posted Jan 13th, 2013 - The NSL News is once again going back to the 8way competition at the Mondial Dubai 2012 and offers eye candy for the 8way fans.

The audience has the opportunity to study the best two 8way performances in the history of the sport. The Golden Knights posted the highest meet average that was ever scored at an outdoor competition, and the French 8way team Aerodyne Aerokart's 22.5 average was also higher than the previous 22.4 record average that the Golden Knights held since 1997 and before the Mondial 2012.

The videos are featured next to each other and can easily be compared directly with each other. The "Pause" button has to help out here and there since two rounds of the Golden Knights are missing. The special leaderboard with only the two top teams also includes the point deductions.

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	8way Open	N,21,B,5	14,C,13	22,M,20	17,H,16	J,E,12,4	7,19,15	G,K,8,2	O,L,F,P,A	10,11,18	9,Q,D,1	Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights 8 (US)	21	19	27	26	26	18(-1)	20	28	19(-1)	25	229	22.9
2	Aerodyne Maubeuge (FR)	22	19	22(-2)	23	27	20	20	28	19	25	225	22.5

The following graphic shows the 8way competition between the USA and France since 1985. The US teams, either the Golden Knights or Arizona Airspeed, both with different lineups over the years, dominated over France for a very long time. This chart does not include the Russian 8way teams, as this update focuses on the duel between USA and France.

The Russian 8way teams won all the other medals that were not taken by USA or France, except in 1985 (Canada) and 2008 (Italy). That includes two sets of gold medals in 2001 and 2003.

France has always been closely behind the US 8way teams, with one exception in 1997. In fact, the two world meets in 1993 and 1995 were both 1-point battles for the gold medals.

This was different after France eventually won the 8way Excalibur for the first time in 2006. It was already very close at the World Meet in 2004 where several of the French 8way and 4way world champions of the future competed together for the first time. Arizona Airspeed saved the gold medals by three points.

Almost exactly the same French 8way lineup was finally strong enough to win the gold medals two years later by a 7-point margin and increased the distance to 16 points in Maubeuge 2008. The 8way triple, which came with the French FS sweep in Menzelinsk 2010, still had a secure 7-point difference. However, the Golden Knights had reduced the distance significantly.

The US Army team then continued with the same lineup for two more years, while France had a new team for the 2011/2012 time period and also aimed at winning gold medals in 4way and 8way with the same lineup. The outcome of the French project is well known by now...