posted Sep 9th, 2006 - This weekend's competitions are probably even more exciting than the event organizers had expected. The 8-way race for the status of the national team at the DFV-Cup in Germany has every drama that a competition can offer. It is well worth to follow the action on the NSL News page of this event. This page is being updated on a regular basis, and the horse race is tied after eight rounds.

The other competition in Belgium, the ESL Championship 2006, might not have the same drama for any title at the moment. However, the 35 teams at the Spa Skydiving Center are posting excellent scores in a great competition, and the race for the ESL Spirit is probably just as exciting.

ESL manager Willy Boeykens has provided the NSL News with regular updates, and the scoring table is up-to-date. The weather in Belgium is beautiful, and the competition will most likely be concluded today.

Willy Boeykens explained the scoring system for the ESL Spirit, which is actually not very complicated at all. Each nation can add up the scores of its best two teams in each competition class and for each round. The sum of all scoring points determines the winning nation of the ESL Spirit.

Round seven is almost complete in each competition class, only the scores of the Rookie Class teams are missing at the moment. Willy Boeykens provided the official standings in the ESL Spirit competition after five rounds, and Belgium had the lead.

The two Belgian AAA Class teams, Spa Hayabusa and NMPV, are big factors in the race for the ESL Spirit. The AAA Class teams on a high performance level naturally collect significantly more scoring points than teams in the other competition classes.

Belgium is very strong in the AAA Class and the AA Class competition, while Great Britain dominates the A Class and the Rookie Class competition. That is the main reason why Belgium is ahead in the competition for the ESL Spirit.

Great Britain's strong position in the A Class and the Rookie Class still does not even guarantee the second place. Netherlands has two teams collecting points in the AAA Class, while only one team competes for Great Britain.

The missing second UK team in the AAA Class allows Netherlands to make up for the points that the Dutch A Class and Rookie Class teams are behind the UK teams in these classes.

Belgium will probably walk away with the ESL Spirit this year. However, the competition between Netherlands and Great Britain is far from being over. Each team of these countries' delegations can contribute important scoring points to the overall scoring, which gives the competition in each class a little extra spice.

The next update will show where the three top nations are in the competition for the ESL Spirit. The NSL News will also follow up with more details of the actual competition.