Harness: James MacDonald headed to 2025 World Driving Championship

James MacDonald of Guelph, Ontario, will represent Canada in the 2025 World Driving Championship after emerging victorious in the 2024 National Driving Championship (NDC) on Friday, July 5 at Hippodrome 3R in Trois-Rivières, Quebec.

The 2017 World Driving Champion and three-time O'Brien Award winner as Canada's Driver of the Year, MacDonald finished the eight-race tournament with 66 points to top the leaderboard, ahead of Tyler Borth of Ingersoll, Ontario, with 53 points and third-place finisher Robert Shepherd of Mirabel, Quebec, also with 53 points but fewer first-place finishes than Borth.

The bulk of MacDonald's points were earned through his first five drives of the competition, as he notched three wins and one second-place finish to account for 55 of his 66 points. MacDonald's victories came aboard Rec Time (1:57 4/5; $2.10) in the second NDC race, Bonfire Bash (2:00; $3.30) in the fourth NDC leg and American Zestar (1:56 1/5; $2.70) in the fifth race of the challenge.

"It's the best," said a triumphant MacDonald on his emotions after the NDC victory. "Paige [MacDonald, James' wife] and I talked about it a few times. I said, 'You know, I'll probably never get a chance to wear the red and white again.' And it's kind of a tough topic because it's such a great experience. I wish everyone could experience it.

"I'm just so thrilled I get to go to New Zealand and wear the red and white. I love my blue and yellow [MacDonald's traditional colors in his driving suit], but there's nothing better than a whole country cheering for you."

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The 38-year-old MacDonald praised his fellow drivers and expressed his sincere gratitude to the host track in Trois-Rivières for conducting a top-notch event. Hippodrome 3R played host to the National Driving Championship for the first time in 2024.

"There's no experience like a national driving championship. And I can't say enough about the job they did at the track today. The track was amazing. The crew was amazing. The whole Standardbred Canada staff, they did a great job, and it's just a terrific event."

Presented by Standardbred Canada, the National Driving Championship is the culmination of four Regional Driving Championships to help determine our country's representative in the World Driving Championship. Drivers must earn their way into the National Driving Championship by finishing first or second in their respective Regional Driving Championship.

The leaderboard from the 2024 National Driving Championship is as follows:

1. James MacDonald - 66 points
2. Tyler Borth - 53
3. Robert Shepherd - 53
4. Stephane Brosseau - 50
5. Phil Giesbrecht - 44
6. Mike Hennessy - 43
7. Redmond Doucet - 36
8. David Dowling - 31

--press release (Standardbred Canada)--