Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Andy Miller Fourth In World Driving Championships
Chicago reinsman competes in Italy
Visions of a final round charge to the top evaporated early for Andy Miller, and dreams of a World Driving Championship were not realized by the driver who represented the United States in the 2005 edition of the series.

In second position, and only one and one-half points away from the leader, Robert Andreghetti, at the start of the fifth and final round, raced at Rome’s Tor di Valle Racecourse on Friday, Miller finished seventh in three of the four races, and was disqualified in the other due to an extended break.

Andreghetti, who won one of his four starts on Friday, was the clear overall winner, with 172 points, and was followed by Sweden’s Eric Adielsson, who finished with a victory in round five and with 160 points. Germany’s Heinz Wewering, finished in third position, with 149 points. The Canadian representative, Jody Jamieson, won one of the four races and finished in eighth position, with 110 points.

“It was a great experience,” Miller said after the final heat in the 20-race series. “I think we’ve made some pretty good friends.”

Asked if he approached anything differently when he entered the final round trailing by only one and one-half point, Miller said “no, I just tried to drive the same way I had earlier in the series. A couple of the trainers said I had good horses, but it just didn’t turn out that way.”

Was driving in Italy different than driving in the United States? “No, these are good drivers who would go good anywhere,” he said. “This trip was as wonderful as I hoped it would be; seeing Italy and the racetracks here was a lot of fun.”

Miller won three of the 20 races -- nobody won more -- and he finished first, second, or third in seven of the 20 heats that comprised the Championship. The next edition of the tournament will be conducted in the fall of 2007, in New Zealand.

World Driving Championships--Final Results
Driver /Country
Roberto Andreghetti   Italy
Eric Adielsson           Sweden
Heinz Wewering       Germany
Andy Miller               USA
Juan Antonio Riera    Spain
Geoff Webster          Australia
Gerhard Mayer         Austria
Jody Jamieson         Canada
Antii Teivanen         Finland
Mark Jones              New Zealand