posted Aug 19th, 2011 - The next round of NSL-TV videos covers Round 3 of the 4way Open Class at the World Cup 2011. The clip covers once again the Top 8 teams that made it to the final round. However, it begins with the Dutch 4way team Whooops this time, and there is a special reason for that.

The Netherlands launched their national championships on Friday, and Whooops is the Dutch national 4way team that competed for the Netherlands at the World Cup and is again on the top of the Dutch leaderboard this weekend. Whooops will defend the gold medals successfully and continue as the national team for another year.

The Dutch Nationals are traditionally only the second important event of the year in the Netherlands. The Tomscat Trophy always outperforms the national championships as of participation.

Dutch Nationals 2011		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	12,11,14	7,21,G	N,H,P,J,10	A,9,D,22	E,13,17	1,5,16	6,20,C	Total	Avg
1	Whooops	11	15	17	15	12	12	13	95	13.6
2	M4Trix	11	11	18	14	11	9	11	85	12.1
2	Ignition	8	13	16	13	11	11	13	85	12.1
Rank	AA Class	L,6,1	19,8	M,A,P,B	15,2	D,11,G	14,21	7,9	Total	Avg
1	Cool Runnings	9	9	21	8	10	7	12	76	10.9
2	Murphy Mania	10	7	17	8	9	7	13	71	10.1
Rank	A Class	H,N,Q	G,D,F	19,9	C,P,E	K,J,A	6,4	8,21	Total	Avg
1	MACH4	11	10	8	12	10	6	6	63	9.0
2	Pari-Passu	10	9	6	8	11	6	5	55	7.9

However, there is great competition at the meet. Cool Runnings and Murphy Mania have the same battle for the top spot in the AA Class as they had it at the Tomscat Trophy, while Mach 4 and Pari-Passu also copy their previous competition in the A Class.

It is even more exciting in the race for the AAA Class silver medals. Whooops is safe in 1st place, but Ignition and M4Trix are tied in 2nd place after seven rounds. The M4Trix lineup competed together with Whooops for the Netherlands at the World Cup. They are members of the M8Trix lineup and finished in 9th place in Germany.

M4Trix even outscored Whooops in Round 3 and posted the sole highscore with an 18-pointer. Team videographer Mike Pennock provided the video.

World Cup 2011		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7	Round 8	Round 9	Round 10	Total	Avg
Rank	4way Open Class	C,22,19	E,M,1,2	12,9,16	O,8,10	Q,14,5	P,17,K,18	21,L,J,13	3,11,B	20,G,H,4	N,F,A,7	Total	Avg
1	Aerodyne Aerokart	22	27	23 (-1)	22	26	25	25	24	24	37	255	25.5
2	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	22	27	23	21	24	25	21	23	24	39	249	24.9
3	Paratec-Saar	16 (-2)	23	19	15	19	18	16	19	20	31	196	19.6
4	Sky Panthers Barkli	18	21	19	16	19	16	15	19	19	33	195	19.5
5	Gradient Alpha	17	21	17 (-2)	13	20	20	19	18	17	27	189	18.9
6	EX3MO4	15 (-1)	19	17	17	17	16	19	18	16	28	182	18.2
7	Bardagi	15	20	17	15	16	14	19	15	17	29	177	17.7
8	Dynamite	14	18	16	16	17	17	17	17	17	-	149	16.6
9	Rotor Out	14	18	15 (-1)	13	17	18	16	15	17	-	143	15.9
10	SonicNutz	11 (-1)	16 (-1)	16	12	15	16	16	16	16	-	134	14.9
11	Whooops	11	15	13	11	14	12	16	13	13	-	118	13.1

The new leaderboard of the World Cup 2011 also includes Whooops and the other three teams who were eligible to do Round 9. Whooops qualified for it in the European Championship part of the event where only one team per country is eligible. The two French B-Teams actually scored higher but did not qualify for the semifinals.

The new leaderboard also includes once again the point deductions, including the ones through Round 3 for the teams that were not on the updated leaderboard.

On the very top, NMP-PCH Hayabusa and Aerodyne Aerokart were locked into each other after two rounds, and nothing changed in Round 3. The two top contenders tied their scores once again, for the third consecutive time in three rounds. However, there was a difference this time since the French national team lost a point in the judging room while Hayabusa was clean.

The hobby judges have another opportunity to test their skills and eyes trying to find the French infringement. The score sheet shows an incomplete formation for the 19th point in working time.

Well, the observer may play the video and look at this spot many times - it will still be impossible to find a flaw in the transition from the completion of Block 16 (Box) to the top of Block 12 (Bundy). It may look like another bad judging call, but it is not really. It seems as if the judges just marked the wrong spot, which can be confusing enough.

There is a flaw that should justify a point deduction a few seconds later, as the front piece fumbles with the grips of the first Cat+Accordeon (Block 9), which would make it an incomplete formation. It is the 21st point in working time that deserves the penalty mark. The French team probably didn't care where the point deduction was. Most likely, they knew about the flaw and accepted this penalty without complaints...