Michael Jongerius is clearly gonna be #1 for awhile. He will be playing strong or one more week before he sends off his tape, and by that time, he may have another WR or 2. Eric Habrich by next update will be the NTSC champion most likely, cause he's like about 8prs away from accomplishing this. Simon Laflamme, Tim Everett, and lastly Cristian Juarez are really proving that there is going to be some serious NTSC power by the end of 2003. The Pal Dominance, as far as top times goes, could end in 2004 somewhere.
As far as Kings, Michael Fried keeps contributing great times, including high Legend times already on select tracks. Andy Launspach put in some time, before he takes a break. However, Age means nothing, as Finn Berger continues to stay on fire. Linski and Brehm have been adding PRs from time to time, and even Pier-Yves Lemire added one recently.
Ok, From here, I'll just talk about the placement of the new/semi new. Jean Dubois is now known as Jean-Sebastien Dubois on the players list. He's Master A this update, so he should be Elite by next update. Chris Station is Master B, so by update 2, he'll be teh same way. Dean Barnhard has climbed to Master F, so he'll probably be there as well.
Dan Cuesta on update 2 is Semi-Pro D, and most likely will be making Pro or Master, with a few good sessions. Alexandru Pana is Expert D. Nicolas Garchitorena is Expert F. Troy Ullman is still Advanced A, but with Eric kicking dat assfault, I don't expect him to stay inactive long. Gerardo Snyder debuts at Intermediate B. Ryan Jenning is Intermediate C. Benjamin Pachero after 2 submissions+ appears at Apprentice A. Milton Thomas is Beginner B, but are 3 tracks that need to be resubmitted, so that should be way up for next update. Rafael Aguiar enters at Intermediate B, with an incomplete list of times, as well does Jonathan Rolandez at Intermediate F.
Other active players were: Jonathon Halford, Scott Brehm, Finn Berger, Pier-Yves Lemire, Dave Hines, Louis-Phillipe Sabbagh, Andy Launspach, Mike Linski and Troy Ullman.
And welcome to three new players: Chris Staton, Nicolas Garchitorena and Rafael Aguiar.
Well first the various topic. I'm happy to report that most people are now getting their proof finished up, and have either sent it off or are getting ready to, but just remember, the deadline is September 1st for the postmark of the tape. Any later, and well, I guess well get to that if we have to, but I don't think it should be a problem, since I know everyone has been taping their races this whole time. If not, just contact me, and well work something out. I'm flexible.
Also, there is room for at least one more team member at Kart 64 Players. I'd be willing to train anyone interested in the players list updates, as well as some other functions. If you are interested, you know how to get a hold of me.
Besides that, I just wanted to briefely talk about Twin Galaxies. They are once again full speed ahead, and this is why I have set up the proof requirement date. Mid August, they will have their databases ready for us for a big chunk of the TG Kart data. They will be making a special format for just the Kart stuff, since we are a game that requires special consideration, due to 300+ members, and the complexity of the game, as well as the amount of boards. Besides that, they may have the book published by Christmas, but that's not written in stone. Either way, we all need to do our part to make sure they are on schedule, so you know what to do.
World Records
Quite a few updated. Michael Jongerius went on an explosion, and took most of the Cetin WRs, as well as took Gallo's last WR on CM 3lap Non-sc. Matt Batastini holds onto the final Non-sc WR. Sami Cetin also took Steven down to 3 total Wrs with the Royal 3lap, and lastly, Lacey got his DK 3lap Non-sc close to the old Gallo claimed time, spuring at least one IM to me about reinstating the Gallo time, due to the fact that somebody uses the method. Well that's great and all, but when you don't send in a tape in 2+ years of being asked to, I think just someone using your strat to get a time isn't enough. Moving on...
2 POWS Awarded
One week was a fantastic week, and it was hard to give it to just one player, and another week featured a player we all saw ahead of time, but he's just starting his run at the championship picture.
Players' List Updated
Well MJ Has to be the strongest champion Non-sc wise since Andy Launspach. His average finish is like 1.8 on last check, as well as the fact that he ownes 14/32 WRs, when Cetin has quite a few himself. It looks like Cetin has folded for now so MJ is free to go for that 32/32 goal, but first he'll be working on 32/32 PAL players with WRs by breaking Matt Batastini's long standing KTB 3lap. William Lacey, as I said before, Broke 1'52 on DK Jungle.
As far as Legends go, Eric Habrich is the talk of the town, and only has the 3 NTSC players to chase down before he really becomes scary. He even beat Kevin Booth's long standing dominance in TT Non-sc 3lap for NTSC. Simon Laflamme contines to stay a hot hand, and Tim Everett has really been using his advanced MT techniques to his advantage, as he passes Dave hines and threatens many other positions.
As far as Kings go, Cristian Juarez is just blazing hot as well, as he would like to get Legend soon as well. We are getting submissions from him daily, and he seems very motivated, so I don't think he'll be stopping anytime soon. Michael Fried has been staying diversified by becoming a dual threat in Non-sc and SC lately. Andy Launspach has been vastly improving as well, and his latest project is KTB, where with his sub 27 1-shrooms will be slaughtering his old mark soon enough. Finn Berger has been doing great at Frappe Snowland, as well as other courses.
As far as Elites go, not near as much action, but Charles Tasserit and Yann Ledrux are the hot hands this month. Jean Dubois at Master F has stayed active as well, so I think he'll be elite very soon.
As far as others, Goodpasture is now Pro C, as well as Dean Barnhart. Matthew Cole is Pro F, Dan Cuesta is Semi Pro D, Alexandru Pana is Expert D, Jonathan Halford is Advanced B, Troy Ullman stays idle at Advanced A, TJ is Intermediate D, Rodenburg, Intermedate A, but below TG in the PL. Rounding out the field is Ryan Jenning at Intermediate C and newcomer Benjamin Pacheco at Apprendice F.
There will be a new member from Brazil next Players List Update
Whatever Else
Well not much else to say, but that it's been another exciting month of great karting, with Jongerius finally establishing himself as the man to beat, as well as NTSC getting renewed hope, with Stars like Habrich and Almeida, and even some really scary question marks like Tim Everett, Cristian Juarez, and yes, I wouldn't even count out Andy Launspach. There is something about previous champions coming to the top. If you don't think it could happen, remember Bernier, Zwartjes, and Cetin. Counting a player out could be your funeral. Keep on karting, cause in kart, anything can happen, and usually does! You know the drill.......
Source: Le Tour de Kart - 2003
As I'm typing this it seems like a new WR needs to be addded already...
Michael Jongerius got two PRs, including one WR improvement at Royal Raceway flap. Eric Habrich hit one very fast CM 3lap time. Old-schoolers Sabbagh and Hines were active. Hines re-passed Laflamme in ARR. Fresh Legend player Tim Everett cut some points off his ARR score, and might try to catch the Wingert/Sabbagh/Hines trio sometime soon.
Christian Juarez is one improvement away from King A. Michael Fried passed Jones and Jeram on ARR and AvgFin and reached King C. King D player Andy Launspach improved a little and King F player Finn Berger is edging towards the King D ranks.
David Goodpasture and especially Dean Barnhart improved their stats significantly. They're both ranked Pro C now. Jonathon Halford improved from Advanced F to Advanced B. And we have one new member: Welcome to Benjamin Pacheco. He enters the ranks at #257 with and Apprentice F rank. And I think one achievement from the previous update also needs to be mentioned here: The new member Jonathan Rolandez had entered the site as an Elite A player in shortcuts! A really impressive feat.
Outside of that, the profiles are maintained by William Lacey, as is the timesviewer and the matchups. Since all team members do work together, but have different schedules, not everything always gets updated at the same time. However, if anything has been missed, make sure to bring it to the attention of someobody, if say, you see the same error a few days later. It could be that either I put in an incorrect link, or Lacey hasn't gotten the profile up yet. I always type in the links ahead of time, so when Lacey instates the profile, it's ready immediately.
Anyhow, to the news.
Tons of stuff really. For the first time in ages, I have now reached #6 in Non-sc, and as of yesterday, I am Officially the #1 Non-sc Player for the USA as well as all of the NTSC system. I won't be holding this long, cause Eric Habrich is just amazing, and i just have other focuses now. Michael Jongerius just continues to tear it up, as he gets another WR on CM 3lap Non-sc, as well as a 4th place on one of his weak points, the CM lap. His average finish is now in the 1.8's, which is the lowest since 1998, when Alex Penev had 2.1x. The all time record was probably set back in 1997, when Andy Launspach had 296 of the 320 LAUNDA points.
Speaking of Andy, his validated times are now reflected on the players list update. You'll see he's in a great battle with some of the new talent in the community. Tim Everett's patience on Fastlaps payed off, and just as he called, he went from King C to Legend F immediately!
Finn Berger hit his first legend time on FS lap, Michael Fried is really starting to prove his diversity, by nailing 5"42 on FS SC lap. Simon Laflamme blows by Hines, and Cristian Juarez with insane improvements as of late is now King B, and I really don't see it taking him too much longer to make Legend as well. Amazing stuff here.
Other than that, welcome David Goodpasture from California and Jonathan Rolandez from Paris, France,t o Kart 64 Players.
Dean Barnhart, Justin Jones, Ryan Jenning, Alexandru Pana's, and Dan Cuesta are all debutting this update!
Yep, I finally got up that proposed design by Nick Frame, that we have been talking about for months now. Thanx to Michael Liem for spending that extra time getting that mail script working with that page, and everyones feedback, especially Jason Whalls.
VALIDATION
Ok, I finally got up a very basic list as far as validation goes. Nothing too specific, but this way, you know what' going on. Basically, some big stuff is coming up for Kart 64 Players, as well as Twin Galaxies, so we all need to do our part, and prepare ourselves, and step 1 is validation. Here is the link.
http://www.mariokart64.com/validation.html
World Records Updated
Tons of records changed hands between Cetin and Jongerius these last few days, as Cetin has been trying to take back the #1 spot from Jongerius, which secured it as of the first of the month. William Lacey got hurt the most, cause he lost 3 of his previous 4 World Records he held, while only bettering a previous WR, and Tying Cetin for a new one.
POW's Updated
So did Eric Secure a record 4th seasonal in a row? Did Everett finally not get hosed? Does becoming #1 in the world mean anything in POW? To answer these questions, check out the current POW results.
Players List Updated
Well since Liem already touched on news for the players, I won't go into my usual spree, but let me tell ya that Cetin is like a PR away from repassing Jongerius, so the 1 and 2 spots are really too close to call at this point! Besides that I would like to welcome Troy Ullman from Nebraska, as well as Nicolas Garchitorena from Chile. There will be another new member next update.
In the other ranks Tim Everett and Finn Berger continued to improve their stats consistently.
Other active players were Christian Juarez, Michael Fried, Brent Wingert, Pier-Yves Lemire, Arnaud Loonis, Fabien Malaval & Louis Nebout. Lots of french speaking players this week...
Ok, I don't have much time to write detailed news now. But there's one thing that really astounded me when doing this update. Check out the nonSC AvgFin rankings: Michael Jongerius has taken 1st place with a BIG margin! His AvgFin score of 2.375 is by far the lowest AvgFin score ever recorded in the past few years. Now, we know that Sami is quite WR heavy, and this week he returned to get one new WR and some other new PRs. But I have a feeling this AvgFin gap is so big, that we might have a new World Champion next Player List update...
