posted Apr 12th, 2012 - The NSL News took a closer look at the situation of NMP-PCH Hayabusa after the recent performances at the Paraclete XP Outdoor Championship 2012 and then at the World Challenge 2012 on 10 April 2012. It must have been very encouraging from the Belgian perspective.

The next review in the aftermath of the World Challenge 2012 is the view from the French perspective, and it covers the situation after the same two events. France had once again the biggest foreign delegation at Bodyflight Bedford with a total of 10 teams, all of them competing in the AAA Class, eight in the Open Class and two in the female category.

This story focuses on the national 4way team, Aerodyne Aerokart, with three reigning 4way world champions (Mathieu and Guillaume Bernier, Julien Degen) and new Center Inside Emmanuel "Manu" Sarrazin, 8way world champion of 2006, 2008 and 2010. The story also begins at the Paraclete XP Outdoor Championship 2012, and the new NSL Reality TV clip features a complete training day with the French team during the camp after the competition.

Aerodyne Aerokart was not well prepared for the team's first outdoor competition of the 2012 season, and team and coach knew that this would be the case. They wanted the face-off with Arizona Airspeed and NMP-PCH Hayabusa anyway and did not expect to win in DeLand. The training camp after the meet would be the opportunity to clean up.

The NSL News followed the team from breakfast at home to the day's debriefing that took place as well at the rental house a few minutes away from the dropzone. The French day begins with team work for breakfast, where coach Marin Ferre starts the day with brewing the coffee, Emmanuel "Manu" Sarrazin fries the bacon and Julien Degen the eggs. Olivier Henaff makes sure that all gets eaten, and Guillaume Bernier is doing the dishes.

The video was recorded a day after the terror attacks in Toulouse, France, and the team followed the events at home closely. The video also includes one of the training jumps where the team looks much sharper compared to the performance during the Paraclete XP Outdoor Championship. The team's travel agenda had made it very challenging to be ready for the competition jumps on Friday morning....

World Challenge 2012		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	D,Q,9,10	17,P,11	2,21,7	14,J,O,M	A,L,18,16	N,H,20,G	C,E,19,22	1,8,4	K,6,3	12,F,5	Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	34	33	25(-1)	36	28(-2)	35	30(-1)	25	28	30	304	30.4
2	Aerodyne Aerokart	31(-2)	31	25	37	28	33	26(-2)	23	27	30	291	29.1
3	Arizona Airspeed	34	29(-1)	24(-2)	34(-2)	28(-1)	34	29	22	26	30	290	29.0

The French national team also looked even better at the World Challenge 2012 last weekend compared to the training week. The 12-point distance to the winner in DeLand, Arizona Airspeed, turned into a 1-point win over the same opponent at Bodyflight Bedford. Neither Airspeed nor France were able to keep up with the Belgians at the indoor competition.

Outscoring Airspeed was still an important step for Aerodyne Aerokart, as it showed the progression that the recent training camp had provided. The French team added some tunnel training in Bedford to the outdoor jumps in DeLand and was obviously much better prepared for the World Challenge 2012.

The 2nd place in Bedford was also the first time that the new French lineup outscored Arizona Airspeed at all. The French team actually feels generally stronger at outdoor competition and will most likely be even better at the next outdoor meets. Airspeed is still undefeated at outdoor meets but had to accept now that Hayabusa and France both outscored them at a tunnel competition. It is getting even closer and tighter at the top of the 4way world...