posted Nov 26th, 2016 - The annual ISR Grand Prix is scheduled for this weekend, and a total of 50 teams are registered for the event. This beats last year's participation when 45 teams competed in Roosendaal.

The event includes the farewell competition of Thunder ISR. The Sun Path Products NSL News reported on November 10th that NMP PCH HayaBusa adds 8-way training and competition to the team's agenda, which began with the Thund8rbirds 8-way project.

The HayaBusa members explained that the lineup will consist of Belgian competitors, and Thunder ISR members Sven Ibens and Wesley Claessens will continue with HayaBusa's 8-way team. The Thunder 4-way project comes to an end at the same time, and the team posted the farewell message before the last competition this weekend.

Thunder ISR say Good-Bye

All good things come to an end. After 8 great years Thunder ISR will stop. The ISR Grand Prix 2016 will be our last competition as a team.

In 2009 the team was founded. At the time Thunder's members all had already quite some years of experience with competitive formation skydiving and were all exploring options within Belgium and the Netherlands to start another FS project. The main objectives of the team were to perform on world class level AND spend the best of times with friends. As a team we consider we surpassed both objectives with a distance. We have performed and competed with the very top of the world and we consider ourselves the best of friends which will remain so even after we have stopped as a team. Also along the way we became great friends with many in the FS competitive community worldwide. Along the way we also have had the opportunity to inspire and coach many Belgian and Dutch teams, as well as a whole bunch of other nationalities. We hope that out of this new teams will continue to form and that the FS competitive skydiving community will further expand.

The list will be too long to note all experiences the team has had but here's a few which we remember ourselves.

Thunders first training camp was in Eloy with our coach Thomas Hughes. We remember Thomas' reaction to our goal to become a 20+ team. Shocked and with disbelieve if this would be a realistic goal he gently wanted to adjust our goal, obviously with little success.

The first camp was a great success, however ended quite dramatically. Following some Jeagerbomb abuse on the final night and after we concluded the training camp, Jacco was injured with torn ligaments in his shoulder, and Wesley had a broken bone in one of his feet. To date we continue to blame our coach Thomas wink emoticon;-)

We think back to a greatly organized ESL in Hibaldstow in 2009, apart from the instructor in charge asking for log books, knifes, altimeters which we all didn't have smile emoticon:-). Those BPA regulations grin emoticon:D The instructor getting a headache from a bunch of weekend warriors from Belgium and the Netherlands. Nonetheless, we had a great competition where we scored 19.4 ending up 2nd place following Satori. We knew that we would had to adjust our goal soon after as 20+ seemed within reach quite quickly.

Our participation at the 2011 Bedford World Challenge was also memorable. We started of with a dramatic first round with a bunch of busts and brainlocks ending up only on the third page of the score sheet. We were all thinking "what the f... has just happened'. We fought has hell during the remainder of the competition, which obviously wasn't that much fun anymore, we ended up after round 10 on the first page of the score sheet on 10th place. This achievement boosted the team's moral very much. In becoming a world class team it is inevitable teams learn to deal with disappointments.

A great experience has been our participation at the 2012 World Cup in Czech where we were invited as a guest team by the event organizer, Martin Dhlouhy. He was convinced that making international FAI events bigger by inviting guest teams that young and new skydivers and teams would become inspired. An attitude which others in our opinion should take as an example.

Round 9 at the World Cup really was one for the books. In the door preparing for a 12 exit Sven lost his balance and fell in the back of the plane. Immediately the team was trying to get back in the plane. Jacco turned around to see if Grim needed help getting back in the plane, but found that Grim was barely holding on to the plane with one hand. We quickly assembled again and rushed out the 12 exit. It was the best exit ever. Great timing for doing this!!! All the time Hayabusa was behind us trying not to look at our mess. We ended up 2nd place at the World Cup, but obviously we were not included in the official ranking. The event organizer however pulled us on the stage following the FAI closing protocol to recognize our performance. It was great to receive the respect of the organization and other competitors.

Over the years the team established great relationships with other teams and with which we had fierce competition, SportLoto (Russia) and Gavroche (France) were two examples of this. We beat SportLoto at the World Cup in Czech outdoor. But indoor proofed to be more difficult, SportLoto won each time until 2015 when we finally were able outperform them. There was great sportsmanship between the teams and had some great beers afterwards. Gavroche also proofed to be a difficult team to beat. It was clear we had to peak and not make too many mistakes, as Gavroche was always consistent in their performance. We finally won from Gavroche at the Dubai Clash of Champions.

Our most memorable experience has been the ESL in Moorsele where we had a jump-off with Hayabusa. As Roy was sick their alternate Jeroen had to fill-in and did a great job already at that time. It was a great feeling to walk to the plane together with Hayabusa being cheered to by a very large crowd. The welcome at the landing area and scoring was a great experience. For a weekend warrior team it is a great feeling loosing from Hayabusa with so little distance.

ESL 2012			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		12,10,14	D,N,21,O	M,17,13	Q,2,9	E,6,15	4,P,19	K,16,J,18	1,11,H	C,A,7,20	3,5,8	Total	Avg
1	Thunder	BE	15	24	19	26	23	21	21	21	25	18	213	21.3
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	15	25	21	27	23	19	22	18	23	20	213	21.3
3	Creeps	NL	10	16	13	16	14	14	11	12	10	12	128	12.8
4	Keerikeweere	BE	9	12	10	10	11	10	8	8	11	9	98	9.8
5	Colostomy	UK	8	11	9	12	9	9	9	9	11	6	93	9.3

Obviously the team would have wanted to compete officially at the highest stage, particularly outdoor. In our opinion the only place we could have a proper competition. What the team experienced in 2015 did damage the spirit in our team, nonetheless mainly due to the wide support we received from our supporters we continued in 2016.

We want to thank Luc van Britsom our initial cameraman for the first year and who continued to support us by stepping in when necessary. Also much thanks to Ludo who stepped in when anyone was unavailable. A major thanks to our coach Thomas Hughes who has played a critical role in our development. The direct coaching, his expertise on all slots, even the camera slot, the jokes, and knowing when we would need to slow down, etc. etc. made Thomas the perfect coach for us.

A great thanks to all our sponsors over the years, Indoor Skydive Roosendaal, Vigil, Skydive Center Spa, United Parachutes Technologies, Performance Designs, Cookie, and Larsen & Brusgard. We will obviously continue to use their products.

Finally a great thanks to our many supporters over the years. It really has been great to see the support during and following our competitions. At times we felt like rock stars smile emoticon:-)

The team now goes separate ways. Its clear that we wont stop skydiving, and new projects are being considered. We all feel we're not done yet with competitive skydiving. We'll see what the next plans will be.

Stopping the team doesn't mean that we're not available anymore for coaching. In some way or form coaching will remain possible. We haven't discussed yet what will happen to the Thunder ISR tunnel camps. In the meantime if anyone would like coaching just contact us.

In the following weeks we are preparing ourselves for the ISR Grand Prix. We want to close this period with a great performance. See you all there... Thunder ISR out...