posted Aug 12th, 2011 - Several teams who competed at the World Cup 2011 had to travel back home quickly and as soon as possible after the completion of the meet in Germany. National championships were on the meet schedule in France, Norway and the United Kingdom.

The UK teams were not pressed so hard, as their event in Hibaldstow begins tomorrow morning. Norway's fresh bronze medalist in the female 4way category, Polaris, had to be ready for the new Round 1 in the middle of the week, as well as the French teams. Six rounds have been completed in Vichy, France, and the two national B-Teams are in the same battle that they have been in throughout the whole 2011 season.

The French gold medalists in both 4way events in Germany, Aerodyne Aerodyne and Aerodyne Deep Blue Defenders, and the national 8way team Aerokart Maubeuge are off duty this week. In fact, they are not allowed to steal the national medals from the other French teams. The French B-Teams seem to be eligible for national medals this year, as they are listed on the top of the official leaderboard in Vichy.

French Nationals 2011		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	t.b.d.	t.b.d.	t.b.d.	t.b.d.	t.b.d.	t.b.d.	Total	Avg
1	Maubeuge NPC B2	14	17	21	13	15	13	93	15.5
2	Maubeuge NPC B1	13	17	18	14	17	12	91	15.2
3	Armee Air Nice	15	15	18	12	15	12	87	14.5
4	Monaco Rebootizer Aerial	15	15	15	13	15	13	86	14.3
5	Antidote ASPU Maubeuge	11	14	18	11	14	11	79	13.2
6	Nice Airplay St Flo	13	13	15	12	14	10	77	12.8
7	Maubeuge Amethys	13	14	17	11	14	-	69	13.8
8	Annecy Corbas Nolimit	10	11	7	10	12	9	59	9.8
9	FlyVR Nice GOX	9	11	12	2	8	7	49	8.2
10	Le Blanc 517 RT	8	9	11	7	11	-	46	9.2

The NSL News story on 17 July 2011 explained how the two French B-Teams have been locked into their internal duel in the first three meets that they attended. It was quite amazing by then how well the national coaches selected the lineups, as both teams perform on exactly the same level.

Maubeuge NPC B1 and Maubeuge NPC B2 have attended two more meets since the last update from France, and nothing has changed. Both teams finished tied in 12th place after eight rounds in Germany and missed the semifinals and Round 9 by one single point. SonicNutz grabbed the 10th slot for the semifinals by defending a 1-point lead against the B2 lineup and turning around the 1-point deficit to the B1 lineup in Round 8. Whooops was behind the two French B-Teams after Round 8 but qualified for Round 9 in the European Championships.

The video shows how the two French teams battled for the upper hand in Saarlouis-Duren.

World Cup 2011		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7	Round 8	Round 9	Total	Avg
Rank	4way Open	C,22,19	E,M,1,2	12,9,16	O,8,10	Q,14,5	P,17,K,18	21,L,J,13	3,11,B	20,G,H,4	Total	Avg
10	SonicNutz	11	16	16	12	15	16	16	16	16	134	14.9
11	Whooops	11	15	13	11	14	12	16	13	13	118	13.1
12	Maubeuge NPC B2	11	17	14	13	15	16	15	16	-	117	14.6
12	Maubeuge NPC B1	14	16	15	14	13	15	16	14	-	117	14.6

It is not much different this week at the French Nationals 2011. The B2 lineup has a 2-point advantage after six rounds. B1 has won two meets this year, B2 was on top at one meet, and they tied at the World Cup 2011.

Another similar battle continues for the 3rd place in France. Monaco Rebootizer Aerial and Armee Air Nice have been exchanging blows at each of the two previous Coupe de France meets this year. The Rebootizers with the former 8way champions of the 80's and 90's won the June meet by five points and the July meet by four points. The Air Force lineup from Nice is now one point ahead after six rounds. A total of additional 15 teams compete for the championship title in the French intermediate class.

In the meantime, Polaris is trying to give the DeLand Norgies a good competition in Norway, while the UK teams are now dreaming about Round 1 tomorrow morning. The NSL News will get to those national championships this weekend.