Past World Champions (as of 2/03/05)
        

World Champions

Time Period Player Location Details On Championship
Japanese Release Gregg Gorczowski Sometown, Illinois General Records
02/01/97 - 02/25/97 Salam Salhani Unknown 4 WRS (LR+MMF)
02/25/97 - 03/06/97 Kevin Booth Pleasant Hill, Oregon 14 PHONEYWR
03/06/97 - 04/10/97 Gregg Gorczowski Illinois, USA 14.5 PHONEYWR
04/10/97 - 05/25/97 Kevin Booth Pleasant Hill, Oregon Takes WR Lead
05/25/97 - 09/25/97 Andy Launspach Indianola, Iowa Summer Dominance
09/25/97 - 11/04/97 Kevin Booth Pleasant Hill, Oregon Best Overall Player
11/04/97 - 06/04/98 Jonathan Bernier Montmagny, Canada Best Champ Ever?
06/04/98 - 06/27/98 Kevin Booth Springfield, Oregon Wins Matchups
06/27/98 - 09/12/98 Jonathan Bernier Montmagny, Canada 8+ WRS/ 2 WKS
09/12/98 - 09/18/98 Kevin Booth Springfield, Oregon WR's+ Well Rounded
09/18/98 - 10/01/98 Peter Elsaesser Innsbrück, Austria Non-SC Dominance
10/01/98 - 03/17/99 Alex Penev(PAL+Overall) Sydney, Australia Most Complete
10/10/98 - 1/19/99 Kevin Booth(NTSC) Springfield, Oregon NTSC WR RECORD BROKE
1/19/99 - 1/24/99 Brian Gallo(NTSC) Glen Ridge, NJ 18-14 VS Elsaesser
1/24/99 - 1/26/99 Peter Elsaesser (NTSC) Innsbrück, Austria REX POINTS
1/26/99 - 1/27/99 Brian Gallo(NTSC) Glen Ridge, NJ REX POINTS
1/27/99 - 1/29/99 Peter Elsaesser (NTSC) Innsbrück, Austria REX POINTS
1/29/99 - 2/02/99 Brian Gallo(NTSC) Glen Ridge, NJ REX POINTS
2/02/99 - 2/27/99 Peter Elsaesser(NTSC) Innsbrück, Austria REX POINTS
2/27/99 - 3/09/99 Brian Gallo (NTSC) Glen Ridge, NJ MATCHUPS!
3/09/99 - 5/15/99 Peter Elsaesser(NTSC) Innsbrück, Austria Everything
3/17/99 - Current PENEV LOSES(OVERALL) Sydney, Australia Peters Non-sc
3/17/99 - 5/15/99 Peter Elsaesser (OVERALL) Innsbrück, Austria Kills Penev in Non-sc
5/15/99 - 10/28/99 Brian Gallo (OVERALL) Glen Ridge, NJ Versitiliy Vs Peter
10/21/99 - 3/7/02 Steven Zwartjes (PAL) Netherlands LKR...
10/28/99 - 7/2/00 Steven Zwartjes (OVERALL) Netherlands LR Non-sc 3lap WR
7/2/00 - 2/26/01 Brian Gallo (OVERALL) Glen Ridge, NJ Matchups
2/26/01 - 3/07/02 Steven Zwartjes (OVERALL) Netherlands Conversion Adjustment 1.2024 from 1.200
3/7/02 - 7/01/03 Sami Cetin (OVERALL) London England #1 in Non-sc players list
7/01/03 - 8/13/04 Michael Jongerius (OVERALL) Netherlands Blows out Sami's WRs
8/13/04 - 9/06/04 Eric Habrich (OVERALL) Beatrice, Nebraska 13th proves bad luck for MJ!
9/06/04 - Current Michael Jongerius (OVERALL) Netherlands WR Spree Retakes Habrich

Longest Title Reigns

Player Location Times Total Days
Michael Jongerius Netherlands Twice 561+ days
Steven Zwartjes Dordrecht, Netherlands 2 Times 556 days
Sami Cetin London, England Once 480 days
Brian Gallo Glen Ridge, New Jersey 2 Times 376 days
Jonathan Bernier Montmagny, Canada 2 Times 213 days
Alex Penev Sydney, Australia Once 169 days
Kevin Booth Pleasant Hill/Springfield, Oregon 5 Times! 127 days
Andy Launspach Indianola, Iowa Once 123 days
Peter Elsaesser Innsbrück, Austria 2 Times 73 days
Gregg Gorczowski Illinois, USA 2 Times 31 days
Salam Salhani Unknown Location Once 25 days
Eric Habrich Beatrice, Nebraska Once 24 days

Ok, I figure I should make a few comments on what you have viewed. The Champions you see on the first chart are people that have held either the Overall Championship or the NTSC when a PAL Player Only (Alex Penev) finally became #1 seeded. After that, the governing bodies split to show a champ from each governing board to ensure that a separate voice is heard from both NTSC and PAL backers. However, it has been clear for awhile that the PAL player has better stats, so the overall was awarded, however, Conversions are not 100% accurate by any means, so the NTSC comparison remains. However, until they can be proven or disproven, overall means simply overall, so to the 2nd chart.

The 2nd Chart is only overall, and not both PAL and NTSC combined. You must be an overall champ to get credit for days. Brian Gallo has been the victim of this during his Jan/Feb 99 Spirts as NTSC champ. In this chart, I also gave double-credit on days with Lead Changes, since I felt that regaining or getting a championship for the first time on a day someone else had it was worth a day's credit!

To no further adue... my reasoning for what you see. Lots of these dates, I had to make up cause it's hard to remember, but the first on which I didn't count in the standings was Pre-Feb stuff by Gregg Gorczowski... I did start counting after Feb 1, so the Japanese would at least get a say in part of it (Salam Salhani) WR's were pretty spread at this time, but Salam had the Strong LR, Moo, and some other tracks, so he was #1 til Booth came along and snagged enough records to take over.

His greatness was taken away by one individual, and this one person took Booth from 1st to about 9th! Booth then fought valiantly in persute of the championship. Gregg quit, but his records stood for awhile. Booth and others chipped away at his lead, til one day, Booth made it over the 2 WR Point mark that Gregg was at and recaptured before Quinn could do so. Booth's Rainbow SC Stuff was an example of Why Booth was able to get it back.

From here on, it was clear sailing for Booth, and it seemed that his only challenge, Quinn was burning out, and is now rendered ineffective. Little did Booth know, but Rookies Launspach and Engel were taking Chuck's Site by storm and taking records on their. They of course didn't know that Booth still held alot of What Engel had and a good amount of the Launspach Records. Andy flew up the charts. Wonn discovered SC's and flew up as well. Quinn held onto his stuff and a 3-way tie emerged, but Engel was still a bit behind. Whalls, yet another rookie was nipping at the heals, but with the Phoney WR and Whalls' little WR output, there was little chance at this point.

Well, Andy did make an attack one day, and pulled ahead in the Phoney WR for just a bit, but you must hold for a day to be champ, and he didn't, so Booth maintains, while Wonn and Quinn hope for a cancel out to get the spot. (neither of them knowing anything about this either but ow well) Andy did know about Booth at this point, but didn't know that Booth was the one to beat nessessarily. To make a long story not much shorter, Launspach took the Phoney WR and never looked back.

Later, a new measure of greatness was put together by influences of the Phoney WR... the LAUNDA POINT SYSTEM! Andy led here all summer, with Engel helping right behind. Sometimes Booth would get Engel, or Whalls Get Booth or Whalls get Engel, but Andy was untouchable. Engel did get close, and even Wonn made it in the top 4 too, but these Feared 4 were a tough 4-some to understroke. Paul Solo made a quick top 4 appearance, and Sorce played Non-SC spoiler. All rivals fled, and the fear 4 lived on.

Later, it got more diverse, and the 4-some weakened. A new player showed up to take points... Jonathan Bernier. He was good, but still not to the Feared 4 Stuff, so he gobbled up points on his way. The inactivity of Engel was hurting Launspach's Lead, and Booth knew it! After Whalls did his thing, Booth went on a mad run before Andy could use the new College Term as an excuse, but Engel made good one more time as Indianola's Protector by beating Booth hard, and giving Andy his lead back. This did keep him ahead for a few more weeks, but Booth's activity finally put the feared 4 era of Andy's to a close.

Now Bernier got strong and it was a 3-way battle that Booth hung onto cause of his deverse but consistent play... Andy fought good at times, but eventually buckled to a new life, and it was a matter of 2. Booth was clearly dominent at this point, but Bernier was looking dangerous. Bernier did help Booth, and he was complete. Then Booth helped Bernier, and Bernier took off. This lead would rarely be challenged in the next 10 months, and when it did, only Booth could get close.

Several others were filling the top spots at times, but with most of the Feared 4 inactive, Bernier was uncontested. Back and forth action between his big lead and Booth being next to him highlighted his couragious play. It was not til later did Booth get a little too much momentum. Well Bernier did what he always did and defended yet again.

This time though, he had tons of comeback artists, and Peter Elsaesser to go after him. Booth weakened for a while, but Peter was very strong and eventually overthrew Bernier just after Booth got a taste of the championship by default. However Elsaesser had to go back to the military, and out of nowhere 2 months before Peter's last champ day, Penev jumps into the top 5 in the world, and flys up, much like Bernier. He didn't stop until he took Booth, then Elsa, and Penev ended holding onto the lead forever during a drought in Kart.

However plenty of Phynoms like Bukrim and Marsden were doing well during this era. Anyhow Gallo finally got the NTSC championship for awhile, then eventually, Peter and Gallo both passed Penev and both fought for the overall daily. This was quite interesting indeed, but eventually, Gallo got the best of him and dish ran away with the spoon! Who will catch Gallo? Stay Tuned!

A Champion from Holland returned back in March to prove a point. Is Kart just the game Steven Zwartjes cannot compete to the level of the best? Steven knew this would be his greatest challege in his career. He trained seriously on and off through the months, and got advice from his gaming corner in Europe as well as asked about little things here and there from Homesteader Kevin Booth. At first, he was making great strides, but nothing too earth shattering, then it happened... He followed Mike Simmons all the way into the top 4 players... Penev,Gallo, and those 2. It was unclear who would buckle, cause we are talking some serious fierceness here. There is no easy victory here. We got Penev which has the potential to rip people to shreds and do it with ease. We have Simmons that has seen it all, and has learned humility, especially in Non-sc. He has went and used a very relaxed and laid back approach to climbing to the top. Then what can I say about Gallo... This guy was just amazing, and always will be. Definitely a true legend of the game. Against all odds, Steven used all his instincts and what he has learned in the past, and put all the critics to sleep. countless WRs, countless LKR drops.... However, Steven knew there was no way he was gonna get the respect and get that #1 spot without issueing a true challenge to himself. He decided to take Gallo out on his very home course... Luigi Raceway! Gallo has held this WR for years! with an original strategy, Zwartjes won the last battle and passes Brian Gallo. He sets some last big times, EVEN IN SC! He retires with an LKR of 0! I'm sure he will be back someday to finish some stuff someday, but Steven has proven himself in battle once more, and can continue his gaming career with an important point made. No game is outside the swing of a determined Karter. Steven's lesson to you all is very clear to us, and if someone is to pass him, they will have to take this advice with much sincerity.

Well, after many months of hard work, and some hard times in kart, we have a new Champion! Brian Gallo was able to pass Steven Zwartjes in matchups, and ever since has taken the Title, and may never be caught. Brian Gallo to this day is still working on his weaknesses to guarantee he still keeps his title!

Conversions were set to 1.2024, so with those new rates in force, Steven Zwartjes was named the champion as of that date. Here is what was in the email to everyone: Kart 64 Players now recognizes Dex Ghosts to base the conversion rate rather than Frame Rates. This of course means that we now have the new rate of 1.2024, which takes effect today on Monday, February 26th, 2001 at 10:21 am pacific time. Below I'll answer general concerns, and explain exactly what this means to all that are involved. I decided to not show an overall from this point on, so passed this date, I will not keep track of the overall in the champions page. For those, check the REX pages maintained by Michael Liem on the records page.

Ok, after some time to think, I did change my mind. Steven took over for a long time, but then, Sami Cetin came back, and in a couple months' time, passed Steven for the #1 spot in Non-sc. He maintained his lead very well, holding off Steven's small challenge to regain the throne and a huge battle with William Lacey, who passed Zwartjes into second and became the first ARR God. During his reign, he set several famed, insane times, such as Wario Stadium 3:39.99. Just as he began turning on the heat in an attempt to pass Penev's 12 WRs overall and to reach 2.5 AvgFin, a new challenger was on the rise!

The career of the Dutch Michael Jongerius began during the reign of his compatriot Zwartjes, playing for a bit then stopping to focus on SMK. Jongerius came back late in 2001 and gradually improved his ranks to Elite F at the end of the year. Then he learned the strats and worked hard at it. By the time Sami took over, Jongerius had already reached King C. He advanced quickly and steadily, and then...in July...he blew from King A to Legend B in less than a month! Defenders of ranks along the way were passed effortlessly by this purely non-sc freak. He had Legend A at the end of 2002 with room to spare. Jongerius passed all the NTSC players early on in 2003, then proceeded to get his first WR at Rainbow Road, although it was immediately beaten. Cetin fought gallantly against Jongerius' surge of times. With Lacey in the picture battling with Cetin, Jongerius' movements past Penev and Zwartjes made for an intense 3-way battle! Lacey backed off for a while, leaving Jongerius to start devouring Cetin's records. At July 1st, Jongerius became the world champion and also reached GOD on ARR! He didn't stop there but instead brought on more WR battles with Cetin and Lacey. Cetin stepped off, as did Lacey, leaving Jongerius to cruise to the lowest ever recorded AvgFin score, 1.625! Phenomenal uprising Eric Habrich flew up the ladder throughout the year and passed the now-inactive Cetin to lower Jongerius' AvgFin score and become the third GOD-ranked player, but he retired before he could seriously damage Jongerius' massive lead.

Sometimes, you think you will never see a bigger star hit the scene than Michael Jongerius, and that PAL players will be the only top players in the world, for the end of time. However, an unknown player from an even more unexpected state (Nebraska), decides to take it apon himself to show just how much PAL really sux. Seriously though, the 13th proves to be unlucky to Michael Jongerius and the PAL dominance has been broken up for the first time since the Gallo/Elsa/Simmons eras of the 1999-2001 time frame. So who is this masked man? Where did he come from? Who cares! Not only did he make the god rank, but he did it in under a year, and then the very next year, after a long break, he became the 12th different person to became world champion. I can remember when he was an espiring Elite, so I decided to drop him an IM. We talked about College basketball and he commented on how godly my LR time was, and asked me for advice on that course. Do I ever miss those days. Now all 32 of his Non-sc times are ahead of me. Either way, shortly after that, he went from Elite A to Legend in 20 something days, and just never looked back. I was glad to have had the NTSC Non-sc championship for 3 weeks before he flew past me like I was standing still. He doubted the #1 spot, but he did see himself at least splitting those pal bastards up, so he went after it with a passion I haven't seen in a long time. I always felt he would someday be our top player, cause I just seem a level of fire and passion that I have not seen in a kart player for a very long time. Ok, so who do I speak of? No other than the new and perhaps very last Non-sc World Champion, Eric Habrich! So who could catch him? Well here's a clue... He has worse grammar than me ;)

Well it didn't last long. Michael Jongerius went on a very impressive world record spree, and HABS MMF WR submission wasn't enough to curb it. Also, as of Jan 31st, 2005, Michael Jongerius takes over Steven Zwartjes record for days of holding the world championship. Hab is making a comeback, so maybe someday that could be in jeopardy, but for now, MJ gets the honors.



Like I said... nothing clear-cut or 100% positive, but at least something to the tribute of our past greats. We thank all the champions for putting their talents on specticle for all of us, and to set a standard of greatness for many great Karters to come!