posted Dec 9th, 2018 - The Qatar Falcons were not the only national 8-way team at the Weembinamic 2018. Germany's Airbus 8-way lineup had competed at the FAI World Meet 2018 in Australia, as well, and finished in 6th place with a 12.9 average.

The NSL News had introduced the team at the beginning of the 2018 outdoor season on May 14th. Bad luck required a change in the lineup shortly before the world meet when the most experienced competitor in the team, Thomas Spielvogel, had to sit on the bench due to an injury. Airbus 4-way member Thomas Mack stepped in and filled the 8-way slot in Australia.

Thomas Spielvogel was back in the lineup at the Weembinamic, while the 8th slot was still open for the first indoor competition of the German 8-way team. Neither Max Thiele nor Olaf Biedermann, who had shared the 8th slot throughout the 2018 season, were available for the meet in Lille, France.

However, there was a convenient solution, as Italian coach Marco Arrigo would be at the Weembinamic. He competed with his 4-way team Tenanine and is one of the Veloce QRF player coaches, as well. This time he did not join any of the four Veloce QRF lineups and filled the open Airbus slot instead for the team's first indoor competition.

FAI World Meet 2018			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		21,L,B,G		22,18,17		19,7,O		J,16,12		10,A,D,15		Q,M,F,C,N		H,20,P,13		6,14,11		E,2,5		4,1,3		Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights	US	24		21		18		24		19	-2	29		21		18	-1	17		33		224	22.4
2	Tanay	RU	21	-1	21		17		22	-1	20		28		16	-1	18		18		28	-1	209	20.9
3	Qatar Falcons	QA	19		16		15		18	-1	14	-1	21		16		14	-1	14		23	-1	170	17.0
4	MicroClim8	UK	17		15		12		14	-1	15		21		15		12	-2	13		18	-1	152	15.2
5	JYR8	AU	14	-1	14		13		17		11	-1	20		14		14		12		21		150	15.0
6	Airbus	DE	13		15		9	-2	15		11		16		12		12		10		16	-2	129	12.9
7	Brazil	BR	11		10		9		12		9		12		9		10		9		16		107	10.7

Qatar Falcons and Airbus 8-way at the FAI World Meet 2018 in Australia

The preview of the Weembinamic 2018 on November 30th pointed out that the 8-way competition would feature an internal German showdown between the national 8-way team Airbus and the three German members (Petra Baerenfaenger, Henning Stumpp, Uwe Soppa) of the international Veloce QRF lineup.

Martial Ferre's signature lineup is a well trained indoor team, and the three Germans have been in the lineup together since February 2017 when they competed at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship after a few days of 8-way indoor training in Raeford.

Petra Baerenfaenger, Henning Stumpp and Uwe Soppa have not missed any of the team's six indoor competitions since the Paraclete XP championship, and the Airbus members knew from their own training results and the previous Veloce QRF numbers that they would not be able to keep up with the international high-profile QRF lineup.

Veloce QRF actually had to fend off another team of the Veloce 8-way project, Véloce Vair8maxxx, where Martial Ferre was a player coach, as well. Damien Sorlin, his original Veloce 8-way partner and former world champion, joined him again in the Vair8maxxx lineup.

Weembinamic 2018			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way		P,12,6	C,10,3	K,G,B,22	L,A,8,4	M,G,O,18	H,D,N,11	7,2,E	17,J,21	16,5,13	F,9,19	Total	Avg
1	Qatar Falcons	QA	26	27	29	24	25	28	18	21	21	20	239	23.9
2	Weembi Girls	FR	23	25	24	24	24	23	22	22	23	22	232	23.2
3	Veloce QRF 1	FR	23	22	24	20	23	23	17	15	22	18	207	20.7
4	Véloce Vair8maxxx	FR	20	22	22	21	21	22	15	19	20	16	198	19.8
5	Airbus	DE	18	17	18	18	21	20	17	14	20	17	180	18.0
6	Veloce QRF 2	FR	16	18	18	18	18	19	15	15	17	16	170	17.0
7	Les French Tuktuk	FR	17	15	17	15	17	19	15	16	15	15	161	16.1
7	After 8	FR	13	18	16	19	18	17	16	15	15	14	161	16.1
9	Hotchpotch	BE	16	17	18	15	17	17	15	13	15	14	157	15.7
10	8 Way Otter	FR	14	16	18	17	18	16	12	16	14	14	155	15.5
11	Witbiz	FR	13	17	12	16	18	14	16	13	14	13	146	14.6
12	Veloce QRF 4	FR	14	14	13	15	17	13	14	14	17	14	145	14.5
13	Veloce QRF 3	FR	12	17	15	17	18	15	14	12	12	12	144	14.4
13	IN'huit	FR	12	15	18	14	16	15	13	12	15	14	144	14.4
15	Le Grand Huit	FR	13	12	15	14	12	13	9	12	14	11	125	12.5
16	Rojuhafacribensé	FR	9	8	11	10	10	10	10	7	7	10	92	9.2

Veloce Vair8Maxxx and Airbus 8-way team at the Weembinamic 2018

Airbus and Veloce QRF staid away from each other in the elimination rounds and never had to face each other directly for a knock-out confrontation. Airbus managed to tie the QRF scores in one of the ten rounds, while Vair8maxxx made it much more difficult for QRF.

The two French 8-way teams eventually had their own duel for the 3rd place in the finals (Rounds 9 and 10). Veloce QRF won by four points (40 - 36) and took the bronze medal position, which was also the 3rd place on the traditional 10-round leaderboard.

Airbus has made plans for the 2019 season in the meantime. The seven team members who competed at the Weembinamic will be back next year. Max Thiele left the team, while Olaf Biedermann will be available once again for his half slot. This time he will share it with Thomas Mack, who ended up in the 8-way lineup by coincidence in Australia.

Thomas Spielvogel and Australia substitute Thomas Mack have not done any 8-way training or competition together yet, and it will probably happen very soon. Petra Baerenfaenger, Henning Stumpp and Uwe Soppa will probably show up again at one of the next 8-way indoor competitions...