18 July 2015
Beekbergen: Brauchle dominates marathon
People came out in droves to watch the marathon in Beekbergen Saturday. By the water obstacle, spectators stood four men thick to catch a glimpse of the worlds best drivers, Boyd Exell (AUS), Chester Weber (USA) and IJsbrand Chardon (NL).Michael Brauchle stormed through the marathon marking up the fastest times in four of the seven obstacles and winning the four-in-hand marathon and moving him up to third place in the division standings. With only 0.06 points separating Exell and Chardon after dressage it was imparative that both drivers put down extremely fast times in the marathon. Edging neck and neck every obstacle Exell managed to squeeze by Chardon, but only by 1.16 penalty points. Wilf Bowman- Ripley and Axel Olin also had extremely strong showings rounding out the top five.
Chardon currently leads the standings in the Dutch National Championships ahead of Koos de Ronde. "I would really like to be the Dutch Champion, but I also want to win the International competition." Chardon had to give up his lead to Boyd Exell and now stands one point behind. Chardon: "In principle is one point nothing, but if I had it my way I would rather have the one point lead. My goal tomorrow is to drive clear cones and put the pressure on Boyd Exell."
