posted Jan 29th, 2014 - The first showdown this year between Arizona Airspeed and NMP-PCH Hayabusa almost overshadowed all the other interesting aspects of the Wind Games 2014.

The Sun Path Products NSL News still covered a few additional interesting topics, such as the colorful international EXL3Maubeuge lineup on 21 January 2014 and the Aerodyne French Girls on 24 January 2014.

The team in 3rd place, Thunder, did not get any attention so far, and it is time to catch up with the performance of the world's unofficial amateur top team.

Thunder's 25.4 average was not the team's highest indoor result so far. However, it was a promising start into the 2014 season, and it was good enough to win the 3,000 Euro for the 3rd place.

Thunder has not won yet such an amount of prize money, and the additional and probably unexpected cash will surely support the team plans for this year.

Wind Games 2014		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	C,20,17	16,A,D,7	J,P,13,L	N,21,22	M,8,15	K,3,6	F,4,1	B,G,H,O,10	5,18,9	Q,2,12	Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	29(-1)	36(-1)	33	27	31	30(-1)	29	41	32(-1)	26	314(-4)	31.4
2	Arizona Airspeed	32	35	30(-4)	27	32	26(-2)	32	38(-1)	32(-1)	21(-4)	305(-12)	30.5
3	Thunder	26	26(-1)	27(-1)	22	24	23(-1)	27	31(-3)	25	23	254(-6)	25.4

The last Thunder update was posted on 26 October 2013 and broke the news that the Dutch/Belgian lineup had made new plans for the 2014 season.

The first part of the schedule was now completed in Spain, and Thunder has launched the team's 6th competition season with the same lineup successfully.

Thunder is expecting the team's own showdown with last year's strongest opponent for the unofficial amateur top spot, SportLoto from Russia, at the World Challenge 2014. The Sun Path Products NSL News will follow this duel once again live at Bodyflight Bedford this year.

SportLoto posted a 25.7 average at the World Challenge 2013 and will probably not end up below this scoring level. Thunder's 25.4 average in Empuriabrava gives last year's top amateur team less than three months time to prepare for the expected challenge.

SportLoto outscored Thunder at the World Challenge 2013 for the first time.

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
6	SportLoto (RU)	35	28(-1)	19(-2)	23	24	21(-3)	30(-1)	23	34(-3)	20	257(10)	25.7
7	Thunder (BE)	33(-1)	32	21	23	23	22(-1)	29(-1)	21(-2)	31(-4)	19(-1)	254(10)	25.4

Thunder's 25.4 average picks up the pace where Wesley Claessens (Point), Paul Hofstee (Center Outside), Sven Ibens (Center Inside) and Jacco van Eerden (Tail) were performing last year when Thunder attended three indoor meets.

Thunder's 2013 indoor season began with a 25.8 average at Aerokart in February, followed by the 25.4 average in Bedford and another 25.8 average in Roosendaal in November.

The Aerodyne French Girls increased their meet average from last year's Aerokart meet (22.5) to 23.7 at the Wind Games, and Thunder could not keep up with the progression of the French national team in 4way Women who are in a position to invest significantly more training efforts.

NMP-PCH Hayabusa competed together with Thunder at the World Challenge 2013 (30.7) and then again at the Wind Games (31.4) with a similar outcome.

It's hard for amateurs to keep up with the progression of the pros. However, Thunder still outscored the French Girls and enjoyed the extra cash. Bedford is next...