The 2009 World Driving Championship moved to Jarlsberg on Saturday for the third of five rounds, and the USA’s Jason Bartlett wasted no time moving up the ladder by winning the first of four races offered on the Jarlsberg card.
Jason Bartlett went right to work by winning the first of four races on Saturday at Jarlsberg He sped to a 1-1/4 length victory in the first division behind Inspector Barnaby, a 6-year-old by Jobie Tempest trained by Frode Hamre. It marked the second win by Bartlett in his last four starts in the series; this one came at the expense of the reigning European Champion, Germany’s Roland Hulskath, and Sweden’s Bjorn Goop, who finished second and third, respectively.
The top three at Jarlsberg Race Track - Birger Jørgensen, Roland Hülskath and Bjørn Goop - on day three.
Bartlett’s second start on Saturday almost brought him another win, but he and Hulskath reversed positions in division one; the German won by 1-1/4 lengths and the pair continued to climb the points ladder. Bartlett had advanced from eighth to seventh to fourth, and Hulskath had moved from seventh to third to second.
New Zealand’s Peter Ferguson never lost his lead while those beneath him in the standings jockeyed for position, and with finishes of seventh, third, sixth and second ended the day with a 98-96 edge over Goop, who successfully defended his runner-up position, and Denmark’s Birger Jorgensen, who began and ended the third of five rounds in third place, with 93 points.
Bartlett’s luck soured in the final two races, in which he finished seventh and ninth, and he resides in fifth position, 24 points off the lead and a two-place improvement over where he had finished the second round.
The drivers will bus back from Jarlsberg to Oslo to join the delegates to the World Trotting Conference at gala banquet Saturday night. The fourth round will be raced at Sorlandets Travpark, on Monday. (By John Pawlak for USTA)
Below is the table of points after the second of five rounds of the Championship, with the winners of both rounds shown in boldface type:
The 2009 World Driving Championship Standings
(after three of five rounds)
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