posted Apr 7th, 2007 - The XL rebellion could probably not last forever. The trained teams caught up, Airspeed Odyssey reduced the distance, and Team Fastrax caught up with XL. However, there was no sign of XL weakness, and the "home team" still shares the lead with Fastrax after three rounds.

It might still be only a matter of time when Fastrax will take the lead alone. John Hart, Niklas Hemlin, Thomas Hughes and Doug Park had already the sole highscore for the round with the 32-pointer and were very close to the completion of the 33rd scoring point.

Team Fastrax continues at the World Challenge 2007 with the momentum of the second half at the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2007. Round 5 of the meet in DeLand was the last time that Airspeed Odyssey beat Fastrax in a single round. Fastrax has won four of the eight rounds ever since and tied the other four rounds with Odyssey. Fastrax in now tied in first place with XL and two points ahead of Odyssey after three rounds.

Each of the five teams on the top of the leaderboard had a clean round, and the quality of the tunnel work is incredible. That counts for many other teams in Bedford, as well. The French team Maubeuge Aerokart has joined the competition now and already caught up with the rest of the field. Stay tuned, Round 4 is in progress.

XL again in Round 2

XL's success in Round 1 was not just a coincidence. The "pick-up" team's rebellion against the trained teams continued in Round 2 with the same result. Pete Allum, John McIver, Steve Hamilton and Brian Johnson posted the sole highscore in the fastest sequence of the ten rounds at Bodyflight Bedford.

The 44-pointer was not matched by any other teams, and it must be a scary thought for the competitors to see this XL line-up seems to be on top of the technical skills and the random work, as well. Round 1 included two blocks, and Round 2 consisted of only random formations. Where will XL's weaknesses be? Are there any...?

Bodyflight Bedford owner Paul Mayer is a happy man today for many reasons. He admitted that he cheers for XL. There is an obvious reason why he would do this since Steve Hamilton and John McIver work in his tunnel on a regular basis. However, he mentioned another reason when the NSL News noticed a big smile on his face after Round 2:

"I am happy for them since they ran after the medals for such a long time when they competed with their original XL line-up. It never worked out well for Pete, John and Steve, the Norgies were always a nose ahead of them. It would be a nice thing for them to happen if they really ended up on the top here."

The XL members were happy but did not seem to be too surprised. They know that each flyer is very well skilled and experienced enough to pull it together within a few hours of tunnel time. However, they compete with the best teams in the world, and it will still be a long road to the $5,000 position.

Especially the Sky Panthers can strike back at any time. The Russian team was on a significantly faster pace than all other teams in Round 2. Their 43-pointer included a complete meltdown in the middle of the jump. It was amazing that the Sky Panthers still made it to the same score as Team Fastrax and even beat Airspeed Odyssey's clean 42-pointer. Round 3 is in progress.

XL surprise in Round 1

Round 1 is almost complete. France Maubeuge Aerokart will join after more recovery time for Clement Martin St. Leon. The UK team Valkyrie B is actually jumping a AA Class competition draw, which is completely different than the AAA Class draw. This information was not available early enough for the NSL News to make the adjustment on the leaderboard.

Other than that, yes, it is the truth, XL won the first round and followed up with a 44-pointer in Round 2. No skydives for this XL line-up for training at all, however, Steve Hamilton and John McIver found enough time prior to the meet to get some tunnel time with Pete Allum and Brian Johnson. XL completed approx. 2.5 hours at Bodyflight Bedford after Brian Johnson arrived this week. The first results show it very clearly, XL is in the run for the money.

Team Fastrax, Airspeed Odyssey, Sky Panthers and Hayabusa Defence all went the same pace, and Fastrax and Odyssey missed the 27th scoring point only by inches. Sky Panthers and Hayabusa both lost the rhythm and more points after approx. 30 seconds. Round 2 is already in progress, and Sebastian XL outscored Fastrax again by one point.