posted Dec 7th, 2019 - The ISR Grand Prix 2019 in Roosendaal was the second comeback for ISR FireFlash with the complete lineup. The NSL News had reported in November 2018 that the team's tail Glenn Straeluyc became the victim of a work accident shortly after the Belgian national championships last year.

Former Thunder ISR member Jacco van Eerden helped out and took the tail slot at the ISR Grand Prix 2018 and at the Belgian Indoor Nationals a month later. Glenn Straeluyc then came back for the World Challenge 2019 before taking another healing break throughout the remainder of the 2019 season.

The update on August 11th explained how ISR FireFlash was dealing with the challenging situation by patiently waiting and giving Glenn Straeluyc enough time to fully recover.

The patience and the long break paid back with a new team indoor record average (27.8) that the complete lineup posted last weekend at the end of the 8-round meet. It was ISR FireFlash's third consecutive victory at the annual event in Roosendaal, even though the Belgian team had to work much harder for the 1st place at the first meet of the new comeback with Glenn Straeluyc.

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ISR Grand Prix 2019			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		N,M,13,2	21,18,A	6,16,H	10,1,C	3,J,K,22	O,L,E,D,15	B,F,5,G	Q,12,7	Total	Avg
1	ISR FireFlash	BE	26	24	26	23	25	35	37	26	222	27.8
2	HF Cubs	CZ	27	26	27	23	20	36	34	24	217	27.1
3	Out of the Blue	NL	24	19	22	20	20	32	25	22	184	23.0
4	Falco	BE	22	21	21	18	19	28	29	21	179	22.4
5	Ketchup ADV	IT	24	15	21	20	19	22	26	21	168	21.0
6	Chaotic Motion	NL	20	14	20	18	16	24	29	20	161	20.1
7	Ayro	BE	19	18	19	16	16	20	21	17	146	18.3
8	Fuel	NL	20	14	15	15	15	19	28	18	144	18.0
9	Synergy	IT	20	16	15	14	11	19	24	15	134	16.8
10	Trance-Ition	NL	16	14	16	12	16	17	20	17	128	16.0
11	Addicted	BE	16	14	16	14	15	19	18	14	126	15.8
12	Stardust	BE	12	13	15	12	12	21	19	12	116	14.5
13	Blok 43	NL	15	9	13	11	11	17	17	13	106	13.3
14	Vipers	NL	14	12	14	10	12	14	17	12	105	13.1
14	Fatal Four	NL	14	13	12	10	12	15	15	14	105	13.1

ISR FireFlash and HF Cubs at the ISR Grand Prix 2019

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It may have been an unexpected opponent that challenged the defending ISR Grand Prix AAA Class champions. The HF Cubs were still competing in the AA Class when they competed at the ISR Grand Prix last year, winning with a 25.6 average and following up with the 4-way Junior gold medals at the FAI Indoor World Meet 2019.

A year later, and seven months after becoming the reigning 4-way Junior world champions, the Czech team was back in Roosendaal with a 27.1 average on the AAA Class leaderboard, five points behind ISR FireFlash.

The Belgians needed a new team record average to defend the top position in Roosendaal successfully, which made it a very impressive comeback for Glenn Straeluyc after the long break and the previous attempt of an earlier comeback. FireFlash's previous 27.3 record average of 2017 would have been barely enough to fend off the young Czech ladies.

Glenn Straeluyc's physical comeback at the ISR Grand Prix 2019 was now promising enough for ISR FireFlash to follow up with a complete indoor and outdoor plan for the 2020 season.

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ISR Grand Prix 2018			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		A,18,F,6	Q,N,11,12	17,10,5	J,B,L,2	O,3,16	D,21,C,G	9,H,K,14	7,E,22	Total	Avg
1	ISR FireFlash	BE	28	25	25	30	24	28	29	25	214	26.8
2	HF eX3MO	IT	22	19	24	30	25	27	27	21	195	24.4
3	HF Flying Circus	CZ	22	20	21	29	22	26	24	18	182	22.8
Rank	AA Class		A,18,F	Q,N,11	6,G,14	J,B,L,2	O,15,M	D,21,C	9,H,K	7,E,22	Total	Avg
1	HF Cubs	CZ	24	25	22	26	28	25	31	24	205	25.6
2	KetchUp ADV	IT	18	22	15	20	26	21	26	20	168	21.0
3	Synergy	IT	22	15	14	23	23	19	19	18	153	19.1

ISR FireFlash and HF Cubs at the ISR Grand Prix 2018

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ISR FireFlash plan to complete 250 training jumps from planes, supported by 15 hours of wind tunnel training in Roosendaal. The outdoor training will take place mostly in Belgium, at Skydive Flanders and the skydiving center in Moorsele. The competition schedule includes four indoor meets and begins with the Wind Games at the end of January 2020 in Empuriabrava, Spain. ISR FireFlash then travel to Berlin, Germany, in March to attend the German Indoor Nationals 2020, followed by the World Challenge 2020 in Bedford, Great Britain.

The competition in Bedford concludes the indoor meet schedule at the beginning of the 2020 season. The Belgian Nationals 2020 will be the first outdoor competition for ISR FireFlash after last year's national championship and Glenn Straeluyc's injury break. The ESL Championship 2020 is also on the competition schedule, and FireFlash will once again join NMP PCH HayaBusa on the trip to the USPA Nationals 2020. The ISR Grand Prix 2020 finishes off the competition season with an indoor meet and the goal of winning the 4th consecutive title.

ISR FireFlash were already one of the best unofficial amateur teams in the world before the break, and the training and competition schedule for 2020 could lift the performance level even higher than before, which is the team's goal, as inside center Sven Ibens put it very simply: "We want to lift our averages both indoor and outdoor. We hope to be competing with the best (amateur) teams in the world and push our own limits as far as we can."

The best U.S. amateur teams will be glad to meet the Belgian weekend competitors on their U.S. home turf, this year at Skydive City in Zephyrhills, Florida...