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Martens in a familiar position in the World Driving Championship
Thursday, May 14, 2009 - by John Pawlak, the U.S. Trotting Association

Bergen, Norway --- Belgium’s Christophe Martens picked up right where he left off; the reigning world driving champion won the 2007 tournament in New Zealand, and stands atop the leader board after round one of the 2009 Championship, raced on Thursday in Bergen, Norway.

WDC Field (USTA/John Pawlak)
The World Driving Championship field, including Jason Bartlett, back row, third from the right, posed for an official photo before the start of the first round
A win and a second put him in a points tie with Canada’s Brad Forward, but a second place finish in one of the four races on Thursday gave Martens the first round trophy based upon the scoring system, which uses better placings to break ties.

The United States’ representative, Jason Bartlett, never got on a roll. He scored 18 points and is in ninth place -- but only 17 points off the lead in what has begun as a very close competition. With a victory in a 10 horse field worth 17 points, Bartlett is much closer than his current rank would make it appear.

Bartlett finished sixth, seventh, fourth and sixth in his four trips behind the gate, but none of the horses he drove were betting favorites.

“I think I drove them right,” Bartlett said. “They just didn’t have the finishing kick that the trainers said they would have. One trainer even apologized, saying ‘I shouldn’t have dropped him into the race.’ But these horses are nice to drive, and you can literally handle them with one finger in each handhold.”

Christophe Martens (USTA/John Pawlak)

USTA Photos/John Pawlak

Christophe Martens explained how he won the first round in a post-race interview
Bartlett’s first experience with driving without a whip went okay, but provided a bit of a dilemma: “One trainer told me to slap the horse with the lines, but I thought it was better to keep the bit tight in a horse’s mouth to maintain control and keep them from stepping off-stride.”

“I think I learned a bit about racing here, and know that there’s a long way to go.”

The other two heats were won by Denmark’s Birger Jorgensen, who earned 33 points and stands in third place, and New Zealand’s Peter Ferguson, who won the first heat, gathered 26 points, and is fourth in the standings.

The drivers and the accompanying party will fly to Oslo on Friday morning and bus to Biri for the second round. Here are the standings after round number one:

The 2009 World Driving Championship
Standing after one of five rounds

Rank

Driver

Country

Points

1.

Christophe Martens

Belgium

35

2.

Brad Forward

Canada

35

3.

Birger Jorgensen

Denmark

33

4.

Peter Ferguson

New Zealand

26

5.

Roland Hulskath

Germany

26

6.

Imre Fazekas

Hungary

25

7.

Erik Hoitomt

Norway

24

8.

Bjorn Goop

Sweden

23

9.

Jason Bartlett

United States

18

10.

Gareth Rattray

Australia

4
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  • New leader in Norway; Bartlett bursts into the win column (Friday, May 15, 2009)
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  • Ferguson continues on top in the World Driving Championship (Monday, May 18, 2009)
    Belgium’s Christophe Martens began like a house afire, Norway’s Eirik Høitomt won the fourth of five rounds and the USA’s Jason Bartlett couldn’t make up any ground in the fourth round of the World Driving Championship, raced on Monday night at Sorlandets Travpark in Kristiansand, Norway.
  • Denmark's Jørgensen wins World Driving Championship (Wednesday, May 20, 2009)
    Denmark’s Birger Jørgensen had won 21 driving titles in his native country, but not until Wednesday night had he won a World Driving Championship.
  • Bartlett’s back on American soil (Friday, May 29, 2009)
    After a nine-hour flight in a semi-comfortable plane, Jason Bartlett returned to the United States last Thursday (May 21) with his wife, Kristen.
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