18 November 2023
Stuttgart: Mistakes by the Dutch benefit Boyd Exell
Once again there were opportunities in Stuttgart today for the Dutch drivers Koos de Ronde and IJsbrand Chardon. But in the drive-off Boyd Exell took the win again, even though he also made a mistake
Photo: Sonja Scharf
Close call for Michael Brauchle
The atmosphere was great in the large Hanns-Martin-Schleyer Halle. First participant Michael Brauchle immediately took off like a rocket. He very cleverly took some time in obstacle 9 and finished flawlessly in under 160 seconds. Mareike Harm had 2 mistakes and then it was Jérôme Voutaz’s turn. He had his team running better than yesterday and stayed closer to the obstacles. His time was faster than Brauchle’s, but 2 dropped balls kept him out of the drive-off. IJsbrand Chardon and Koos de Ronde then both drove brilliant laps and were faster than Brauchle. With 150.91, Koos de Ronde opened a big gap. Boyd Exell was on a roll, but not as fast as Koos de Ronde. He made it really exciting by driving a ball off to gate 11 next to the water. But with a final time of 155.03, he still made it into the drive-off, at the expense of Michael Brauchle.
Misses
Unlike yesterday, the drive-off now covered the entire course. IJsbrand Chardon started off at full speed, but immediately detoured the first cone gate. Boyd Exell was considerably faster, but missed the mark at the penultimate gate. However, his final time of 151.16 was much faster than the first course. Koos de Ronde was faster than Boyd in the first course. Would it work again now? Unfortunately, things went wrong immediately after the first water obstacle. He drove around a gate and circled around obstacle 9, instead of the diagonal line to obstacle 5. From that moment on things didn’t go his way anymore. The turn to the F gate did not go well and the previously detoured gate 7 had to be rebuilt. And to make matters worse, he drove over the bridge when he had to take gate 10. The debacle was complete and Koos finished third, behind IJsbrand Chardon. Boyd Exell also won this 3rd World Cup competition.
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Photo: Sonja Scharf
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