Nations Cup Driving Competition in Rastede: German Team Finishes Fourth and Shows Weaknesses in the Marathon

The German team finished fourth in the Four-in-Hand Nations Cup at the Oldenburg State Tournament in Rastede. Mareike Meier, along with Anna and Christoph Sandmann, totaled 280.57 penalty points. The victory went to Belgium (271.60), ahead of Australia (272.12) and the Netherlands (278.10). The Nations Cup was moved from Aachen to Rastede this year due to the World Championships in August.

The marathon didn’t go as well as I’d hoped

National team coach Karl-Heinz Geiger offered a mixed assessment: “Of course, we would have liked to have been on the podium, but the results from the cross-country event prevented that. The dressage went exceptionally well, the cone course was okay too, but the marathon wasn’t ideal—we’ll have to do better in Aachen at the World Championships.” At the same time, he was pleased with Anna Sandmann’s fourth-place finish in the individual standings.

Anna Sandmann in Second Place Overall Before the Skittles Event

The rider from Emsland confirmed her strong form. After her victory in the dressage with 37.39 penalty points, the German team initially took the lead. She was also the top German driver in the marathon, finishing ninth, and went into the final cone course in second place overall. Although she dropped to fourth place in the overall standings after knocking over one cone and incurring 8.34 penalty points, she was satisfied: “If someone had told me beforehand that I’d be competing in the lead group here—I would have taken it.”

Too many extra laps

Her father, Christoph Sandmann, lost valuable time in the marathon due to two unplanned turns and ultimately finished 11th overall. Mareike Meier placed 14th after also losing time on the cross-country course. “Two penalty points right at the first obstacle for a dropped ball, then missing an entry once, followed by a time-consuming correction—in short, it really wasn’t our best marathon,” she said.

In bowling, Meier and Christoph Sandmann didn’t knock any pins down, but they did accumulate penalty points for exceeding the time limit. Anna Sandmann wasn’t quite able to capitalize on her chance to make the podium despite a ball error.

World Championship Favorites on the Podium in Rastede

Belgian Dries Degrieck secured victory in the combined standings ahead of defending champion Boyd Exell (Australia) and Chester Weber (USA). A total of 31 drivers competed. The top German individual driver was René Poensgen in 16th place, ahead of Georg von Stein (17th) and Michael Brauchle (20th).