Stockholm 2022: Exell beats Chardon and Brauchle in unparalleled drive-off

“I was disappointed with my mistake yesterday,” says Boyd afterwards. “When you have such good horses, people are the weak link. And I had a GPS problem yesterday. Emma (Olsson, Boyd’s groom and navigator, ed.) was quite harsh with me about that and some words were said on the carriage. The pressure was huge, with fast drivers like Michael Brauchle and IJsbrand Chardon, so I had to pay attention.”

The pressure was indeed increased considerably. In the first round, Michael Brauchle immediately showed his hand. Due to a dropped ball, his final result exceeded 150 seconds. IJsbrand Chardon clocked 144.94 in a beautiful clear round. At a high pace he went smoothly through the course, with sufficient control in the tricky parts. Second to last starter Glenn Geerts didn’t get enough speed. After the speedbox he took an extra short line through gate 7 to the finish, but he ended up in 4th place outside the drive off. Boyd Exell was only 1 second faster than IJsbrand and with that it promised to be an exciting drive off with Brauchle, Chardon and Excel.

Michael Brauchle showed that he is driving better and better and he left all the balls up. In the first marathon obstacle it became tense and he lost some pace, but with 147.74 he was faster again than in the first round. Then it was IJsbrand Chardon’s turn. He is closing in on Boyd Exell’s times and smells the potential victory. But right away at gate 1 he tapped a ball in the sand. He gave it his all and finished under 140 seconds, but due to the error on the first gate his final result was 143.64. He was ahead of Michael Brauchle, but it remained to be seen how much speed Boyd would make. The Australian went flat out, knowing that his biggest competitor had one ball down. But in the last part of the course Boyd also had one ball down. After the speedbox he turned briefly through gate 7 to the finish and was the winner of the competition with a final result of 139.74. He says about his choice for the last line: “I saw that possibility yesterday during the course walk. I then said to Emma: ‘Let’s leave that for a while, but if necessary we’ll do it in the drive-off.’ The line was good and I thought ‘I’ll do it’. It gave two seconds advantage.”

The Swedish public was frenzied and the drivers felt inspired by them. “The audience is here up to the top of the arena on the second ring. They really supported me and my horses flew”, beams the winner. Does it come naturally to him? “Yesterday showed once again how easy it is to make a mistake as a driver. So you have to keep both feet on the ground and enjoy the sport.”

Stockholm World Cup result