Changes

In 2016, Florent participated in Awesome Games Done Quick  ([https://gamesdonequick.com/ AGDQ]), the biggest worldwide speedrunning marathon that is held annually and raises funds for [http://preventcancer.org/ the prevent cancer foundation]. On the first day of AGDQ 2016, Florent faced-off against former [[Time Trial]] #1[[ Karel van Duijvenboden]] (alias KVD). Their race will be ingrained in the memory of most of the people that witnessed it live, as it climaxed into one of the closest finishes in the history of these events. The goal of the race was to complete all cups of Super Mario Kart (GP150cc, [[NTSC]] version) as fast as possible, each on a separate console. Beforehand, there was no clear favourite. [[Karel]] is the World Record holder in this category ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrCD92rqX1Y 31m08s]) and the most trained (for this specific challenge) out of the two, but Florent’s overall GP prowess and ability under pressure would almost certainly be enough to make up for that, leaving a roughly 50-50 winning chance. Florent travelled across the Atlantic ocean to attend this event, which was held in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_D.C. Washington DC] in the [http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/virginia/hilton-washington-dulles-airport-IADAHHF/index.html Hilton Washington Dulles Airport hotel]. This marked the first occasion that Florent undertook intercontinental travel for a Super Mario Kart related endeavor.  

In 2016, Florent participated in Awesome Games Done Quick  ([https://gamesdonequick.com/ AGDQ]), the biggest worldwide speedrunning marathon that is held annually and raises funds for [http://preventcancer.org/ the prevent cancer foundation]. On the first day of AGDQ 2016, Florent faced-off against former [[Time Trial]] #1[[ Karel van Duijvenboden]] (alias KVD). Their race will be ingrained in the memory of most of the people that witnessed it live, as it climaxed into one of the closest finishes in the history of these events. The goal of the race was to complete all cups of Super Mario Kart (GP150cc, [[NTSC]] version) as fast as possible, each on a separate console. Beforehand, there was no clear favourite. [[Karel]] is the World Record holder in this category ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrCD92rqX1Y 31m08s]) and the most trained (for this specific challenge) out of the two, but Florent’s overall GP prowess and ability under pressure would almost certainly be enough to make up for that, leaving a roughly 50-50 winning chance. Florent travelled across the Atlantic ocean to attend this event, which was held in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_D.C. Washington DC] in the [http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/virginia/hilton-washington-dulles-airport-IADAHHF/index.html Hilton Washington Dulles Airport hotel]. This marked the first occasion that Florent undertook intercontinental travel for a Super Mario Kart related endeavor.  

The race turned out to be close all the way through, with multiple lead changes. Florent started off strong, jumping into a big lead of 13 seconds during mushroom cup. After this, Karel clawed back with some clean racing on flower and star cup and actually started the deciding special cup with a healthy 16 second lead. Florent amounted an incredible comeback building all the way through this final cup. His antics included a spectacular mushroom aided wall-skip on [[Donut Plains 3]]. On the final track, [[Rainbow Road]], Karel still had 6 seconds of advantage left, implying that Florent needed to get a feather or mushroom to win through a possible final lap trick ending. Instead of that happening, Karel suffered an unlucky blow as Luigi suddenly rag dolled into his kart upon firing a red shell, which ironically, Karel attempted to try and move Luigi out of the way with. This set-up a thriller of a final lap that culminated in a highly memorable photo finish. In the end Florent had won by ~0.13 seconds, a mind-blowingly small difference after over 32 minutes of racing.  

The race turned out to be close all the way through, with multiple lead changes. Florent started off strong, jumping into a big lead of 13 seconds during mushroom cup. After this, [[Karel]] clawed back with some clean racing on flower and star cup and actually started the deciding special cup with a healthy 16 second lead. Florent amounted an incredible comeback building all the way through this final cup. His antics included a spectacular mushroom aided wall-skip on [[Donut Plains 3]]. On the final track, [[Rainbow Road]], [[Karel]] still had 6 seconds of advantage left, implying that Florent needed to get a feather or mushroom to win through a possible final lap trick ending. Instead of that happening, [[Karel]] suffered an unlucky blow as Luigi suddenly rag dolled into his kart upon firing a red shell, which ironically, [[Karel]] attempted to try and move Luigi out of the way with. This set-up a thriller of a final lap that culminated in a highly memorable photo finish. In the end Florent had won by ~0.13 seconds, a mind-blowingly small difference after over 32 minutes of racing.  

-The video of the full race can be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeAqg-L-tNM

-The video of the full race can be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeAqg-L-tNM

-Full video that includes the pre-match interview by [https://twitter.com/blechyman?lang=en Blechy] and the donation incentive Match Race performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7JTayEh4SY&list=PLq8o_9QDqDPURJjZ2_tQTLTatriJQavEV

-Full video that includes the pre-match interview by [https://twitter.com/blechyman?lang=en Blechy] and the donation incentive Match Race performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7JTayEh4SY&list=PLq8o_9QDqDPURJjZ2_tQTLTatriJQavEV

Approximately 150.000 viewers had tuned in live to watch this run via Twitch ((https://www.twitch.tv/gamesdonequick).), easily the largest audience an SMK performance had ever received. Thanks to the generous donations of the viewers ($2,879.19 in total), the donation incentive was met (https://gamesdonequick.com/tracker/bids/agdq2016). This allowed Florent and Karel to deliver an encore performance. The idea that Florent and Karel had beforehand was to give the viewers a bite of what top level multiplayer SMK / CDM is like. Therefore they chose to play 1 round of Match Race on [[Choco Island 1]], which is known as the track that has the most interesting meta-game and item dynamics. Shockingly, after a nice weaponry exchange in earlier laps, this race also ended in a photo finish. Both drivers collected a feather to set-up a finish line trick finish, however this time Karel came out a fraction faster. When Florent and Karel left the stage, the SMK show that they had provided was received with a standing ovation from the audience (approximately 400 people) present in the hall. Much applause was also coming through via Twitch chat. Many also commented on the excellent commentary provided by [[Dan Hoernemann]], who had truly done a stellar job at explaining all the SMK technicalities to the public.

Approximately 150.000 viewers had tuned in live to watch this run via Twitch ((https://www.twitch.tv/gamesdonequick).), easily the largest audience an SMK performance had ever received. Thanks to the generous donations of the viewers ($2,879.19 in total), the donation incentive was met (https://gamesdonequick.com/tracker/bids/agdq2016). This allowed Florent and [[Karel]] to deliver an encore performance. The idea that they both had beforehand was to give the viewers a bite of what top level multiplayer SMK / CDM is like. Therefore they chose to play 1 round of Match Race on [[Choco Island 1]], which is known as the track that has the most interesting meta-game and item dynamics. Shockingly, this race also ended in a photo finish. The race started with a nice weaponry exchange in the beginning laps, after which both drivers collected a feather to set-up a trick finish. This time it was Karel's turn to come out a fraction faster. When the SMK pairing left the stage, the show that they had provided was received with a standing ovation from the audience (approximately 400 people) present in the hall. Much applause was also coming through via Twitch chat. Many also commented on the excellent commentary provided by [[Dan Hoernemann]], who had truly done a stellar job at explaining all the SMK technicalities to the public.

== Time Trial ==

== Time Trial ==