posted Jun 16th, 2012 - The Tomscat Trophy 2012 is in full swing, but the field of teams does not have the same international touch any longer as the previews explained.

The recent story of the Blue Rebels from Greece was correct all the way, however, it did not have the perfect ending in Hoogeveen this weekend. Organizer Mike Pennock informed the NSL News that the Blue Rebels had to cancel their trip at the last minute due to the political and financial crisis in Greece, which also caused elections of a new government this weekend.

Thunder is listed as a team from Belgium, which still brings a different nationality to the event. Also, Tom Falzone is visiting from the USA "to see and taste the Tomscat atmosphere", as Mike Pennock added.

Tomscat Trophy 2012		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	AA Class	C,D,B,19	22,E,A	M,2,H	18,6	21,4	K,G,7	L,9,P	J,15,8	N,Q,1	F,13,11	Total	Avg
1	Cool Runnings (NL)	11	11	15	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	37	12.3
2	Habanero (NL)	8	10	14	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	32	10.7
3	Murphy Mania (NL)	10	9	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	31	10.3
4	4igami (NL)	8	9	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	27	9.0
5	Pari-Passu (NL)	7	6	11	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	24	8.0
5	Buddies (NL)	8	5	11	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	24	8.0
7	Supernova (NL)	6	8	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	23	7.7

Tom Falzone is directly related to the event name, even though this is not due to his first name. The Tomscat Trophy was created to commemorate two members of the Dutch 4way team Tomscat, Remie Herder and Sjaak Strating, who were killed in Perris Valley on April 24th, 1992 in a plane chrash.

It was the same plane crash that members of the US team Airmoves lost their lives in. Tom Falzone was a member of the Airmoves and survided the crash, together with Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld, whose recent book "Playing to Win" and movie "Above All Else" bring back the memories of the tragic event.

The two surviving Tomscat members, Jos Arkes and Gerard Fidom, both call Hoogeveen their home DZ, and Jos Arkes actually competes this weekend with the AAA Class pickup team Sky Dolphins. Tom Falzone has obviously good reasons for his visit at the Tomscat Trophy 2012.

The AA Class competition offers an interesting field of teams and the closest races after three completed rounds, while Thunder is probably again on the way to score somewhere above the 20-average level.

The three returning AA Class teams are on the top of the leaderboard in a similar battle as in 2011, only on a higher performance and scoring level. Cool Runnings is well prepared for the 2012 season after a spring training camp in DeLand with coach Solly Williams. 4igami and Pari-Passu have moved up from the A Class and are in their own internal competition as AA Class rookies. Their move into the AA Class opened up the A Class top spots for MACH 4 and TNT who have started another year in the A Class.

Mike Pennock reported that the weather has not cooperated very well so far: "After a nice summer evening, all teams went to bed around midnight to wake up with a cloudy DZ, and at 11.00 it started to rain. This lasted until 16.00. At 16.30 we could start and managed to get two rounds done before the rain started again..."