posted Jul 4th, 2007 - Airspeed Odyssey has obviously increased the distance to all other teams in rounds three, four and five. In fact, Odyssey now really dominates the world-class field after five completed rounds at the Malevsky Cup 2007.

Eliana Rodriguez, Craig Girard, Andy Delk, Mark Kirkby and Will Pesek gave away the highscores of Round 1 (Black Cat) and Round 2 (Fastrax). However, even after the first two rounds Odyssey was still two points ahead of the field. Then they decided to get really serious.

Airspeed Odyssey won Round 3 by one point over Team Fastrax and Sky Panthers. It got worse for the other teams in Round 4 where Odyssey posted the next highscore, this time two points ahead of Black Cat and even more compared to the other top teams. Fastrax had 23 points in time and swallowed two point deductions for a 21-point score. The Sky Panthers completed 23 points within working time, as well, and ended up with 22 points on the scoreboard.

FAI Anton Malevsky Memorial International Cup 2007 4 - 6 July 2007, Stupino - Russia The NSL News coverage of the Malevsky Cup 2007 is brought to you with the help of:

Round 5 showed the same outcome. Team Fastrax, Sky Panthers and Black Cat had good rounds - Airspeed Odyssey was one point better and faster. Each of the four top teams received the scoring points that were completed within working time, and the Arizona team was still one point ahead in Round 5. It looks almost hopeless for the rest of the field if Airspeed Odyssey can maintain the same speed and energy.

The impressive performance came after a challenging travel adventure to Russia for the Airspeed members. It required professional distraction control to leave behind what the Airspeed members had to deal with after their arrival in Moscow.

The five team members came from three different locations with three different airlines. None of the airlines had the luggage for the Airspeed members available when they arrived at the baggage claim. It took a few days until the missing gear and luggage finally arrived in Moscow, and another few days went by before things were back in order for the team.

The gear and new clothes were finally available, then the weather did not cooperate. Airspeed Odyssey finally made a few training jumps from the different plane the day prior to the beginning of the competition.

The Fastrax members are good friends with the Airspeed members and had a great opportunity to have some fun with Airspeed's misfortune. Mark Kirkby, former Fastrax member, was so lucky that his gear and luggage did not get lost on the way to Moscow. The Fastrax members thought that it would only be fair if he shared the destiny of his teammates.

They found a way into Mark Kirkby's hotel room in Stupino when Airspeed's Tail was not paying attention. The whole Fastrax line-up presented the gear to the camera before they were hiding it for a little while. Niklas Hemlin and Thomas Hughes enjoyed an additional bobsled ride in Airspeed's hotel room using Mark Kirby's Airspeed helmets to be safe.

Airspeed Odyssey's travel adventure and the Fastrax fun was obviously not enough distraction. Round 6 is almost complete, and the Arizona team did not give away any points. The complete scores of Round 6 will be posted very soon.