CANNES STARS POWERED BY IRON DAMES CLAIM PODIUM FINISH IN FRENCH CAPITAL
(c) GCL
With the Longines Global Champions Tour coming to it’s halfway point, the Cannes Stars powered by Iron Dames head to Paris for the 8th leg of the Global Champions League. With Natalie Dean, Katrin Eckermann and Sophie Hinners competiting for the team during the 3-days competition, they left no chance untaken to secure a placing in the different classes over the weekend. The Cannes Stars powered by Iron Dames securing a podium finish and Iron Dames riders being placed in the top ten in every CSI5* class over the weekend.
On Friday the action started straight away with the team competition. Katrin Eckermann and Sophie Hinners competed for the Cannes Stars powered by Iron Dames, while Natalie Dean took part as an individual competitor this time. In the first round Sophie and Special Life made their debut at this level and concluded their round with 4 points after an unlucky rail down. Katrin and Chao Lee jumped a superb and fast clear round, putting the team in second place after round 1. With this fast round, the German duo did not only have a good result for the team, but Eckermann also ended up in second place in the individual standings of this class.
In the second round Sophie and Special Life were first to go for the team. With the mare still being unexperienced at this level, the young combination completed the round with a total score of 8 points. Katrin chose to ride Cala Mandia NRW for this round over a height of 1.60m and the more experienced duo secured a third-place finish by jumping a clear round. Natalie and Acota M, competing in this class as an individual, finished in fifth place after jumping a clear and fast round.
In the 1.45m class on Saturday afternoon Sophie and Ghia Pe speeded to a fourth place right before the start of the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix over a height of 1.60m. In this challenging GP, only 4 combinations managed to jump a clear round and qualify for the jump-off. Natalie and Acota M were underway for a clear round, but an unlucky fault on the last fence kept them out of the jump-off. The round with 4 points resulted in an eight place for the American rider. On Sunday Sophie and Ghia Pe finished in third place in the 1.45m class and to conclude the weekend, there was an nineth place for Natalie and Oasis van de Bucxtale.
In a few days time the Iron Dames riders will head to Sweden, where the Cannes Stars powered by Iron Dames will compete at the Global Champions League in Stockholm. Kim Emmen, Janne Friederike Meyer-Zimmermann and Sanne Thijssen will proudly represent the magenta colors here and fight further for the top spot in the team standings. The team is currently second in the championship standings.
Press release Iron Dames
