Mississauga, ON – Competing for your country in any sport is an honor and James Macdonald and Doug McNair, two of Canadian harness racing’ s top drivers will have that distinction when they compete in the 2019 World Driving Championship for harness racing in Sweden from May 24–31, 2019.

MacDonald, and McNair, both of Guelph, ON, are psyched for the 2019 WDC, a 24-race competition between 12 of the top harness racing drivers from around the globe competing for a first prize of $25,000 (US).

MacDonald, a winner of 2005 races and over C$28 million in purse earnings during his career, is the defending World Driving Champion, having won the title at the 2017 event hosted here in Canada. He will be competing as the defending champion for the International Trotting Association, and this will mark the first time MacDonald has ever driven in Europe.

“The WDC will be a different style of racing because it brings together drivers from around the world and the style is different from country to country,” he explained. “It’s always an honor to represent your country. I’m looking forward to doing my best and having a great time!”

McNair, a winner of 3,230 races and over C$52 million in purse earnings, won the 2018 National Driving Championship, which earned him the opportunity to wear the red and white as Canada’s representative in the WDC.

“To take part in the WDC is a huge deal. I’m really looking forward to it and I’ve been excited about it since I won the National,” said McNair. “I think the racing will be a lot harder because of the larger field sizes and different distance races.”

There are some noted differences in harness racing in Sweden including varied race distances, larger fields and, in Sweden, there are only trotters, no pacers.

The first leg of the WDC will be at Solvalla with three races on Friday (May 24) and one race on Saturday (May 25).

There will be no races on the Elitloppet day on Sunday (May 26).

Lindesbergs Fornaboda track will host the third leg and five races on Monday (May 27), followed by five more races on Tuesday (May 28) at Sundbyholm in Eskilstuna, then an additional five races at Dalatravet Rättvik on Wednesday (May 29). After a one-day break, the 2019 World Driving Champion will be crowned on Friday (May 31) after the final five races at Gävle.