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Did You Know...

... that Dennis Praet, David and Andy Grauwels had 8-way experience before the Thund8rbirds?

No 4-way or 8-way at the World Cup: Sven Ibens with Luc Verstrepen
posted Jan 14th, 2016 - The Sun Path Products NSL News covered the 8-way project of NMP PCH Hayabusa and Thunder ISR a few times before the Thund8rbirds eventually competed for the first time at the Belgian Nationals 2015.

Both 4-way teams had also planned to attend the FAI World Cup 2015 and then compete together in 8-way in Teuge. Thunder's eligibility to compete for the Belgian delegation or as a guest team was challenged before the competition began, and the team eventually withdrew from both events, 4-way and 8-way.

It was a disappointing experience, especially for Thunder ISR, however, the Thund8rbirds pulled together and then posted a 16.3 average at the Belgian Nationals.

Clash of Champions
12345678910TotalAvg
Rank8-wayL,F,C,75,6,192,9,3G,A,12,10B,11,2216,1,21K,M,18,PE,O,J,8Q,17,15N,H,4,DTotalAvg
1Golden KnightsUS3426303037343525314232432.4
2France WeembiFR2922252630302827283427927.9
3TanayRU2922202231302723253826726.7
4Thund8rbirdsBE2423222221282823243525025.0
5Qatar FalconsQA2419202125242019232622122.1
6Dubai AsaarAE2119191920232219212620920.9
7Monaco VitalseaMC713161413111718172214814.8
Thund8rbirds at the Clash of Champions
NMP PCH Hayabusa and Thunder ISR also still had the 8-way competition at the Clash of Champions 2015 to look forward to, and this event offered the same what both teams had hoped to do at the FAI World Cup: Compete in both Formation Skydiving categories.

It turned out that only the three 8-way powerhouses in the world (USA - France - Russia) finished ahead of the Thund8rbirds, who posted an impressive 25.0 average at Inflight Dubai.

Thunder ISR had to go home after the Clash of Champions, while NMP PCH Hayabusa also competed at the World Air Games 2015 a few days later. The 16.3 average of the Thund8rbirds at their national championships would have been good enough for the 4th place at the outdoor competition, as well.

World Air Games 2015
Rd 1Rd 2Rd 3Rd 4Rd 5Rd 6Rd 7Rd 8Rd 9Rd 10TotalAvg
Rank8-way Open20,13,4F,L,B,G,P22,D,714,O,59,C,J,H19,K,3Q,17,E,A15,21,1812,16,18,11,2TotalAvg
1Golden KnightsUS2233191918222122291722222.2
2TanayRU1726171419211717241318518.5
3France WeembiFR1623131516201717221317217.2
4Dubai AsaarAE1417131415161616151114714.7
5Qatar FalconsQA1316141013161514161113813.8
Voluvobusa at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2014
The Clash of Champions was not the first time that Dennis Praet, David and Andy Grauwels competed at an 8-way indoor competition. They had a pickup team at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2014, Voltevobusa, who performed the last four of the ten 8-way rounds in Raeford.

It was a very colorful lineup, with Damien Gouriou, Pierre Emmanuel Balages, Mathieu Bernier, Julien Degen and Katie Woods in the other five slots.

Thunder member Paul Hofstee has attended several Paraclete 8-way meets in the past years and will be back soon for this year's event. The other four Thund8rbirds enjoyed the 8-way vacations just as much, and the team will try to attend a few 2016 meets, as well. However, 4-way training and competition is still top priority for the reigning world champions in a world meet year...

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