posted Jan 12th, 2010 - Things have been moving a little bit quicker today in Dubai, and the scores for Round 5 have already been posted. It will also be the first time where the teams will complete two rounds on the same day. Round 6 is complete, and the judges are working on the scores.

Round 5 added another single point to the thin Airspeed lead. The 4-way world champions were not overly happy with their performance: "Just landed from Round 5. We had a decent jump, but we left at least one point on the table. The round looks clean to us and timed as an unofficial 20. We were a bit restrained for some reason on this jump... time to let it loose."

Airspeed is still expected to win, as the NSL Poll shows, although the lead has shrunk in the past days.

The Airspeed members were obviously happy when Hayabusa Defence did not take advantage of a weaker Airspeed round: "Feels like we dodged a bit of a bullet in that round, doubt we will be so lucky again."

Hayabusa posted a 19-pointer, which was tied by the Russian team Black Cat. Canada lost a point to France but still holds on strongly to the 3rd place.

Hayabusa is still very much in striking distance, and the Belgian team has laid out the strategy for the remainder of the meet:

"It is helpful to know that we are not exceeding our capability yet, we are still jumping very controlled, without going over the thin red line. Maybe at the end, we can push it a little bit further to the limit, with that 13-P-N-K jump. It's a fast one, and if we need to take that risk, we can and will do it."

The NSL News also received an update from the French female lineup, Aerokart Deep Blue Maubeuge. Yesterday's NSL News story covered the female 4-way competition and speculated on point deductions. Team member Amelia Tirman informed the NSL News that her team really lost a few points.

Three points were deducted from the 23 points within working time in Round 2. Additional two points got lost in Round 3. All point deductions were caused by the video angle after the exit.

Amelia Tirman said that the team decided after Round 3, together with videographer Christophe Chekroun, that he would exit from the skid from then on. She said that he captured the exit of Round 4 flawlessly and that the team feels confident now.

Thomas Hughes is still the leader in the overall rankings of the Canopy Piloting event after six of the nine rounds. He also won his first cash purse.

The three rounds of the Speed competition have already been completed. He placed 2nd and wins $3,000 in this category. Marat "Maha" Leiras is the first winner of the three categories and takes home $5,000.

Thomas Hughes is also the leader in the Distance category after one round, and he is still in striking distance in Accuracy. There are also prizes for the overall winner, which are not defined in detail.

However, it could become a very profitable trip to Dubai for the Spaceland Force XP member and world record holder in 4-way.

Dubai Championship
Who will win the 4-way Open Class?	Arizona Airspeed Hayabusa Defence Canada Evolution France Aerodyne Cypres Maubeuge
	Current Results