Posted: Thursday, December 15th, 2011
In the first round, Koos de Ronde from the Netherlands was the first to go and threw down the gauntlet with a good round, albeit picking up extra seconds for a knock-down. He was followed by the reigning World Champion – indoors and out – Boyd Exell from Australia, whose quick, sure round put him in first place, thrilling the crowd the while. Next up was Pippa Bassett, the UK contender; she quickly had the crowd behind her and put up her brilliant show. Her indoor experience, however, does not match the others and she went into third place. Last to go and the most experienced driver of them al,l Ysbrand Chardon (NED) showed his colours by driving a round that was fast and clear – and secured him a 10-point lead.
Going in reverse order of placing at this stage, Pippa was first out and secured a surer round urged on by an excited home crowd. Koos followed her and picked up the challenge again with a foot-perfect performance that was both clear and quick. All eyes were on Boyd but he showed that even the tops in any sport can make mistakes when he overshot a gate and had to circle. This left the way very clear for Ysbrand who, nevertheless, drove as if his life depended on it to secure the first victory ever seen in this competition on British soil.
Camaraderie there may be between them but with a repeat performance scheduled for tomorrow, we can be sure that all drivers will be pulling out all the stops to be the next winner.
