posted Nov 25th, 2012 - It is difficult for other events to catch any attention at the moment, as the focus of the world's skydiving community is zooming in more and more on the Mondial 2012.

The ISR Grand Prix 2012 had record participation this weekend and deserves an update. 48 teams beat the previous record number of 41 significantly, and there was great competition in each category, except in the AAA Class.

Thunder won with a 25.5 average after the eight meet rounds, and no other AAA Class team could keep up. Thunder would much rather be in Dubai right now and take on the world's best 4way teams in an outdoor competition. However, the Dutch/Belgian combination is not eligible for IPC events and has to watch the Mondial action from home. Only Thunder member Sven Ibens will be live in Dubai to cheer for his wife Annelies Hasewinkel-Ibens who competes with the Dutch 8way team M8Trix.

ISR Grand Prix 2012		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7	Round 8	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	T.B.D.	T.B.D.	T.B.D.	T.B.D.	T.B.D.	T.B.D.	T.B.D.	T.B.D.	Total	Avg
1	Thunder (BE)	31	22	20	22	23	21	33	32	204	25.5
2	Amethys Maubeuge (FR)	25	17	19	18	17	15	29	25	165	20.6
3	Creeps (NL)	22	17	19	17	18	16	23	25	157	19.6
4	Whooops (NL)	22	17	16	15	17	14	24	26	151	18.9
5	M4trix (NL)	19	17	18	15	17	12	25	25	148	18.5
6	Evospeed (IT)	19	16	17	15	17	15	24	20	143	17.9
7	4X (INT)	20	15	15	15	14	12	22	19	132	16.5
8	Diamond Dogs (BE)	17	13	13	12	12	12	20	16	115	14.4
9	Shinobiz V2 (BE)	13	7	11	11	10	8	15	13	88	11.0

There were a few teams in Roosedaal who will now have to travel quickly from the Netherlands to Dubai after competing at the ISR Grand Prix right before the World Meet. M4Trix is one half of the Dutch national 8way and competed in Roosedaal before switching to 8way this upcoming week.

Whooops is the Dutch national 4way team who just completed a final training camp in DeLand with coach Gary Smith, who is also the player coach for M8Trix. Whooops finished in 4th place with an 18.9 average at the team's only indoor competition this year. Whooops' goal for Dubai is to leave the 15.0 average benchmark behind.

The M8Trix 4way lineup finished right behind Whooops and only three points away after a good battle. However, it was Creeps who secured the bronze medals for the Netherlands in Roosendaal. Amethys Maubeuge from France was too far ahead of the Dutch teams at their 6th meet this year. It was the third indoor competition for the French team and was rewarded with the first 20+ average.

The AA Class competition at the ISR Grand Prix 2012 was a complete Belgian sweep. Claymor from Italy was challenging the Belgian dominance, together with several Dutch teams, and they all ended up shortly behind bronze medalists Jean En De Cascadeurs.

The first four places in the A Class were taken by teams from four different nations, and only UK team Education4all left without medals. The Blue Rebels from Greece beat their 14.2 average at the World Challenge 2012 by far with 18.9 in Roosendaal and left MACH 4 from the Netherlands behind this time. MACH 4 had won the bronze medals at the ESL Championship 2012 where the Blue Rebels had finished in 8th place. MACH 4 won the silver medals this weekend with a 17.9 average.

The only two Rookie Class teams from Belgium also took the first two place in this category, even though six teams from the Netherlands were competing in Roosendaal. Belgium has recently developed a strong presence in Central Europe, with many teams and strong performances. NMP-PCH Hayabusa's position on the top level in the 4way world over years may have been inspiring and encouraging for other teams and competitors. Hayabusa's most important week in the team history begins tomorrow...