Aachen, 02. September 2006

Driving: Team gold for Germany

The World Four-in-Hand Driving Championships, the Prize of Family Talbot and Prize of the Handwerk, ended with a team gold medal for the Germans. The victory had been secured before Christoph Sandmann even entered the obstacle course as the third driver in the team: Michael Freund had already driven clear and Rainer Duen only collected minimum time faults (311.84). It was in fact a clear victory. Almost five points separated the World Champions from the silver medallists from Belgium, Felix Marie Brasseur, Geert de Brauwer and Gert Schrijvers (316.55). The Dutch drivers, Ysbrand Chardong, Koss de Ronne and Theo Timmerman (319.32) claimed the bronze medal.

In the individual classification Ysbrand Chardon (the Netherlands) and Felix Marie Brasseur (Belgium) delivered an exciting duel for the gold medal. Chardon had to drive clear to win, but unfortunately he picked up faults at obstacle 14, which meant he had to relinquish the gold medal to his fellow-competitor Brasseur. The 54-year-old World Champion of 1996, a specialist in obstacle driving, collected no faults in the third rating competition (146.37 points): So it was gold for Brasseur and silver for Chardon (149.18). Christoph Sandmann, also known for his good obstacle driving skills, also drove clear to claim the bronze medal (154.17).

For Michael Freund the World Championships and his international career came to a successful close. The fact that he was stripped of his gold medal at the World Championships in Kecskemet (2004) had hit the driver from Hessen hard. Now the World Champion of 2004, has rounded off his career with team gold and fifth place in the individual classification (162.98). The 52-year-old from Dreiech, will in future concentrate on coaching the two American drivers, Tucker Johnson and Chester Weber and on training young driving horses. He also hopes that his son, Marco, will tread in his footsteps one day. "Perhaps I might be back here in ten years time, when my son takes part in the CHIO."

The German four-in-hand driving sport is undergoing a period of great change at the moment, because Christoph Sandmann is also thinking about ending his international driving career. The owner of a freight company and father of three explained: "I have been driving together with Michael Freund for so many years, we have contested many big Championships together, we are close friends and our families get on very well. I don't know if I will be able to motivate myself without him. In addition, I have to do without so many things. Our sport is so expensive and I have no sponsors."

Without these two outstanding drivers it will be difficult for Germany to remain among the international top rankings in this sport. National Coach, Ewald Meier, sees the situation quite soberly, but is of the opinion that Germany will be able to build up aspiring new four-in-hand drivers over the coming years.