posted Dec 18th, 2013 - The latest contribution for Blue Skies Mag was not directly related to other news that recently came from France. In fact, not even the earlier and very comprehensive update from France on 6 November 2013 included a significant change for the French national 4way team, Maubeuge Aerodyne.

National head coach Jeremie Rollett said at that time that he began to see the benefits coming after the personnel changes for his new 4way Open Class lineup. Julien Degen and Mathieu Bernier, both 4way world champions of 2010, and their two new young team mates, Pierre Emmanuel Balages and Damien Gouriou, spent the entire 2013 season together.

Maubeuge Aerodyne did not compete in Dubai and was training indoor and outdoor in Spain instead in November and December. A winter camp in Eloy would follow in January before the first 2014 competition at the Paraclete XP Outdoor Championship 2014. Jeremie Rollett saw his 4way Open Class team on track after the outdoor training this fall. That was all related to the French situation until the World Cup 2013.
Click on the score for a round with a link to see the teams' videos

World Cup 2013		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	4way Open	O,4,H,3	9,17,P	L,1,G,12	7,10,21	16,E,A,15	8,2,B	18,5,Q	F,14,K,N	M,C,D,13	20,J,19	Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa (BE)	27	33	23	22	29	22(-2)	26	28	33(-1)	24	267	26.7
2	Barkli (RU)	26	31	21	20	22(-3)	21	24(-1)	25(-1)	26(-3)	21	237	23.7
3	Maubeuge Aerodyne (FR)	22	28	20	20	23	16(-1)	21	22(-2)	28	21	221	22.1

World Cup 2013	Mondial Dubai 2012

There was no new personnel change for the French national 4way team in the Open Class, as the team and coach Jeremie Rollett were obviously very happy with the development and the progression of the new lineup. However, the change was still a significant one.

The new lineup had spent the 2013 season in the slot assignments that were decided upon at the end of the 2012 season. Julien Degen (Center Outside) and Mathieu Bernier (Point) have been training and competing together in the front piece for many years and won the 4way gold medals in 2010 and bronze medals in 2012 as front piece partners.

It seemed to be only logical that they would continue in the same slots, and the two new young members, Pierre Emmanuel Balages and Damien Gouriou, formed the new rear piece that Emmanuel "Manu" Sarrazin (Center Inside) and Guillaume Bernier (Tail) flew together until the Mondial Dubai 2012.

Mondial Dubai 2012		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	4way Open Class	5,12,E	6,D,B,K	O,8,7	N,13,18	10,21,M	19,H,11	C,G,1,A	20,9,15	16,F,P,Q	2,J,4	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed (US)	27	34	27	22	23	23	32	25	40	26	279	27.9
2	NMP-PCH Hayabusa (BE)	25	34	27	21	23	24	32	27	40	25	278	27.8
3	Aerodyne Aerokart (FR)	26	30	27	21	23	25	29	23	37	24	265	26.5
4	Evolution (CA)	22	31	24	17	19	21	28	22	30	22	236	23.6
5	Sky Panthers Barkli (RU)	19	29	22	21	21	18	28	20	35	20	233	23.3

The new French team attended only one competition in its building year and could not keep up with NMP-PCH Hayabusa or Barkli at the World Cup in Banja Luka. However, the 22.1 average of the new lineup was very promising and confirmed Jeremie Rollett's statement that his national 4way team was on track.

Coaches Jeremie Rollett, Marin Ferre and the team eventually still saw an additional way how to lift the potential of the new lineup even further up. They decided that the two world champions will finally be separated from each other to feed their skills and experiences directly into both pieces. Julien Degen and Mathieu Bernier have now switched to the center slots, each of them flying with one of their new team mates.

It's easy to imagine that this move will make the French Open Class team even stronger. The 22.1 average at the World Cup in August 2013 can only be seen as a new starting point, and the scoring and performance level can most likely be expected at a very different point at the Paraclete XP Outdoor Championship 2014...