posted Jul 22nd, 2017 - The recent induction of SDC Rhythm XP into the 20+ outdoor elite club of 4-way teams who have completed 10-round meets with only 20-pointers or higher brought back the same topic for indoor competition.

The Sun Path Products NSL News has not given attention yet to the fact that the indoor benchmark was once again lifted earlier this year. The last new benchmark with only 27-pointers and higher was set in 2012 when the French national team finished with a 32.8 average at the Aerokart Indoor Championship, and NMP PCH HayaBusa missed it with a 26-pointer in the last round.

The reigning Belgian 4-way world champions, who would miss their first gold medals by one single point later the same year, posted 30+ scores in the nine other rounds at Aerokart, which has never been accomplished again ever since. However, the sequence in Round 10 (12,2,7) kept HayaBusa from joining France on the 27+ level.

It took HayaBusa a while until the first 10-round meet with only 27-pointers and higher was complete, and the previous lineup with Roy Janssen, who eventually won the first Belgian 4-way gold medals in 2014, did not make it.

World Challenge 2017			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		D,B,6,22	12,E,17	20,G,C,10	N,M,15,H	Q,19,K,4	8,21,L	P,9,J,7	O,11,1	13,A,16	3,18,5	Total	Avg
1	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	33	29	29	46	34	28	47	28	28	29	331	33.1
2	Weembi Lille	FR	33	31	29	43	35	28	46	29	29	27	330	33.0
3	French Weembi Girls	FR	30	29	28	38	32	24	43	28	26	25	303	30.3
4	RealFly-Sion	FR	29	29	26	38	31	26	42	27	24	23	295	29.5
5	SDC Rhythm XP	US	29	26	24	37	30	26	40	27	24	23	286	28.6
6	Gavroche Weembi	FR	27	26	23	35	29	23	39	23	21	21	267	26.7
7	IFS-Moscow	RU	26	26	23	35	29	21	40	24	24	18	266	26.6
7	Espoir Saumur Weembi	FR	27	26	23	33	28	23	37	24	23	22	266	26.6
9	Volition	UK	25	24	19	34	23	21	36	24	22	21	249	24.9
10	ISR FireFlash	BE	25	21	21	33	23	21	35	22	21	20	242	24.2

In fact, even the new and current lineup, with Jeroen Nollet in the tail slot, never completed a 10-round meet with only 27-pointers and higher.

Dennis Praet, Jeroen Nollet, David and Andy Grauwels finally just skipped the 27+ level and posted ten rounds with only 28-pointers and higher at the World Challenge 2017, and the indoor average was exactly the same (33.1) as in 2012.

HayaBusa posted three 28-pointers as the lowest scores for a round at the World Challenge 2017, and the Belgians were pushed to the highest performance level by their former team mate Roy Janssen, who had eventually accomplished the 27+ level earlier than the new HayaBusa lineup, with Weembi Lille at the Clash of Champions.

His Weembi Lille team mates Julien Degen, Mathieu and Guillaume Bernier were in the French 4-way lineup of 2012, together with Manu Sarrazin, and they have been in the 27+ indoor club since February 2012.

The showdown with HayaBusa at the World Challenge brought the same Weembi Lille lineup as in Dubai 2015 back to the 27+ level, while his former Belgian team mates won the meet with the 29-pointer in Round 10. Weembi Lille finished one point short of a jump-off round and the 28+ level.

Clash of Champions 2015			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		J,13,8	K,20,5	9,21,19	C,3,6	7,O,15	A,18,1	2,H,P,D	16,L,11	E,N,10,B	12,Q,F,22	Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	26	32	30	28	33	29	41	28	37	29	313	31.3
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	28	30	29	30	34	27	39	28	34	26	305	30.5
3	Weembi Lille	FR	27	28	30	29	33	27	35	28	30	28	295	29.5
4	Golden Knights	US	24	29	28	27	30	27	33	25	31	23	277	27.7
5	Qatar Tigers	QA	24	25	28	27	28	25	33	26	30	23	269	26.9
5	FLY-IN Women	FR	23	26	28	25	28	24	35	24	31	25	269	26.9
5	Evolution	CA	24	29	27	25	29	26	30	26	28	25	269	26.9
8	Thunder ISR	BE	22	23	27	27	31	27	34	25	28	24	268	26.8
9	Black Cat	RU	22	26	27	26	29	26	33	26	24	23	262	26.2
10	FLY-IN Open	FR	20	27	27	26	31	22	33	21	30	23	260	26.0

Arizona Airspeed's 2015 lineup is on the next level with only 26-pointers and higher. Chris Farina, Thiago Gomes, Niklas Hemlin and Thomas Hughes posted a 30.5 average at the Clash of Champions 2015, with a 26-pointer as the lowest score in Round 10.

HayaBusa scored 29 points for the same sequence. Airspeed would have moved up to the next level (27+) with one more point in Round 10.

HayaBusa had their own 26-pointer in Round 1 where Airspeed posted a 28. HayaBusa's lowest score would have been up to 28 in November 2015 without the slow start in Dubai. The step up to the 28+ level had to be delayed until April 2017 in Bedford.

The French Weembi Girls are next in the indoor rankings with a 10-round meet on the 25+ level. They did not use the draw of the World Challenge 2017, where they had a 24-pointer in Round 6.

The French national team in 4-way Women accomplished the 25+ level a few weeks earlier in their home chamber at Weembi Lille. They finished in 3rd place with a 28.3 average at the French Indoor Nationals 2017, and the 25-pointer in Round 8 was the lowest score. They followed up with a higher 10-round average (30.3) in Bedford, despite the 24-pointer. The 30.3 average was still the highest one in history for a team in 4-way Women...

Aerokart Indoor 2012			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		10,9,3	4,Q,F,22	B,E,11,19	8,15,A	16,H,20	D,K,L,C,18	P,21,J,14	O,17,N,5	12,M,G,6	13,2,7	Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	31	33	33	30	30	39	32	45	32	26	331	33.1
2	Aerodyne Aerokart	FR	31	34	35	27	30	38	32	45	29	27	328	32.8
3	France Aerokart Maubeuge	FR	27	28	31	24	25	35	29	35	26	22	282	28.2
4	Thunder	BE	25	29	28	24	24	35	28	38	25	23	279	27.9
5	France Deep Blue Aerokart	FR	25	26	27	21	24	31	27	37	24	21	263	26.3
6	Aerodyne Deep Blue Defenders	FR	25	25	27	21	24	29	24	36	22	21	254	25.4
7	Maubeuge NPC B1	FR	21	22	24	21	21	25	24	31	21	19	229	22.9
8	Maubeuge NPC B2	FR	21	23	21	21	19	25	24	26	19	20	219	21.9