Hightstown, NJ — Jordan Ross headed to the World Driving Championship with the goal of winning several races in the international competition. On Wednesday evening in Belgium, the 25-year-old Tennessee native got his first, and, as he said afterward during the winner’s circle celebration, “hopefully not the last.”

Jordan Ross recorded his first World Driving Championship victory Wednesday. Standardbred Canada photo.

Ross, the U.S. representative in the WDC, won with Lotus Ev at the distance of 2,300 meters at Hippodrome de Wallonie in Mons, Belgium, the site of the third round of the championship, which had previous stops in the Netherlands and Germany. His victory came in the fourth of the event’s five races on Wednesday.

“I was very excited to get a win, just to kind of break the ice,” Ross said. “Just to get a win was a main goal coming over here, so it was a very fun moment. I got to take a (win) picture with family and a lot of people that I met today. I’ve got a bunch of relatives here and they’ve been supporting me throughout the tournament. I’m blessed. I’m very blessed.”

Ross got away third with Lotus Ev and was no worse than fourth during the race. He was able to follow cover around the final turn before moving three wide for the stretch drive. Lotus Ev won a battle with Nordic Warrior, driven by Australia’s Peter McMullen, to earn the victory for Ross.

“They told me the later I could use him, the better he would be,” Ross said. “I put him in a good position, and he finished good for me.”

As for his experience at Hippodrome de Wallonie, Ross said, “The track was very lovely. The people here were very lovely. The trainers and owners were very happy. I’m glad I got the chance to come over and participate in this.”

Ross finished fifth, sixth, and seventh in his remaining starts Wednesday. Two horses made breaks approaching the start of the final race, resulting in a false start, and Ross was subsequently unseated from the sulky. His horse was scratched, resulting in four points for the driver. Ross reported that he was OK.

Through three of four rounds of the WDC, Ross is in seventh place, but only 13 points from second, in the 10-driver competition. The event concludes Friday with five races in Berlin.

Drivers receive 17 points for winning a race. The points for the remaining nine finishing positions are, in descending order, 12, 9, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1.

“Hopefully on Friday we can have a better outing,” Ross said.

Defending WDC champion Rick Ebbinge of the Netherlands continues to lead the competition. Ebbinge had one win Wednesday, as did McMullen, Germany’s Michael Nimczyk, and Belgium’s Hanna Huygens.

World Driving Championship Standings
After Round 3 of 4 (15 of 20 total races)
1. Rick Ebbinge (Netherlands) 139
2. Peter McMullen (Australia) 106
3. Hanna Huygens (Belgium) 105
4. Santtu Raitala (Finland) 103
5. Michael Nimczyk (Germany) 97
6. Doug McNair (Canada) 93
7. Jordan Ross (U.S.) 93
8. Blair Orange (New Zealand) 89
9. Miodrag Pantic (Serbia) 68
10. Rodney Gatt (Malta) 59

To visit the World Driving Championship website, click here.