Canada's Doug McNair drove two winners in his five races to finish atop the standings in the first leg of the 2023 World Driving Championship (WDC) on Sunday, Aug. 13 at Victoria Park Wolvega in The Netherlands.
McNair finished the first day with a total of 49 points, tied with Australia's representative Peter McMullen for the points lead. McNair's two wins to McMullen's one gives him the lead heading into the second leg of the championship.
Doug McNair with girlfriend Michelle Vezina
Ontario native McNair opened up the WDC action with a four-point score off a seventh-place finish, then finished third in the second race before achieving his first victory in The Netherlands in the third WDC race with Floris Van Egmont. In the fourth contest, he added five more points to his leadership tally before taking home the hardware once again in the fifth and final race of the first leg.
McMullen won the first WDC split with John Doe and followed up with a seventh, second, third and fourth in the remaining four races to tally 49 points.
The second leg will be hosted in Gelsenkirchen, Germany at GelsenTrabPark on Tuesday, Aug. 15, with a first race post time of 11:50 a.m. (CEST) / 5:50 a.m. (ET).
The current leaderboard after the conclusion of the first leg of the World Driving Championship is available below:
Doug McNair - Canada - 49
Peter McMullen - Australia - 49
Santtu Raitala - Finland - 35
Jordan Ross - United States - 32
Hanna Huygens - Belgium - 29
Rodney Gatt - Malta - 29
Rick Ebbinge - The Netherlands - 29
Blair Orange - New Zealand - 27
Miodrag Pantić - Serbia - 24
Michael Nimczyk - Germany - 19
WDC Race 1
Australia's Pete McMullen took no prisoners in the first race of the 2023 World Driving Championship, going wire-to-wire with John Doe to win the 2,100-metre event with a 1,14.6 kilometre rate. Maxim Zandbergen, driven by Malta's Rodney Gatt finished second with MisterGoodNews coming in third for Serbia's Miodrag Pantić. Canada's Doug McNair had Rebel Muffin positioned well second over but his horse faded in the late stages to finish seventh.
McMullen cut the mile with a horse known to close. His strategy was one that transcends international borders. "No matter where you race in the world, once you're in front they have to catch you."
WDC Race 2
In the second WDC race, McNair tried to follow that front-end strategy from McMullen's win in the first leg but Marco's Wish was unable to get him into the winner's circle in the 2,100-metre race. Belgium's Hanna Huygens tipped Marla Boko off the helmet of first-over advancer Maylo (Miodrag Pantić) around the final turn, looped to the lead and powered away for the victory. True Blue, driven by the U.S representative Jordan Ross, closed well for second with Let it be Petnic (ITA's Rick Ebbinge) edging out McNair and Marco's Wish for third.
WDC Race 3
McNair followed a pocket trip with Floris Van Egmont in the third WDC race, a 2,600-metre race, and waited until the stretch to tip out around pacesetter Idylle Des Berthes and McMullen. McNair urged his trotter forward to take the victory and make it to the winner's circle for Team Canada. Idylle Des Berthes finished second and Finland representative Santtu Raitala finished third with Ismail Du Pre.
"I just listened to my translator, Timmy," said McNair. "He told me how to drive and that's what I did."
WDC Race 4
Santtu Raitala sat second over with Maverick through the 2,100-metre race before moving three-wide going into the final turn. Maverick kicked into a second gear in the stretch drive to win the fourth WDC race. Outer flow leader Dream Burgerheide and Germany's Nimczyk closed sharply, but was bested at the wire by Raitala to settle for second. With pacesetter Lumiere (Gatt) fading in the final steps, Meghan Flevo and McMullen were able to maneuver through the stretch to finish third. McNair attempted a four-wide approach on the backstretch, but was unable to make up enough ground in the stretch, finishing sixth.
"The first 500 went pretty fast. It was better outside and look how things go. The horse felt perfect all the way. She was very motivated in the last 500 metres," said Raitala.
WDC Race 5
In the fifth WDC race, McNair used a similar tactic to his victory in the third WDC race, sitting second along the pylons behind leading Jaggers and New Zealand's Blair Orange. A first-over Herck Vanhalbeek (McMullen) appeared to lock McNair and I Dream With You inside, but with a little room, McNair was able to slide out and charge on, winning the 2,100-metre race. Jaggers finished second and Ebbinge powered late from the back of the pack and on the far outside to take the show spot with Kap Paasloo.
"The trainer just told me the horse can get off the wings pretty good, but better off following the seven or eight, and we ended up following the eight horse and he took us to the place we needed to go," said McNair.