posted Nov 24th, 2018 - It is time for the last high-profile indoor competition of the year, the ISR Grand Prix in Roosendaal, Netherlands, where a total of 49 teams will post their scores on the leaderboards of the four traditional NSL categories.

Three of the defending champions are back this year, and two teams will be new champions in the A Class and the Rookie Class. One Shot from Italy is not back to defend the Rookie Class title, and Ayro has moved up into the AA Class competition.

4-way Junior team HF Cubs will probably defend the AA Class title, while ISR FireFlash is in a much more challenging situation in the AAA Class competition. The NSL News reported on 13 November 2018 that FireFlash's tail Glenn Straeluyc became the victim of a work accident shortly after the Belgian national championships. FireFlash decided to still attend the ISR Grand Prix and then take a break before discussing new plans.

ISR FireFlash was fortunate enough to find a very adequate substitute for the tail slot though. Former ISR Thunder member Jacco van Eerden will be filling in for Glenn Straeluyc, and he knows the tail slot very well. He was flying it for ISR Thunder up to the 29.3 level that the Dutch/Belgian lineup posted at the ISR Grand Prix 2016. ISR Thunder was the best unofficial amateur teams in the world by then.

ISR Grand Prix 2018 - NSL Power Rankings			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	JO	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	Total	Avg
1	HF eX3MO	IT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	ISR FireFlash	BE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	HF Flying Circus	CZ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	JETMAX	BE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Out of the Blue Project 20+	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
6	Jazz Republic	ZA	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
7	Falco 2.0	BE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
8	Rotterdam Dan!!	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
9	Trance-Ition	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
10	Crash Test Dummies	BE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
11	Shinobi	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
12	Blue Rebels	GR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
13	4igami	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

In fact, the ISR Grand Prix 2018 brings together three former Thunder members for a reunion in the FireFlash lineup this weekend.

Wesley Claessens, Sven Ibens and Jacco Van Eerden trained and competed together for Thunder between 2009 and 2016. Jacco Van Eerden was a part of the Dutch half of the team.

The fourth Thunder member is also competing in Roosendaal this weekend. Paul Hofstee was in the outside center slot for Thunder ISR. He is player-coaching A Class team Elevate through the eight rounds of the competition.

Jacco Van Eerden is obviously very familiar with the tail slot, and he knows his former rear piece partner Sven Ibens very well after eight years of 4-way training and competition.

It will still not be easy for ISR FireFlash to defend the AAA Class title successfully, and the reason is coming from Italy.

HF eX3MO is visiting with the team's A-lineup, which has a 27.7 average in the team records after this year's Italian Indoor Nationals.

ISR FireFlash had to fend off the other Italian world class team, Amnesya, at last year's ISR Grand Prix to win the AAA Class title. Amnesya became the Italian indoor and outdoor national champions this year and represented the country at the FAI World Meet 2018 in Australia and the FAI Indoor World Cup 2018 in Bahrain.

HF eX3MO was close behind Amnesya at both national championships and is now well prepared for indoor competition.

The previous Italian outdoor champions entered the indoor competition world only last year and improved the first 23.9 average in May 2017 quickly to 27.7 a year later. It could be a very close race for the AAA Class top spot this year in Roosendaal.

There is another AAA Class team that is facing a special challenge right behind the two top contenders. HF Flying Circus and Jetmax have been battling at several indoor meets, and the Czech team has always come out ahead so far.

A third team will probably join the friendly rivalry between the two teams in a serious battle for the bronze medals. The Dutch national team Out of the Blue came back from Australia and Bahrain with a lot of international meet experience and a boost of confidence. They will be eager to offer the teams from Belgium and Czech Republic strong opposition. There is also the South African InTime underdog of Jazz Republic not too far away from the bronze medal position...