Canada's James MacDonald maintained his lead in the 2025 World Driving Championship (WDC) as he won one of five races on Friday, Nov. 7 at Addington Raceway in Christchurch, New Zealand.

MacDonald's win was his only top-four finish on the day, but he collected 32 points to raise his total to 130. Australia's Gary Hall Jr. remained in second but gained four points on MacDonald as he finished in the top six in all five races, including a place finish, giving him 121 points. Sweden's Mats Djuse was the day's big gainer, moving from sixth to third with a win, a second, and two show finishes. He now has 111 points. New Zealand's representative, Blair Orange, reached a major milestone as he won the first contest race and became the fourth Kiwi to record 3,000 driving wins.

The WDC will resume with the fifth leg at Central Southland Raceway in Winton, New Zealand on Sunday, Nov. 9. First post is set for noon local time (6 p.m. EST on Saturday, Nov. 8).

The 2025 WDC point standings after the fourth leg are as follows:

2025 WDC Point Standings - After Leg 4
1. James MacDonald - Canada - 130
2. Gary Hall Jr. - Australia - 121
3. Mats Djuse - Sweden - 111
4. Blair Orange - New Zealand - 107
5. Michael Nimczyk - Germany - 91
6. Pierre Vercruysse - France - 91
7. Giampaolo Minnucci - Italy - 83
8. Jaap van Rijn - The Netherlands - 83
9. Brett Beckwith - United States - 80
10. Santtu Raitala - Finland - 74

The 2025 WDC will be held at various New Zealand racetracks. The complete racing schedule is as follows, with both Canadian and local time zone first post times included:

• First Leg (Kaikoura): Saturday, Nov. 1, 7 p.m. EDT / Sunday, Nov. 2, 12 p.m. NZDT - Recap & Replays / WDC Report
• Second Leg (Kaikoura): Sunday, Nov. 2, 6 p.m. EST / Monday, Nov. 3, 12 p.m. NZDT - Recap & Replays / WDC Report
• Third Leg (Cambridge): Tuesday, Nov. 4, 10:30 p.m. EST / Wednesday, Nov. 5, 4:30 p.m. NZDT - Recap & Replays / WDC Report
• Fourth Leg (Addington): Thursday, Nov. 6, 10:30 p.m. EST / Friday, Nov. 7, 4:30 p.m. NZDT
• Fifth Leg (Winton): Saturday, Nov. 8, 6 p.m. EST / Sunday, Nov. 9, 12 p.m. NZDT
• Sixth/Final Leg (Addington; New Zealand Cup Day): Monday, Nov. 10, 6 p.m. EST / Tuesday, Nov. 11, 12 p.m. NZDT

Recaps and replays of the WDC leg-four races are below.

WDC Race 1

It was a historic victory for New Zealand's Blair Orange in the first WDC race of day four. The local contender resumed the rally he started yesterday, and in doing so became the fourth Kiwi driver to reach 3,000 wins. He sent the four-year-old mare Always A Menace to the front early in the 1,980-metre pace, and she dictated the tempo before resisting live pocket-sitter Sandy Shore and Brett Beckwith of the United States down the stretch for the 1-3/4-length victory. Hi Life finished third for Giampaolo Minnucci of Italy. The mile rate was 1:57.4.

Canada's James MacDonald was parked the whole way with Sofia Rose, who finished seventh.

WDC Race 2

James MacDonald extended his lead with a smart drive at the lines of Waihemo Hannah from post seven in the second race, a 1,980-metre trot. He fired her three-wide off third-over cover on the backstretch, and the nine-year-old mare worked past Prince Teka (driven by Germany's Michael Nimczyk) before fending off Bevron, driven by Jaap van Rijn of The Netherlands, for the win by three-quarters of a length with a 2:02.2 mile rate. Lookslikeatrixter finished third for Sweden's Mats Djuse.

"I thought I had Michael (Nimczyk), and then I heard Jaap (van Rijn) coming on the outside, and he had a full head of steam," MacDonald said on the broadcast. "But I hadn't really asked yet, so when I asked, (Waihemo Hannah) really responded.

WDC Race 3

After going three-wide to the lead early and being shuffled to third, Sweden's Mats Djuse angled Mr Cash Man through horses to the outside on the final turn, and the seven-year-old gelding rocketed to the lead to win the 2,600-metre pace by 2-3/4 lengths with a mile rate of 2:00.3. Australia's Gary Hall Jr. knifed Times Are A Changin through traffic to finish second, followed by Major Happy and France's Pierre Vercruysse.

MacDonald and Betterwithbling were shuffled to last in the mid-race action, but Canada's representative, after a brief look three-wide, moved the gelding back to the pylons and got him up for fifth.

WDC Race 4

The United States' Brett Beckwith took an emphatic first win of the competition as four-year-old trotting gelding Look To Da Stars rolled to the front on the backstretch and stormed away with the 1,980-metre event, winning by 10 lengths with a mile rate of 1:59. Crown The Moment came up the inside for second for Djuse with Almighty and Minnucci following that move for third.

MacDonald attempted a three-wide rally with Grettymac from the back, but the mare fizzled out and finished ninth.  

"It's been a rough week, but we finally got a win," Beckwith said in a post-race interview. "The trainer had this one ready to go."

WDC Race 5

France's Pierre Vercruysse sent One Eye Bandit on a swift brush from fourth-over turning for the backstretch, and the sophomore gelding valiantly battled back against Nothing But You (van Rijn) in the stretch to prevail by a neck in the final contest race of the day, covering the 1,980 metres in a mile rate of 2:00.4. Molly Maeve Estelle finished third for Djuse. 

MacDonald's Blackjack faded to eighth after racing first-up much of the way.

(Standardbred Canada)