Following an exciting outdoor season with the FEI World four-in-hand Driving Championships in Riesenbeck (GER) as the highlight, the Driving world can expect more thrilling competition as the sport moves indoors for the 12th season of the FEI World Cup™ Driving.  Ten top class drivers will battle for the Driving World Cup title and nine of them will be trying to beat four-time FEI World Cup™ Champion Boyd Exell (AUS), who has been unbeatable at the past four Finals.The qualification season consisted of 14 competitions throughout Europe and 10 top drivers have qualified for the 2012-2013 season, with the list headed by the man from Australia, Boyd Exell.

Chester Weber (USA), who was very successful this season and completed his European circuit with individual silver and team bronze at Riesenbeck, is unable to join his fellow competitors in Europe for the World Cup season, despite finishing seventh overall in the qualification standings. As a result, Fredrik Persson (SWE), number 11 in the standings, will come in as the 10th driver this season.

Double World Champion and four times FEI World Cup™ Champion Boyd Exell has been virtually unbeatable for the past four seasons, but his opponents are getting closer every time and the gap between the top drivers is getting smaller.

FEI World Cup™ Driving 2012-2013The FEI World Cup™ Driving series is made up of eight competitions in Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Hungary, Great Britain, Belgium and France. London-Olympia is joining the FEI World Cup™ Driving series for the first time after a successful try-out competition in 2011.

Five drivers from the Top 10 will compete at each event and organisers may give wild cards. Scores from each driver’s best three events count to decide the start list for the Final. The top six drivers qualify for the Final, which will take place in Bordeaux (FRA) for the second consecutive year.

Competitors FEI World Cup™ Driving 2012-2013/ Final Standings World Cup Qualification:1     Boyd Exell    AUS    922     IJsbrand Chardon    NED    853     Koos de Ronde    NED    824     Theo Timmerman    NED    755     Christoph Sandmann   GER    706     Werner Ulrich   SUI     697     Chester Weber  USA    648     Tomas Eriksson   SWE    639     József Dobrovitz   HUN    6210   Georg von Stein   GER    6111   Fredrik Persson  SWE    58

2012-2013 CalendarHannover (GER) 25-28 October 2012Boyd Exell (AUS)IJsbrand Chardon (NED)Koos de Ronde (NED)Tomas Eriksson (SWE)Georg von Stein (GER)

Stuttgart (GER) 14-18 November 2012Theo Timmerman (NED)Christoph Sandmann (GER)Jozsef Dobrovitz (HUN)Georg von Stein (GER)IJsbrand Chardon (NED)

Stockholm (SWE) 30 November – 2 December 2012Fredrik Persson (SWE)Tomas Eriksson (SWE)Christoph Sandmann (GER)Werner Ulrich (SUI)Georg von Stein (GER)

Budapest (HUN) 30 November – 2 December 2012Boyd Exell (AUS)IJsbrand Chardon (NED)Koos de Ronde (NED)Theo Timmerman (NED)Jozsef Dobrovitz (HUN)

Geneva (SUI) 6-9 November 2012Boyd Exell (AUS)Tomas Eriksson (SWE)Theo Timmerman (NED)Werner Ulrich (SUI)Fredrik Persson (SWE)

London Olympia (GBR) 17-23 December 2012Koos de Ronde (NED)Theo Timmerman (NED)Fredrik Persson (SWE)Christoph Sandmann (GER)Georg von Stein (GER)

Mechelen (BEL) 26-30 December 2012Werner Ulrich (SUI)Boyd Exell (AUS)Jozsef Dobrovitz (HUN)IJsbrand Chardon (NED)Christoph Sandmann (GER)

Leipzig (GER) 17-20 January 2013Koos de Ronde (NED)Fredrik Persson (SWE)Tomas Eriksson (SWE)Werner Ulrich (SUI)Jozsef Dobrovitz (HUN)

Bordeaux (FRA) FINAL 8-10 February 2013