posted May 7th, 2017 - The Sun Path Products NSL News credited South Africa's Savolo as the most improved national 4-way Open Class team of 2016 on 5 January 2017, after a very good performance at the FAI Mondial 2016.

Savolo then competed at the World Challenge 2017 to qualify for the FAI Indoor World Meet 2017, as South Africa does not have a wind tunnel in the country. The national championships at the end of April then qualified Savolo for the participation as the national team at the FAI Outdoor World Cup 2017 in Saarlouis, Germany.

Amy Kirtland, Debbie Lamsley, Bailey Edmunds and Alex Jordaan, with Warren Hitchcock on camera, were the defending champions and also represented South Africa at the FAI Mondial 2016, where they posted a new team record average.

The same lineup won again in South Africa at the end of April this year, with little outdoor training after the World Challenge.

FAI Mondial 2016			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		12,A,16	18,15,O	1,F,E,C	17,B,14	10,2,20	21,11,G	J,5,19	L,M,K,7	D,8,4	3,13,Q	Total	Avg
1	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	24	25	35	26	19	22	27	39	23	22	262	26.2
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	21	23	31	26	18	22	27	40	23	23	254	25.4
3	France	FR	21	20	30	21	18	21	27	39	21	20	238	23.8
4	Black Cat	RU	22	20	30	24	17	21	24	33	21	19	231	23.1
5	Qatar Tigers	QA	21	20	30	24	17	20	23	36	17	18	226	22.6
6	Evolution	CA	20	18	29	24	16	18	23	32	18	16	214	21.4
7	Satori XL	UK	18	19	27	24	16	18	22	30	18	18	210	21.0
8	Airbus	DE	16	18	29	19	15	18	22	29	14	19	199	19.9
9	Savolo	ZA	15	15	25	19	14	15	16	28	17	15	179	17.9
10	Final Fire	AT	16	15	25	17	12	16	18	29	17	13	178	17.8
11	Ex3mo	IT	18	15	21	18	13	14	19	25	17	14	174	17.4
12	Rotor Out	AU	16	16	24	14	13	16	18	22	14	13	166	16.6
13	Pangaea	DK	15	16	24	19	11	13	16	25	12	13	164	16.4
14	China	CN	14	15	21	15	12	11	16	24	12	12	152	15.2
15	M4trix	NL	13	13	16	11	11	12	14	20	12	12	134	13.4
16	H4O	IE	13	13	17	8	9	12	9	15	10	10	116	11.6
17	MeXtreme	MX	8	8	13	8	9	9	9	12	8	7	91	9.1

Savolo's 21.7 average in Bedford was also a new team record for indoor competition, even though the lineup was completely different. In fact, Savolo even had a different team name in Bedford: Savodoo.

The two Savolo members (Andre van Heerden, Amy Kirtland) were joined by two former Voodoo members (David Sumter, Dennis Parker) who represented South Africa in 4-way before moving to Great Britain and leaving the South African turf for successor Savolo.

Savolo needed substitutes, as Debbie Lamsley competed with her new team, the British national team in 4-way Women, NFTO. Bailey Edmunds and Alex Jordaan could not make the trip to Bedford, and Savolo's alternate member Andre van Heerden helped out once again.

He has also made new plans with Spaceland Lite, as the Sun Path Products NSL News explained on 14 March 2017.

South African Nationals 2017		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	E,9,H,Q	5,A,F,2	11,10,18	16,22,20	3,K,L,12	7,14,17	21,D,8	4,J,C,M	N,13,1	G,O,P,B,15	Total	Avg
1	Savolo	27	18	12	12	14	15	13	19	12	23	165	16.5
2	Excession	21	15	10	10	12	13	13	13	10	17	134	13.4
3	Celerity	18	9	9	9	9	9	11	14	10	13	111	11.1
4	PsyKix	14	8	5	8	8	7	9	11	9	12	91	9.1
Rank	Rookie	O,A,G	F,K,P	N,B,D	J,H,E	Q,L,M	C,A,K					Total	Avg
1	Vet Mossel	2	4	2	4	0	0					12	2.0
2	Alternative Facts	1	1	1	0	1	2					6	1.0

However, the defending lineup came back together in South Africa at the end of April and won the 2017 title.

The new gold medals had to be earned with Alex Jordaan's blood. The Savolo video shows a collision between Savolo's Point and the 3-way piece in Block 2 during the training jumps, which was commented by the other team members:

"We are doing a few warm-up jumps in preparation for SA Nationals that starts in a few days. Training was suspended for a quick trip to get a few stitchies for Alex who had a run in with Bailey’s knee! Thank you Cookie Helmets for the protection; could have been a lot worse! That's also why we rely on Vigil AAD!"

Savolo is the old and new South African 4-way champion and has to make new plans now. Debbie Lamsley will not be available for Savolo any longer, and Andre van Heerden has 2017 plans with Spaceland Lite. Amy Kirtland, Bailey Edmunds and Alex Jordaan need a 4th member for this year and for 2018...