posted Apr 15th, 2013 - There was not much competition for the 1st and the 2nd place at the World Challenge 2013, which was not really expected much. However, there was a fierce battle for the 3rd place throughout the whole meet between Gavroches Maubeuge, Paraclete XP4 and XL.

The French team took the 3rd place from SportLoto in Round 2 and protected it successfully to the end. It was a lot of work, and the French 8way world champions barely saved a 1-point advantage over the finish line. Mostly the penalties that XP4 (4) and XL (8) collected allowed Gavroches Maubeuge to place 3rd and win the £2,000 cash.

XP4 and XL both completed 273 points in the total working time for ten rounds. The penalties brought both teams down and below the clean 270 points of the French team. Gavroches Maubeuge (6) still scored higher or tied the best numbers per round more often than XP4 (5) and XL (4).

World Challenge 2013		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Open Class	O,E,J,K,3	M,Q,A,14	4,6,16	8,18,N	H,19,12	2,7,13	11,C,P,9	15,D,10	L,F,17,G	20,1,22	Total	Avg
3	Gavroches Maubeuge (FR)	34	35	23	22	24	22	33	24	34	19	270(0)	27.0
4	Paraclete XP4 (US)	34(-1)	34	23	22(-1)	22	23	31	22(-2)	38	20	269(4)	26.9
5	XL	30(-5)	35	22	23	23	23	29(-2)	24	37	19(-1)	265(8)	26.5

The Paraclete XP4 lineup has a very similar background compared to the French team. Only Josh Hall, reigning 4way world champion, has been focusing only on 4way ever since he trained and competed with Perris Fury.

Kirk Verner, as an original Arizona Airspeed member and 2-time world champion in 4way, John D'Annunzio and reigning 8way world champion Brian "BK" Krause have done a lot of 4way in their lives. However, they were recently more engaged in 8way training and competition, just as the French Gavroches Maubeuge members have 8way as their main event. In fact, all four XP4 members only competed together in 8way at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2013, while Gavroches also attended the Aerokart Indoor Championship 2013.

Kirk Verner (Center Inside) and John D'Annunzio (Point) were in their familiar slots in Bedford, while Josh Hall (Center Outside) and Brian Krause (Tail) had new ones. Josh Hall is trained in the Center Outside slot, which is part of the front piece, and he flew it as the Point for Airspeed together with Thomas Hughes. Golden Knights 8way world champion Brian Krause had to do a lot of homework before the trip to Bedford, as he used to be the Point for the Golden Knights 4way team.

Paraclete XP4	XL

It was not the first time that Paraclete XP4 members competed at the World Challenge in Bedford. Father Tim and son John D'Annunzio competed together with Kirk Verner and Andy Honigbaum at the World Challenge 2008 and placed 9th with a 22.7 average. Kirk Verner and Andy Honigbaum came back a year later with Golden Knights Brian Krause and Matt Davidson for a 6th place with a 24.7 average.

Kirk Verner, John D'Annunzio, Andy Honigbaum and John Eagle finished in 8th place with a 26.4 average at the World Challenge 2010. The meets in 2011 and 2012 took place without a Paraclete lineup, and this year's 26.9 average is the new record for a Paraclete lineup. It was not boosted by a Super Sequence, which was the case in 2008 - 2010.

The impressive performance in Bedford raises the question where XP4 stands compared to Arizona Airspeed this year. XP4 left SDC Rhythm XP 23 points behind (26.9 - 24.6) in Bedford while Airspeed outscored Rhythm by 33 points at the Paraclete XP Outdoor Championship 2013. The NSL News audience may crunch the numbers...