27 June 2016
Victory for Jozsef Dibak in Pleternica
An international driving competition was held in Pleternica, Croatia last weekend. Unlike in some other European countries during last week, in Croatia the weather circumstances were tropical.Despite the fact that there was no entry fee for the drivers and the stabling was also free of charge, only 25 drivers participated in the competition. Drivers from Croatia, Hungary, the silver-winning team members of Italy at the World Pairs last year, Jozsef Dibak and Francesco Aletti Montano and Jorge Gutierrez from Chile, who leased some Hungarian horses to compete with and gain experience at European competitions, travelled to Pleternica. The temperature went up to 35 degrees every day and because of a sudden storm on Saturday, the marathon had to be stopped prematurely. "That was a weird moment, within 3 minutes timekeeping equipments and tents were flying in the air and the storm was frightening" says Dutch level 3 international judge Marie de Ronde who was a member of the Ground Jury in Pleternica. "The Organising Committee was very flexible and the marathon was started again with the help of all the volunteers on Sunday for the last eight drivers. The cones took place in the late afternoon."
Jozsef Dibak drove unchallenged to victory. His compatriot, Aletti Montano missed a gate in the marathon and decided to retire before the cones. The cones course, designed by the Hungarian pony team driver Vilmos Jámbor jr. who is also a level 2 international Course Designer, seemed to be a challenge for the drivers, as none of them drove a double clear round. David Susac and Tomislav Drenjancevic were the winners of the national classes.
