posted Jan 14th, 2010 - The scores for Round 7 confirmed Craig Girard's new theory: "I guess not telling you guys the scores is the secret. We actually got the raw score on that jump for the first time this meet! To be honest, we feel like we might have got away with one for a change. There was a build of Block 1 about half way through the jump that was shaky... I think it was complete, but the fact is that it doesn't look good, so I figured they would bust it."

They did not and accepted Airspeed's 24 points within working time as the official score. The Airspeed lead over Hayabusa is now the biggest one of the Dubai Championship, and Hayabusa has to risk everything in the last round. The Belgium team was already prepared for this situation a few days ago, as Roy Janssen mentioned by then:

"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." He said this already after Round 5 when the Airspeed lead was only two points. However, Hayabusa thought at that point in time that Airspeed was four points ahead and learned next morning that it was only a 2-point lead.

Now it is the 4-point lead that Hayabusa had expected to chase down in the last round, which is coming up next.

Craig Girard told the NSL News earlier that there is no electronic judging system in Dubai and that there has not been any access to the scoresheets yet. Judge and 4-way expert Steve Miller from California studied Airspeed's Round 4 yesterday and said that the bust situation in Block 10 (Diamond - Bunyip) is not necessarily related to the rear piece. It could also be found in the front piece at a few different spots during the six inters of Block 10 within working time.

Craig Girard added some feedback as of the judging situation. The lack of an electronic judging situation changes the timing of the working time. The judges usually have to start the working time simultaneously within a 10th of a second, and the freeze frame defines more or less the last scoring point in time. Craig Girard said that is "hard to tell when the judges start the clock with the helicopter exit".

He said that Airspeed had some great jumps, but the judges don't seem to like the first point: "Like with the Block 10 exit and the G exit, check it out and see what you think." The Airspeed videos can be found in earlier stories.

It is time for the Grande Finale in Dubai. Airspeed and Hayabusa are enjoy the tough competition, despite some of the logistical difficulties. Craig Girard had only the best things to say about his team's strongest challengers:

"Anyway, we are having a great time, and it is awesome to see the Belgians doing very well, I am happy for them and excited, we know exactly what that feels like. I have nothing but great things to say about them. We love the drama. Who is gonna win? Maybe the Belgians. Let's see what happens later today."

Dubai Championship
Who will win the 4-way Open Class?	Arizona Airspeed Hayabusa Defence
	Current Results

The Canopy Piloting situation continues to be very exciting. Thomas Hughes hangs on to his lead in the overall rankings. He has dropped from 1st to 2nd place in the Distance competition after the second round in this category, and it is an extremely close race between 2nd and 4th. The prize money for the first two categories has been divided between five swoopers so far, and it looks as if the same guys may also grab the $10,000 for the Distance event.