Aufrecht and Abrisca get it right in Mechelen…

Pia-Luise Aufrecht and Hofgut Liederbach's Abrisca came out on top at the seventh leg of the FEI World Cup Jumping 2005/2006 series at Mechelen in Belgium this evening and the 28 year old German rider has rocketed up from 55th to joint-11th place on the leaderboard as the league passes the halfway stage.

From a starting field of 36, just eight went through to the jump-off and while Aufrecht's time of 37.45 seconds was bettered by some, only Switzerland's Pius Schwizer and Unique matched the German partnership's double clear performance to slot into runner-up spot.

Aufrecht came to the Belgian fixture after a desperately disappointing week at London's Olympia just before Christmas. “It was a super-nice show, but everything went wrong for me there and I came to Mechelen determined to do better and I gave it my maximum concentration” she said afterwards.

Brazil's Bernardo Alves and Topic Van'T Voorhof were first to go against the clock and registered a fast time of 35.20 seconds but left one fence down and Belgium's Dirk Demeersman and Clinton did the same in the slower time of 39.67s. The home side had three into the final round and Kristof Cleeren and Andiamo were next to take their turn but
eight faults put paid to their chances. Pius Schwizer decided that caution was the only answer and steered Unique home for the first clear in 42.72 seconds, but Aufrecht and Abrisca shaved more than five seconds off that when racing home in 37.45 seconds to put it up the remaining three riders.

Results (30.12.05)

Grand Prix – W – AM5

1º Pia-Luise Aufrecht (Ale) / Abrisca / 0/0-37,45
2º Pius Schwizer (Sui) / Unique X Ch / 0/0-42,72
3º Bernardo Alves (Bra) / Topic Van 'T Voorhof / 0/4-35,2
4º Dirk Demeersman (Bel) / Clinton 53 / 0/4-39,67
5º Heinrich-Hermann Engemann (Ale) / Aboyeur W / 0/8-34,9
6º Kristof Cleeren (Bel) / Andiamo Z / 0/8-35,73
7º Toni Hassmann (Ale) / Le Patron / 0/8-35,83
8º Patrick Mc Entee (Bel) / Sherry Du Mury Marais Z / 0/12-41,58
9º Gerfried Puck (Aut) / 11th And Bleeker / 4-69,23
10º Tina Lund (Din) / Andante / 4-69,42