Too close to call who will be crowned at the FEI Driving World Cup™ Final

After an electrifying 2024-2025 series of eight qualifying legs, the line-up for the FEI Driving World Cup™ Final in Bordeaux (FRA) has been confirmed. From the first leg in Lyon (FRA) in early November to the last leg in Leipzig (GER) in mid-January, the results have been less predictable and often extremely close, and there have been four different winners for the first time in a long time.

Reigning champion Bram Chardon (NED) had his best results at the end of the series, winning the last two legs in Mechelen (BEL) and Leipzig. His campaign started at the second leg in Maastricht (NED) when he was still acclimatising a new combination of horses. Bram hopes that his approach of developing the team through the season and achieving his best results at the end will bode well for him to win what would be his fourth FEI Driving World Cup™ title.

World number one Boyd Exell (AUS) tops the rankings table with 30 points after winning the Maastricht, Stuttgart (GER) and Geneva (SUI) legs. Aiming for an unprecedented 11th title, he chose to attend the pre-Christmas events then rest his horses before the Final, a different tactic to his rivals. Boyd hopes that his long-serving horse Bundy will gain his 100th FEI Driving World Cup™ win as he has been a mainstay of the indoor team since 2011, helping the Australian claim more wins than anyone else. 

At the start of the series, Dries Degrieck (BEL) showed that he, too, was a force to be reckoned with after winning in Lyon and in Stockholm (SWE). Unfortunately, for the rest of the season, he could not use his stalwart horse Hunter so brought in a new leader. Although Dries did not maintain his supremacy, he was still in the drive-offs and came third in London and Mechelen, entering the Final on the same 27-point tally as Bram.

Driving’s most decorated athlete, Ijsbrand Chardon (NED), won his first FEI Driving World Cup™ title 20 years ago and found his winning form again this season. The win in London (GBR) for the first time since 2017, after varied results in Lyon and Stuttgart, showed that age is no barrier to victory. Using four experienced horses, he produced the sort of rounds that have made him a three-time Series champion and given him many podium finishes. The secret to Ijsbrand’s success seems to be the pairing of Kendi and Casper as leaders. In Leipzig he had the fastest time in the second drive-off and was only beaten by his son because of a second knockdown. Like Bram and Dries, he competed at four qualifying legs and enters the Final as the fourth ranked driver on 22 points.

Another regular at the Final is fifth-ranked Koos de Ronde (NED) who is on 17 points.  He took the title in 2013 and was nearly another winner this season after finishing only 0.1 seconds behind Bram in Mechelen. He also found peak form at the end of the series and completed the Dutch 1-2-3 by coming third in Leipzig. As the second most decorated athlete in Driving behind Ijsbrand, he has an experienced team of horses including the versatile Tjibbe who has also been used in Para Driving as a single. Koos has been a mainstay of this series appearing six times - four as a qualified driver and twice as a wild card.

Completing the qualified line up is sixth-ranked athlete Jérôme Voutaz (SUI) who is on 16 points. He has been a FEI Driving World Cup™ competitor for many years and has plenty of podium finishes to his name. With his Swiss horses, who are used in outdoor competitions too, he has had a season of mixed fortunes but has produced some fast rounds which have placed him near the top of the order. Jérôme was fourth at the 2023 Final, and took silver at the 2017 and 2018 Finals. 

Also scheduled to appear in Bordeaux is the host nation’s wild card Benjamin Aillaud (FRA) who has not participated as a qualified athlete this season, but who was second in Lyon as a wild card. The course builder will be prolific designer Jeroen Houterman (NED) who has been behind most of the courses this season. Returning as president of the ground jury is Anne-Marie Turbé (FRA), and Camille Eslan (FRA) will be chief steward.

Competition one is late on Saturday night and competition two rounds off the show on Sunday afternoon. There is no drive-off after the first competition, but the places set the running order for the next day. In the second competition, only the top three drivers go into the drive-off.  In the Final, there is an accumulative scoring system whereby 50% of the difference between each athlete and the winning score after competition one is carried over to the next competition, so all the rounds count towards the placings. 

After a series with four different winners and very close results, who will be crowned champion is more open than it has been for a long time. The Boyd-Bram stronghold on wins and titles will be challenged, and with Ijsbrand’s panache, Dries’ speed, Koos’ experience, Jerome’s power and Benjamin’s form in Lyon, there could be a different victor in Bordeaux. 

Live coverage is on FEI TV.  Further information here