(mps) A new chapter in the history of driving in the Hanns Martin Schleyer Halle began in 2007. Right from the very start of the competition, there had only been one winner of the GERMAN MASTER in driving: Michael Freund. The exceptional driver dominated the four-in-hand discipline until 2006. After Freund retired from competitive sport, a new name appeared in the winners’ list in 2007: Ijsbrand Chardon. But he was not able to retain his title this year as Jozsef Dobrovitz, who qualified in second place for the decisive round, completed the course fault-free in 232.49 seconds.
The Hungarian’s time was almost 10 seconds quicker than his Dutch rival, which duly made him the new SCHENKER GERMAN MASTER. It also gave him the win in the leg of the FEI World Cup DrivingTM 2008/2009 series. “I’m thrilled to bits,” said Dobrovitz, who lost his left eye in a riding accident. “I’ve been competing in Stuttgart since 2003 and always hoped I’d win one day.” He was really excited about the crowd, “It electrifies us drivers.” The “coachman” heaped praise on his horses, who he had schooled along with his father. “They’re ready for competitions now.”
“Dobrovitz was a brilliant winner,” said a pleased Gotthilf Riexinger, the director of the horse show. The World Cup competition today was the most exciting ever. A big compliment to all the drivers and our course director, Falk Böhnisch. It’s the way we want our driving to be.” World Champion, Ijsbrand Chardon made one mistake with his team in the second round and had to be content with a second place (242.70 seconds) and prize money totalling 4,000 euro. “I had a lot of fun out there today. One has to be able to both win and lose. But it’s not quite so much fun,“ said Chardon. A highly satisfied Christoph Sandmann (Germany) came third after taking 245.97 seconds to complete the course: “I really enjoy driving here in Stuttgart.”
