I like the Element as well. It must be one of the best monoplanes currently and being from BJ Craft, not too expensive either.
I have monitored flights with geared contras and belt driven contras here in Argentina and there's a very clear difference. The belt driven japanese and BJ Park contras sound very similar and seem to work well. BJ is using a Hobbywing ESC which has no adjustable brake if I understood correctly. He said that in his opinion the brake effect is sufficient if the throttle is turned to idle speed during downlines.
If someone doesn't know, today's flights continue tomorrow since the ceiling height was too low the whole afternoon. The Turkish team sadly lost a Galaktik since the pilot lost orientation when the plane flew into a cloud after six sided loop.