Sweden’s wild card driver Fredrik Persson has caused major excitement in Stockholm by winning the third leg of the FEI World Cup Driving. The 32-year old teacher at the national equestrian school in Flyinge flew with his team of Swedish warmblood geldings through the difficult course. The young father knocked two balls down and that nearly cost him the victory, but his time was just over ten seconds faster than his opponent Ysbrand Chardon which allowed him to win. It is the second time in the five-year old history of the FEI World Cup Driving that a wild card driver wins a competition. Switzerland’s Daniël Würgler won the World Cup competition in Geneva in 2002 and was awarded with another wild card in Mechelen the same year. Persson can, after consulting the FEI, choose in which of the next competitions he would like to start: « I will have to check my diary, but I think I would either like to start in Geneva (8-11 December 2005) or in Leipzig (20-22 January 2006).’ Persson competed in last season’s World Cup series but was less successful than in Stockholm: «I learnt a lot from watching Michael Freund, who is a great example to me. I decided not to drive so fast, but to drive more controlled and this works apparently, explains a happy Persson.

Ysbrand Chardon, who is the defending World Cup Champion together with Michael Freund, had a bad start during the warm up competition on Friday. But his new trump, the grey KPWN-gelding Upper Star did not let him down this time and contributed to Chardon’s clear round. «During the warm up competition, Upper Star was totally shocked by the flashing surroundings of the Globen Arena. He did not want to go over the bridge and we had to turn around in one of the marathon obstacles. It was not a success, but in fact I don’t blame him considering he has only been in harness for six weeks,’ comments Chardon. The triple World Champion made the choice not to use his spare horse and after some early morning training, Chardon refound confidence in his team. As first starter in the World Cup competition he decided to drive safely and despite the fact that he felt the speed was not fast enough, Chardon drove a nice and clear round.

Zoltan Lazar finished third in the Globen Arena, which was filled with 12.000 spectators, and he herewith stays in the lead of the standings. The silver medal winner of the 2004 World Championships has completed his three competitions and can now only follow the results of his fellow competitors to see if he will remain in the top-six to qualify for the Final in Gothenburg.

Switzerland’s Daniël Würgler was determined to equal his first place in the warm up competition, but lost precious seconds after he lost his course for a short moment. The sympathetic driver knocked two balls down and ended on the fourth place ahead of home driver Tomas Eriksson and Hungary’s Jozsef Bozsik.

Results CAI-W Stockholm:
1. Fredrik Persson (Swe) 131,42
2. Ysbrand Chardon (Ned) 131,76
3. Zoltan Lazar (Hun) 136,71
4. Daniël Würgler (Sui) 143,21
5. Tomas Eriksson (Swe) 144,04
6. Jozsef Bozsik (Hun) 148,80

Classification after 3 of 7 events:
1. Zoltan Lazar (Hun) 17
2. Tomas Eriksson (Swe) 12
3. Michael Freund (Ger) 10
3. Fredrik Persson (Swe) 10
5. Max Dangel (Ger) 7
5. Ysbrand Chardon (Ned) 7
7. Jozsef Dobrovitz (Hun) 6
7. Daniël Würgler (Sui) 6
9. Koos de Ronde (Ned) 3
9. Jozsef Bozsik (Hun) 3
11. Christoph Sandmann (Ger) 2

Check out the official website: www.feiworldcup.org
or www.worldcupdriving.com

At Stockholm, Press Officer is Lotta Amnestål, phone: +46 709 79 56 35,
e-mail: Lotta.amnestal@ridsport.se. Website: www.stockholmhorseshow.com

The next FEI World Cup Driving event takes place in Geneva, Switzerland, on 9 and 11 December 2005. Press Officer is Corinne Druey, phone: +41 21 312 82 22, e-mail: druey@syntagme-lausanne.ch Website: http://www5.csi-geneve.ch/

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 2005/2006 season of the World Cup includes seven
competitions: Hannover (GER), Stuttgart (GER), Stockholm (SWE), Geneva (SUI), Mechelen (BEL) in 2005; Leipzig (GER) and Göteborg (SWE) in 2006. The top 6 after 6 events will qualify for the 7th event in Göteborg.