Talented young British rider Richard Davenport, 23, has joined the global show jumping team backed by telecommunications giant Sony Ericsson.
This is the first time a British rider has attracted global show jumping sponsorship since the 1970s and 1980s, when Harvey Smith was sponsored by Sanyo.
The Team SonyEricsson reshuffle, which was announced during Olympia last week, sees former World Champion Franke Sloothaak and Frenchman Olivier Guillon losing the company’s support.
The team of riders, who are easily recognisable at events around the world due to the squad’s green jackets, now comprises world number one Markus Fuchs, World Cup champion Marcus Ehning and Olympic riders Jerry Smit and Maria Gretzer as well as Richard Davenport.
Lars Waag, vice president of Sony Ericsson, explains: “We believe it is important to fine tune our line-up to achieve our objective of being the number one team in the world. The team we have picked is a mixture of world class riders, both established and new challengers. Richard Davenport was an easy choice for us.”
Richard’s recent strong run of form includes being on the winning Nations Cup team at Hickstead, third in the World Cup in Oslo and second in the grand prix in Paris.
Richard, who is currently based at his family home near Knutsford, Cheshire, says: “To be involved with such good riders will be a great boost for my career.”
