Tag Archives: Koos de Ronde

Koos de Ronde Picks Up Fourth FEI World Cup Driving Win at Mechelen

Koos de Ronde won the FEI World Cup Driving competition in Mechelen (BEL) for the fourth time. (Photo: Rinaldo de Craen/FEI)

Mechelen (BEL), 30 December 2012 – Dutch driver Koos de Ronde has a special bond with the FEI World Cup Driving in Mechelen (BEL). He won the competition in 2008, 2009 and 2010 and he won it again this year after a truly exciting competition.

De Ronde’s compatriot IJsbrand Chardon was actually well underway to secure his first-ever victory in the 12-year history of the FEI World Cup Driving in Mechelen when fate struck and his carriage tipped over. Luckily, Chardon, his grooms and his four horses were all uninjured and the four-time World Champion ended the night in third. London-Olympia winner Boyd Exell (AUS) finished second behind Koos de Ronde, who was competing on a wild card.

The excitement grew when each of the eight competitors entered the fully packed Nekkerhal in Mechelen where Dutch O-course designer had laid out a good fast course. Rookie Glenn Geerts (BEL), who also competed with a wild card, set the time to beat in the first round and nearly made it to the Winning Round, much to the excitement of the Belgian driving fans. But Boyd Exell, IJsbrand Chardon and Koos de Ronde all beat Geerts’ very fast time to qualify for the Winning Round with very small time differences.

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Koos de Ronde Drives Four Clear Rounds at FEI World Cup

Dutch driver Koos de Ronde has won the second leg of the FEI World Cup Driving in Stuttgart. De Ronde, who drove four clear rounds, was very happy to secure his first ever win in Stuttgart. Wild card driver Boyd Exell finished in second place only 0.68 seconds behind De Ronde. De Ronde’s compatriot and Hannover winner IJsbrand Chardon came third.

World Class
The seven drivers put down an excellent performance this afternoon in the Stuttgart Schleyer Halle, which was filled with enthusiastic spectators. The sensational course, designed by German course designer Falk Böhnisch, the excellent footing, the well-chosen music and the light show all contributed to a World Class Driving competition.

Exciting competition
Zoltan Lázar, Boyd Exell, IJsbrand Chardon and Koos de Ronde all drove clear rounds. Lázar was 5 seconds short to make it to the winning round and finished fourth in his first FEI World Cup Driving competition this season.

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Hat Trick for Koos de Ronde in Mechelen

Koos de Ronde on his way to his hat trick victory in Mechelen. Photo: FEI/Rinaldo de Craen

Koos de Ronde did it again. The Dutch golden team member of Kentucky has won the FEI World Cup Driving competition in Mechelen for the third time in a row. De Ronde beat Hungary’s Jozsef Dobrovitz with an exciting fast and clear round to put the pressure on last-to-go and wild card driver Boyd Exell. But the World Champion from Australia was unable to stay clear and left the arena with 15 penalty points. When the scores were finally tallied, De Ronde was declared the deserved winner.

Charley is back
After wins in 2008 and 2009 in the Nekkerhal just 140 kilometres from his home in The Netherlands, Koos de Ronde was determined to be the best again in Mechelen. Koos was very pleased to be able to use his black horse Charley in the lead of his team again after having to replace him at Budapest due to injury. De Ronde put his team in the highest gear from the start and was the only driver with two clear rounds.

Too generous
Boyd Exell, who had received one of the three wild cards from the organisers, was last to go in the Winning Round after a very fast first round. Koos had asked him to be generous before he went into the fully packed arena, but Boyd explained afterwards that he had not planned to be that generous! Boyd, who had swapped his leaders around, went too fast in tight places and knocked three balls down.

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