18 July 2014
Aachen: Tank & Rast-Prize – German victory
They accomplished a clear round and were very fast: Christian Kukuk and Christoph Sandmann won the Tank & Rast-Prize 2014. In the Jump & Drive competition, the German team finished first on a time of 134.90 seconds. The 24-year-old professional rider from Ludger Beerbaum's stable in Riesenbeck and the seven-time 47-year-old German Champion from Lähden claimed the first German victory of the day.
Christoph Sandmann. Photo: Marie de Ronde-Oudemans
The team comprising of Cassio Rivetti and Jozsef Dobrovitz were indeed even faster, but they picked up four faults along the way, which brought them four penalty seconds. The Brazilian show-jumper, who rides for the Ukraine, and the Hungarian veteran driver crossed the finish line in 138.45 seconds. Third place went to the Irish rider Shane Breen and the Swedish driver Tomas Eriksson (138.74).
Breen also won last year, however in 2013 he teamed up with Boyd Exell, who didn't participate this time. A team comprises of one driver and one show-jumper, whereby the rider finishes his course first before having to sprint over to the carriage, jump on and be driven to the finish line by the driver. The atmosphere at the Soers – accentuated by the frenetic cheering of the crowd – once again proved how popular the extravagant competition is with the spectators.
