18 July 2014
Aachen: Benjamin Aillaud wins
French victory in the WARSTEINER Prize. In the obstacle driving, the second competition of the combined individual classification, Benjamin Aillaud drove a double clear round with his horses Bartok, Bly Plain’s, Colin and Conkalina in a time of 194.64 seconds, which secured him the gold rosette. The French Vice-Champion was thus able to continue his good performances of the past weeks and months - among others coming seventh in Windsor and fourth in Saumur. Rainer Duen from Friesoythe, Lower Saxony followed in second place (195.26). The Swedish driver, Tomas Eriksson, was placed third with a time of 196.23 seconds.
In total, eight drivers crossed the finish line within the allowed time. In addition to Aillaud, Duen and Eriksson, Christoph Sandmann (GER) and the Dutch driver Koos de Ronde were the only drivers with a double clear round. Chester Weber followed on the sixth place with 0.66 penalty points for exceeding the time.
Benjamin Aillaud (archive)
In the interim results after the dressage and the obstacle driving test, the US American is still in the lead in the Prize of Family Richard Talbot. The 39-year-old lies up front on a score of 36.88 points, ahead of the World Champion Boyd Exell from Australia (44 penalties) and Ijsbrand Chardon from the Netherlands (45.68). The best German driver is Christoph Sandmann, who currently ranks fourth with a score of 48.49.
In total, 25 drivers from nine nations entered the Driving Stadium at the Aachener Soers in the battle for the individual title. The result of tomorrow's Marathon competition counts towards both the individual and the team classification. The team competition will be decided by a further obstacle driving test on Sunday.
