posted Apr 6th, 2011 - The NSL News review of the World Challenge 2011 continues with the video coverage of the Top 10 teams in Bedford. It begins with Round 1, and the ten best teams are now under the microscope of the NSL News audience from the judging angle. The NSL News also added the point deductions, which were assigned by the judges in this round.

The German national team in the female category, ISB Air, with Gary Smith filling in for Sarah Hajooze, had a great start into the competition and kept up with Aerodyne Deep Blue Defenders and Thunder throughout the first day in the race for the Top 10.

This was actually only possible due to a horrible start of the Belgian/Dutch Thunder lineup. Thunder lost four points and a lot of working time due to confusion in Round 1 but recovered well and quickly. Thunder was back by the end of the first day, took the 10th place in Round 6 and never gave it back.

World Challenge 2011		Round1	Round2	Round3	Round4	Round5	Round6	Round7	Round8	Round9	Round10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	10,C,5	20,P,2	H,M,Q,K,A	L,J,16,12	E,7,15	O,11,22	14,B,17	6,13,9	4,3,21	1,G,8	Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	27	25	65	29	33	23	28	28	22	25	305	30.5
2	Arizona Airspeed	26	24	60	27	34	24	27	28	23	25	298	29.8
3	Aerodyne Aerokart	26	25	52	27	31	25	29	27	24	24	290	29.0
4	XL	25	24	58	24	32	24	26	25	21	23	282	28.2
5	SDC Rhythm XP	22	23	56	23	27	20	24	21	19	22	257	25.7
6	SportsLotto	21(-2)	23	49	23	29	20	25	23	21	21	255	25.5
7	NPC Aerokart	24	20	41	22	26	21	26	22	21	20	243	24.3
8	Satori	19	19	57	21	25	19	24	21	17	20	242	24.2
9	Aerodyne DB Defenders	21(-1)	21	44	20	27	19	25	21	19	19	236	23.6
10	Thunder	13(-4)	20	41	23	27	20	23	21	19	17	224	22.4

Aerodyne Deep Blue Defenders allowed the German team to keep close only through the first four rounds and then moved away round by round. It will be difficult for the Germans to catch up with the reigning world champions, as the team's Center Outside still needs recovery time from the recent injury.

SportsLotto, the new Russian lineup with two former Kaktus Hunters and two former Ocean 5 members, lost two points in Round 1, as well. However, the 4-way world and the other Russian top contenders in 4-way, will have to keep an eye on this new team. Kaktus Hunter finished in 11th place with a 25.2 average last year. SportsLotto launched the new team project with a 25.5 average and made the Top 10 at the World Challenge 2011 easily.

A little surprise may also be Satori's 8th place. New Point Ian Hodgkinson had to replace young and talented Katie Woods and did this very well. Satori ended up one spot higher than last year with an impressive 24.2 average. It will be very challenging for any other British team to beat the new Satori lineup this year.

Thunder's nightmare of a start into a competition did not only jeopardize a slot in the Top 10 from the very beginning. 34 AAA Class teams scored higher in Round 1, and the experienced Thunder members found themselves at the bottom of the leaderboard.

However, the recovery came qickly and began in Round 2. Thunder moved up to 17th place with the 20-pointer and used the fast sequence in Round 3 to climb up a few more positions (12th). By the end of the first day, Thunder had caught up with ISB Air and then never looked back.

The Deep Blue Defenders from France did not allow Thunder what the German team let them do. They took an 8-point advantage of the weak Thunder start and maintained the same distance throughout the whole competition. No other female lineup came even close to France and Germany with Gary Smith.

It may have been a little bit easier this year to make the Top 10 in Bedford since Perris Fury and Paraclete XP4 competed at the World Challenge 2010 and did not come back this year. Actually, two Fury 2010 members did make it to Bedford, Chris Farina as a player coach for Perris Jimani and Josh Hall with Arizona Airspeed.

The NSL News had the opportunity of a conversation with all Airspeed members after the competition and the award ceremony were over. It was an unusual situation for the new Airspeed lineup after defeating Aerodyne Aerokart Maubeuge easily at the Valentine's Meet 2011 and both top contenders just as easily at the Shamrock Showdown 2011.

After the competition in DeLand it seemed as if Airspeed was so far ahead of France and Belgium that it could even become a not so exciting 2011 and maybe even 2012 season leading into the World Meet 2012 in Dubai. NMP-PCH Hayabusa changed this in Bedford, and the Airspeed members explained the situation from their persepctive.