James MacDonald Takes First Leg of the World Driving Championships

Quote from pcmark15 on November 2, 2025, 10:27 PM

Everyone sitting upright in the bike except James.

Quote from Lonnie on November 2, 2025, 10:42 PM

Great observation!

BTW, James has a couple of thirds, and at least a pair of seconds on Day 2.

Quote from Bgtolex25 on November 3, 2025, 7:49 AM

No whips?  How do the gamblers feel when they can’t see the “encouragement” (😏)?

Are there rules against leaning back in the bike and strictly enforced down under?  It seems the NA drivers push any rule to the limit, almost daring the judges to do something, such as whipping action, pylon infractions, kicking, body positioning, other?

As a kid in the 70’s, we would mimic what we saw on the track by lying nearly horizontal in the pretend sulky, lines in one hand and whipping for all we were worth.

Curious what others think on these issues.

Quote from Lonnie on November 3, 2025, 10:25 AM

Growing up, we were so wack.  We had driving whips (perhaps obtained via nefarious methods), and we used to "race" in our cars, with the whip out the driver's side window, and we would be flailing away.  I have no idea what other drivers must have thought of that scene.  It was a lot of fun.  Call us weird.

Quote from 1968jackpot on November 4, 2025, 9:58 AM

Tripped out there

Quote from Lonnie on November 5, 2025, 10:23 AM

Excerpted from StandardbredCanada:

Canada's James MacDonald stormed to the front in the 2025 World Driving Championship (WDC) with a strong performance in the third leg at Cambridge Raceway in Cambridge, New Zealand on Wednesday, Nov. 5.

MacDonald took a one-point lead over Australia's Gary Hall Jr. in the first WDC race and extended the advantage to 13 by the end of the day. He picked up 57 points in five races with two wins, a narrow second, a fourth, and a sixth. Mats Djuse of Sweden won twice on the day to shoot up the leaderboard from last after day two to sixth at the end of Wednesday's racing. Local hope Blair Orange surged from ninth to fourth while taking his first win of the competition.

The WDC is now at the midway point, having completed 10 of 20 heats. The fourth leg is set for Addington Raceway on Friday, Nov. 7, with first post at 4:30 p.m. local time (10:30 p.m. EST on Thursday, Nov. 6).

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

2025 WDC Point Standings - After Leg 3
1. James MacDonald - Canada - 98
2. Gary Hall Jr. - Australia - 85
3. Michael Nimczyk - Germany - 69
4. Blair Orange - New Zealand - 68
5. Santtu Raitala - Finland - 62
6. Mats Djuse - Sweden - 57
7. Giampaolo Minnucci - Italy - 54
8. Pierre Vercruysse - France - 51
9. Jaap van Rijn - The Netherlands - 51
10. Brett Beckwith - United States - 46