posted Apr 3rd, 2010 - The scores of Round 1 have been posted, and it is already a very tight field all over the leaderboard. Arizona Airspeed made already clear in Round 1 that the reigning world champions are still the Number 1, at least after the first round. It is not easy to post a sole highscore in a field of top teams like the one at the World Challenge 2010.

It's a good start for Airspeed, but that's all it is. The other top contenders were not far behind at all, and this includes Aerokart Deep Blue, the all-female lineup from France. The French national team makes it further up into the top positions of the Open Class competition, meet by meet.

However the field looks like after Round 1 - it will not be the same after Round 2. The superfast sequence of only Random Formations was extremely challenging for all teams. The NSL News did not try to get too fancy after Round 2 and just put the video together as quickly as possible. Here it comes in two parts, beginning with the preparations.

Preparations for Round 2 at the World Challenge 2010

Each top team had a hard time with the sequence, only Perris Fury seemed to have mastered it without a significant breakdown. It is a mental challenge. The top teams are going so fast that it is very difficult to identify and find the latest point in the sequence where a potential mistake happened. The synchronization can get lost easier for the very fast moving teams.

The NSL TV camera was turned on earlier this time and captured several teams that are not competing at the very top of the leaderboard. Dynamic Fource, the Dutch national 4-way team, and Satori, the UK national team, started the NSL TV session of Round 2. SDC Rhythm XP, Aerokart Deep Blue and ISB Air with substitute Gary Smith were next before Aerokart PCs began to pick up the pace significantly.

The NSL News then took a short break and turned the camera back on when it was time for the teams on the very top of the leaderboard. There it became extremely exciting, as those teams were moving so quickly that it was almost impossible to follow the action. Hands and arms had to show separation and get back to the grips as quickly as possible.

The videos from the up close position speak their own language and show it all. It is impossible to predict what the judges will eventually post on the score sheets. The leaderboard may look very different after Round 2.

By the way, the video of Round 2 begins with a preview and a few comments before the teams went into the flying chamber. There were not many doubts that the highscore for Round 2 will be above 60 points...

Round 2 at the World Challenge 2010