posted Apr 20th, 2011 - Back to the World Challenge 2011 and the Top 10 videos of Round 9, which had the slowest sequence of the competition.

The three blocks would once again make it very difficult for any of the Top 4 teams to make a serious move. Nothing happened eventually, even though NMP-PCH Hayabusa lost two points in the judging room. Arizona Airspeed could only reduce the distance to the Belgians by one point, and Aerodyne Aerokart Maubeuge's next sole highscore did not change a thing in the standings.

The rankings of the Top 4 teams were in stone, and the sequence of Round 10 did not offer the potential of any changes either.

World Challenge 2011		Round1	Round2	Round3	Round4	Round5	Round6	Round7	Round8	Round9	Round10	Total	Avg
R.	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(-1)	65	29	33	23(-1)	28	28	22(-2)	25	305	30.5
2	Arizona Airspeed	26	24(-2)	60(-2)	27	34	24(-1)	27(-1)	28	23	25	298	29.8
3	Aerodyne Aerokart Maubeuge	26	25	52	27	31(-1)	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(-2)	20(-1)	24	21	19	22	257	25.7
6	SportsLotto	21(-2)	23(-1)	49(-3)	23	29	20	25(-1)	23	21	21	255	25.5
7	NPC Aerokart Maubeuge	24	20(-1)	41(-4)	22	26(-1)	21	26	22	21	20	243	24.3
8	Satori	19	19(-1)	57	21	25	19(-1)	24	21	17(-2)	20	242	24.2
9	Aerodyne DB Defenders	21(-1)	21	44(-1)	20(-1)	27	19(-1)	25	21	19	19	236	23.6
10	Thunder	13(-4)	20(-1)	41(-2)	23	27	20	23(-1)	21	19	17	224	22.4

However, there was motion at other spots of the Top 10 leaderboard. Satori's 17-pointer after two point deductions finally allowed NPC Aerokart Maubeuge to make up the missing distance to the British team. In fact, the French team had now passed Satori and was one point ahead.

A similar race had been going on between SDC Rhythm XP and Russia's new team, SportsLotto. The scores of Round 9 brought those two teams close together after Round 3 had separated them significantly. SportsLotto was the team coming from behind in this battle and was also only one point behind after Round 9.

The Russians had shown in every single round after the 7-point loss in Round 3 that they can win a round at any time. In fact, SportsLotto had outscored Rhythm by seven points between Round 4 and Round 9. Round 10 would be a real showdown between NPC Aerokart Maubeuge/Satori and SDC Rhtythm XP/SportsLotto.

The videos of Round 9 feature another example of a completely different mix in engineering the 3-block sequence. The French delegation was split again, as only NPC Aerokart Maubeuge and Aerodyne Aerokart Maubeuge both built the Side Flake Opal of Block 3 and the Zig Zag of Block 21 the same way.

The Aerodyne Deep Blue Defenders teamed up with six other teams who let the Point and the Tail build the Compressed Accordean of the Side Flake Opal. Only Satori joined the two French Open Class teams with the other engineering.

All teams used Block 4 (Monopod - Monopod) to get out of the memory trap that Block 3 usually sets. Connecting Point and Tail for the Side Flake Opal of Block 3 brings Center Inside and Center Outside closer together in the center for the Zig Zag, and the majority of the teams preferred this situation. France won the round with the minority engineering - but only because Hayabusa lost two points...