19 July 2017
Sipoo is ready for the Nordic Driving Championships
On the sites of Savijärvi manor in Sipoo the preparations for the Nordic Driving Championships are now finished. From 20th to 23rd July the Nordic and Baltic Driving Championships are being held paralell to a CAI2* for ponies and single and pair horses at Savijärvi Arena.
Tapani Peltonen, Marit Siven and Ben Simonsen are prepared to welcome the competitors. Photo: Timo Pasanen
‘Savijärvi Top Driving is a CAI2* competition so drivers without international experience are also allowed to take part in the event. This way all the Finnish drivers have the possibility to take part in a high class competition,’ says Ben Simonsen, the owner of the manor. ‘CAI3* competitions need even more and bigger arrangements and it has been quite enough as it is. Our volunteers have done a great job for us in order to be able to compete in a fairly good competition. Many international drivers come to Sipoo, and that is something that makes the organisers happy.’
‘We have so many international competitors that we will have 75 horses in the competition,’ says Tapani Peltonen, President of the Event. ‘This makes it the biggest driving competition that has been organised in Finland. Big and highly competitive teams from Norway, Sweden and Finland take part in the event.’
Most of the Finnish top drivers come to Sipoo and it looks like there will be a tough competition in the main classes. Unfortunately there are only a very few competitors from the Baltic countries that are travelling to Sipoo. Nevertheless, the competition still keeps the status of Nordic Championships.
‘We also have drivers who are preparing for the World Championships. We believe that the Nordic Championships will be highly competitive,’ adds Ben Simonsen. ‘The marathon on Saturday will perhaps be the most spectacular, but the cones on Sunday is also something that should not be missed.’
The Savijärvi manor is the leading centre for combined driving in Finland and the competitions are organised by the Husaariratsastajat, the riders association working at Savijärvi. The Husaariratsastajat has organised 30 events at Savijärvi so far.
‘This is of course a big event for the active members of the association,’ says Marit Siven, president of Husaariratsastajat. ‘So far all went well. We have more than a hundred people on duty in the obstacles, so there is a lot to be done. But we know the job and have experience from the previous year at other events abroad.’
