The first “signature class” of the tenth Longines Masters of Paris, the Longines Speed Challenge lived up to its reputation. The Paris audience too: wild cheering and a sea of French flags rose from the stands as Kevin Staut won the fastest class in the world for the third time (after Hong Kong in 2014 and Paris in 2016).
The twenty-eight starters discovered the brand new Season IV course, by German course designer Frank Rothenberger, which they will ride again in Hong Kong in February and New York in April. It was difficult, much to the appreciation of the riders, the crowd and the many riders in the crowd, as even those who don’t take part in the class love watching from the stands.
The Longines Speed Challenge is a true speed World championship, where jumping faults count for very few penalties: 2 seconds instead of the usual 4. This gives a better chance to recover from a slight mistake – a careless hind leg, for instance – by going faster. As a matter of fact, last year, Julien Epaillard won with Cristallo A LM despite a fence down. A feat he very nearly managed to repeat tonight… despite, yet again, a fault from Safari d’Auge in the second double. “The course seemed very long,” admitted a breathless Epaillard. “It was all about not running out of steam, but the crowd gave me wings!”