posted Jan 3rd, 2023 - The NSL Profile of Sven Ibens was published in April 2016. His second team after HayaBusa, Thunder ISR, was at the peak of the eight years that the same lineup spent together in training and competition. The Dutch/Belgian combination separated in 2016, and the three Belgian team members, Sven Ibens, Wesley Claessens and videographer Grim Swinnen continued with two Belgians, Maya Van Campenhout and Glenn Straeluyc.

Thunder ISR and ISR FireFlash have been the topic of many NSL News updates since 2009, the year when the Thunder lineup started together with a different team name (4XTT). The topics always included one of the team members who turned out to be the heart and soul of any team that he was training and competing with, including HayaBusa, Sven Ibens.

Only one of the original team members, David Grauwels, is still in the current NMP PCH HayaBusa lineup in the camera slot. He used to work the center (outside) together with Sven Ibens (inside) when the first lineup of the future Belgian 4-way world champions got on their way towards the top of the world.

Sven Ibens could not commit to the full-time career that his HayaBusa team mates Roy Janssen, David and Andy Grauwels decided to start after their first two world championship experiences in Rijeka 2004 and Gera 2006. Luc Verstrepen took his slot after the 3-way had successfully completed their military training, and full-time team NMP PCH HayaBusa won their first FAI world championship medals with the 3rd place in Maubeuge 2008.

FAI Outdoor World Meet 2006			1	2	3	4	5	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open - Top 10		N,20,16	K,J,C,G,3	D,19,B,6	L,14,10	F,17,M,2	Total	Avg
1	DeLand Fire	US	20	27	25	17	28	117	23.4
2	Gap Nice Icarius Autrement	FR	17	25	23	21	25	111	22.2
3	Sinapsi PD	IT	19	26	22	19	24	110	22.0
4	Sky Panthers Barkli	RU	21	23	23	17	25	109	21.8
5	Arcteryx	NO	18	25	21	17	24	105	21.0
6	Spa HayaBusa	BE	19	25	18	17	23	102	20.4
7	EADS	DE	17	23	20	16	18	94	18.8
8	Danez	DK	15	22	15	17	21	90	18.0
9	Spain	ES	16	18	17	14	19	84	16.8
9	Evolution	CA	15	14	19	14	22	84	16.8

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HayaBusa with Sven Ibens in 2005 - NSL Live Talk with Sven Ibens

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Even though the NSL News has followed the HayaBusa 4-way career from the beginning in 2003, with original member Sven Ibens in the lineup, and despite his world-class presence with Thunder ISR and ISR FireFlash, he was never asked for a 1-on-1 interview.

The NSL News recognized his extraordinary contribution to the sport in April 2016 with the NSL Profile, ten years after he had left the Belgian national team. The time-frame itself speaks for itself, as he was obviously still strongly engaged in 4-way competition.

It took Sven Ibens three years to find the right lineup for his next team project, Thunder ISR, which staid together for eight years and made it to the world's 4-way top level behind the full-time teams, including his former HayaBusa team mates.

The first NSL Live Talk of the new year took place once again on the Zoom online platform, and it was only Sven Ibens alone who took all the time needed to answer NSL News questions and provide an update of his team situation and a professional career change.

ISR Grand Prix 2016			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class - Top 10		A,17,9	12,P,L,18	C,B,O,11	14,21,M	6,K,D,E	N,3,J,15	22,16,F	7,Q,H,2	Total	Avg
1	Thunder ISR	BE	35	23	33	25	33	28	26	31	234	29.3
2	Flying Squad	FR	31	22	30	22	31	26	20	26	208	26.0
3	Amnesya	IT	24	19	22	21	30	22	19	27	184	23.0
4	Energy Garzigliana	IT	26	19	24	21	27	20	19	25	181	22.6
5	Monaco Tunnel Team	MC	23	18	24	19	25	19	17	23	168	21.0
6	M4trix	NL	22	16	21	18	23	19	16	21	156	19.5
7	Flyzone Les Affranchis	FR	20	16	22	19	22	15	17	21	152	19.0
8	Ludo's Pinkcakes Deluxe	DE	17	13	22	16	21	17	14	19	139	17.4
9	Murphy Mania	NL	19	13	18	16	20	14	14	17	131	16.4
9	Crash Test Dummies	BE	17	13	19	15	19	15	14	19	131	16.4

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Thunder ISR at the Grand Prix 2016 - NSL Live Talk with Thunder ISR at the World Challenge 2016

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The team update was the first topic after a review of his time with HayaBusa. ISR FireFlash was progressing from a fresh start to world-class 4-way level even faster than Thunder ISR, despite the work accident of team member Glenn Straeluyc in 2019 and the interruption of the plans.

The bad luck continued when Maya Van Campenhout suffered an injury after the very successful ISR FireFlash performance at the FAI Indoor World Cup 2022. Sven Ibens also explained that his team will integrate the next FireFlash member soon, as Wesley Claessens, his team mate of 2009 - 2022, had plans only until the end of the 2022 season. However, ISR FireFlash will be back with Lena Clynhens, and Maya Van Campenhout has already resumed indoor training cautiously.

In the meantime, Sven Ibens himself had a significant change in his professional life. The recent update by NSL supporter VIGIL announced him officially as the company's new Team Leader & Managing Director. It is obviously a good choice by VIGIL, as Sven Ibens has been leading his 4-way teams to maximum success. He explained more of his new life situation and the team plans in the NSL Live Talk interview.

By the way, the video begins with a review of a conversation with Jack Jefferies at the USPA Nationals 2022 that included a “technical problem”. Today's recording with Sven Ibens was more successful...

FAI Indoor World Cup 2022			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open - Top 10		O,18,14		L,C,F,9		1,J,H,19		3,E,P,Q		20,7,16		2,13,8		17,D,6		N,22,A,G		12,5,11		M,21,4		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	29		54	-3	35		41		29		25		39		37		27		30		346	34.6
2	Aerokart Monaco Akdemie	FR	25	-1	58		28	-3	39	-2	25		25		33		32		24		28	-2	317	31.7
3	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	23	-1	54	-1	30	-1	38	-2	26		23		32		31	-1	24		28	-1	309	30.9
4	ISR FireFlash	BE	22	-1	41	-4	27	-2	36		22	-1	21		31		28		21	-1	27		276	27.6
5	Skydive Midwest NEXT	US	22		44		28		30	-2	20	-1	22		26	-1	27		20	-1	24		263	26.3
6	HF Flying Circus	CZ	21	-1	39	-3	27	-2	33	-1	20	-2	21		28	-1	27	-1	21		23	-2	260	26.0
7	Meraki	UK	19	-1	43		25	-1	30	-1	23		20		26		27		20		24		257	25.7
8	Papea Masculino	ES	20	-1	41	-1	26	-2	31		21	-1	17	-2	25	-1	27	-1	21		24		253	25.3
9	SDC Rhythm XP	US	20		39	-2	25		31		17	-2	20		25	-1	22		18	-2	24		241	24.1
10	Out of the Blue	NL	20		39	-2	25		30		17	-2	19		27		23		18	-1	22		240	24.0
10	Echochamber Oceanside	SE	19	-1	43		24	-1	31		18	-2	17	-1	26		23		17	-2	22		240	24.0

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ISR FireFlash at the FAI Indoor World Cup 2022 - NSL Live Talk with ISR FireFlash

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