5 August 2016
Piber: German Team in the lead
Germany's Marlen Fallak won the dressage today at the FEI World Single Driving Championships in Piber after reigning World Champion Wilbrord van den Broek was eliminated because of blood in the mouth of his horse Oscar. USA's Suzy Stafford finished second, ahead of Franz Schiltz from Luxemburg.Marlen Fallak showed a good test with nice movements, claiming victory in this first phase of the Championship. Franz Schiltz put down a solid performance without mistakes and finished third, followed by Renaud Vinck who already drove his test yesterday. Best Austrian driver was Georg Moser on the fifth place, ahead of Dieter Lauterbach and Leonhard Risch, who finished both on the sixth place.
The dressage competition was stopped for 2 hours at the end of the afternoon because of severe rain showers, which put the arena under water. The remaining three drivers waited patiently in the covered arena while announcer Mark Wentein entertained the spectators.
Germany leads the Nations competition, followed by France and the USA.
The challenging marathon in the Piber hills is scheduled for tomorrow and with today's rain it will certainly not become an easy marathon.
Claudia Spitz
