Speedy Start for Exell in London

Boyd Exell once again showed off his incredible driving skills infront of a nearly sold out Olympia Hall winning the Extreme Driving Class, kindly supported by Karen and Hugh Scott Barrett. The win was extra special for Team Exell with the class being sponosored by his backstop Hugh Scott Barrett.

Dan Naprous finished in second place in the additional class at London Olympia, which does not count for the World Cup, and Chester Weber came third in the field of seven drivers.

Naprous was the eneteres as the wild card competitor and was the first to kick off the competition. He drove a fast round and was clearly thrilled with his team and their performance.

The course was designed by Dutch level 4 Course Designer Jeroen Houterman and proved challenging. None of the five competitors that followed Naprous managed to beat his score, that is until the phenomenal Boyd Exell entered the arena driving the only clear round.

Both Naprous and Exell, as well as third place getter Chester Weber, qualified for the Drive Off which took place over the same course. In the drive off competition the competitors start from zero again to add to the excitment for the spectators. Weber had two faults in the drive off. Naprous stopped the clock with a time of 125,40, which was over three seconds faster than Boyd’s time in the first round but with three knock downs gave Exell a clear window for victory.

The five-time World Champion drove a clear round, wining the competition.

The first competition of the FEI Driving World Cup™ is scheduled on Friday at 12.40 UK time for which Jeroen Houterman has designed a completely different course. You can view this live on the Australian Equestrian Team Facebook page at 11:40pm AEDT