GCT Germany Day 1 - Denis Does it Better!

The first day of the Global Champions Tour of Germany opened in rather damp fashion but the jumping was exciting enough to brighten an otherwise grey day. The Mercedes Benz Championship of Hamburg was won last year by Meredith Michaels Beerbaum after a tough jump off though it appeared for quite some time as though there wasn’t going to be a jump off at all.

Leon Thijssen was second to go on Who Cares, and left all the rails intact over Frank Rotherberger’s course scoring only a time fault (which was later removed by the judges after they reassessed the time allowed). He remain the only clear for another 15 horses before Britain’s Ellen Whitaker joined him. In the end there were nine through to the timed round including riders from Germany, Ireland, Great Britain and the Netherlands. Meredith’s chance of a repeat ended with two refusals on Checkmate.

This class had the added bonus of being the one which decided four wild card entries for the GCT Grand Prix so there was not just a new car to play for. However, the jump off started with drama when Leon Thijssen’s horse stopped and Ellen Whitaker’s Equimax Ocalado slipped before the second last nad nearly came down. Fourth to go, Nick Skelton on Carlo finally set a standard without penalty when clear in 44.9. His lead did not last long though, Denis Lynch had been in good form in Valencia with several placed rides and he powered into the lead with 44.36 on Nabab’s Son. There were only two left to go after him and Estoril GP winners Leopold Van Asten and VDL Groep Santana B tipped an oxer and then German Holger Wulschner was not quite quick enough on Cefalo. So the man who finished GCT Valencia with a second place, started Hamburg by going one better and getting a new car as well! ~ by Lulu Kyriacou, GCT press Agent

Quotes

Denis Lynch: ”To be honest, I wasn’t really pushing it particularly. I had a good shot to the first three and that is probably where I made up the time. I didn’t think the arena was especially wet. I will do Turin next week on this horse and then probably think about saving him a little in case I need to take him to WEG. Latinus is my first choise for that at the moment but anything could happen before then.”

Max Kuhner: “There had only been one clear before me so I thought I would ride for a steadier clear and make sure of a good placing as I had not had the best feel from my horse in the first round so it was a better choice not to push it.”

Result- Mercedes Benz Championship of Hamburg

1. Denis Lynch (IRE) Nabab’s Son, 0,0, 44.36, Mercedes Benz

2. Nick Skelton (GBR) Carlo, 0,0, 44.99, Euro 6000

3. Max Kuhner (GER) Coeur de Lion, 0,0, 46.77, Euro 4500

4. Holger Wulschner (GER), Cefalo, 0,0, 47.13, Euro 3750

Qualified for GCT Grand Prix of Germany

1. Holger Wulscher

2. Ellen Whitaker

3. Johannes Ehning

4. Karl Brocks