posted Apr 9th, 2009 - Round 2 of the World Challenge 2009 has now been uploaded to YouTube and is available for reviews.

It was a round where the French national 4-way team, France Maubeuge, gained respect from the tunnel experts. Mathieu Bernier, Guillaume Bernier, Julien Degen and Jeremie Rollet had never attended a tunnel competition before they came to Bedford last week.

They were a little bit nervous and did not really know what to expect at the World Challenge 2009.

However, they said after the meet that they really enjoyed the competition and were satisfied with their indoor performance.

In fact, France Maubeuge was only one single point behind Airspeed after Round 2, and Airspeed has plenty of tunnel experience. The reigning 4-way world champions have won each indoor competition that they attended, including the World Challenges 2007, 2008 and now 2009.

The French national team continued to be close to Airspeed, round by round, even though they ended up 20 points behind the Arizona team after ten rounds. The only reason for this distance was the disappointing Round 4 where the French team lost 15 points to the winner of the round, Perris Fury, and nine points to Airspeed. Other than that, the French team was always in striking distance for a round's highscore.

The videos of Round 2 show how well France Maubeuge was performing at its first tunnel meet. The 26-pointer tied Airspeed's score and beat all other teams in the field. The French team tied Airspeed again in Round 8 and won Round 9 with the 22-point highscore, tied only by Perris Fury.

The results at the World Challenge 2009 open up again the distance between the French national team and Airspeed. A better Round 4 for France would have decreased the difference between the two teams. Now the French team has to work again to close the gap to where it was by the end of the 2008 season. France Maubeuge and Airspeed will most likely compete again at the USPA Nationals 2009.

The French team now goes back to outdoor training. The team members said that they still prefer the outdoor training and competition. They will still try to stay as current as possible with their tunnel performance and will most likely return to Bedford next year.