ger) 2
6. Laszlo Juhasz (Hun) 1
7. Atilla Bardos (Hun) 1

At Hannover, Press Officer is Andreas Kerstan, Comtainment, phone: +49 4307 827970, fax +49 4307 827979, e-mail: Andreas.Kerstan@comtainment.de. Website: www.german-classics.com

The FEI World Cup™ Driving will be broadcasted on the German television channel NDR on Sunday, October 29th in the programme ‘Sport Club Live’ from 22.45-23.30 hrs.

The next FEI World Cup™ driving event takes place in Stuttgart, Germany, on 17 and 18 November 2006. Press Officer is Hartmut Binder, phone: +49 172 972 2848, e-mail: hartmut.binder@mps-agentur.de Website: www.stuttgart-german-masters.de