Like in the past 2 years, this topic is dedicated to acknowledge the most extreme WRs driven within the previous year.
I will just list the new WRs driven in 2017, as poll choices lead to bias and restrict WRs that should really be in contention. Then people can post which one deserves to be called the sickest one of the heap (I have a feeling which one it might be...that said there are MANY contenders this time around)!

For full disclosure the winners in previous years:
2015: KB1 NBT 45"76 by Sportsguy001
2016: DP2 NBT 1'24"97 (incl. 16"77 WR flap) by KVD

Please feel free to specify separate PAL and NTSC winners as well, we shouldn't encourage direct comparisons between the two too much (in my opinion anyway). Both games (systems) and competitions are great in their own right. You could even argue that we shouldn't be comparing between different courses and you would be right. But this is just for a little fun discussion and seeing which achievement is perceived as the sickest.


So, here we go:

NTSC
-DP1 NBT 1'07"82 by Aron
-DP1 NBT 13"27 by Aron
-BC1 NBT 1'25"32 by Aron
-MC2 NBT 1'01"63 by ScouB
-MC2 NBT 11"12 by ScouB
-CI1 NBT 50"87 by ScouB
-CI1 NBT 9"81 by ScouB
-DP2 NBT 1'22"53 by KVD
-DP2 NBT 16"25 by KVD
-BC2 NBT 19"19 by KVD
-MC3 NBT 1'24"24 by ScouB
-MC3 NBT 16"33 by ScouB
-KB1 NBT 8"77 by ScouB
-MC4 NBT 1'29"27 by ScouB
-MC4 NBT 17"53 by ScouB
-DP3 NBT 1'13"17 by KVD
-DP3 NBT 14"26 by KVD
-VL2 NBT 45"99 by KVD
-VL2 NBT 8"45 by KVD
-RR NBT 1'23"71 by KVD

PAL
-DP1 NBT 1'09"96 by ScouB
-DP1 NBT 13"59 by ScouB
-MC2 NBT 1'05"63 by ScouB
-MC2 NBT 12"02 by ScouB
-CI1 NBT 53"76 by Roach
-CI1 NBT 10"34 by KVD
-MC3 NBT 16"86 by ScouB
-MC4 NBT 1'32"35 by Chris
-DP3 NBT 14"64 by KVD
-VL2 NBT 8"69 by KVD

Good luck deciding, I for one am having huge problems even deciding on a top-3 per system.  

Antistar wrote on 01/02/18 at 10:38:45:


Haha! Might be the most effort I ever had to spent on a PR, I really went to hell to beat that 8"70, just so we could finally have a video of this cursed WR. But it seems it was all for nothing now.  

Here we go...funny I thought deciding NTSC would be harder, but it wasn't. I reached the same top-3 as  you ScouB. On PAL there are several worthy candidates, whatever you pick it feels unfair.  

NTSC
1- VL2 45"99 (unexpected barrier breaker, crazy race on crazy course. May be my best 5-lap)
2- MC2 11"12 (very special because of all the super advanced strats invented to get there, just insane)
3- DP1 1'07"82 (I would have stopped at 1'07"9x if I even got there at all. True 5-lap mastery!)

PAL
1- MC2 12"02 (1 of the most shocking WR chronos in my memory, the gap to #2 makes it mythical)
2- VL2 8"69 (finally a video of the cursed WR, possibly my hardest worked for PR of all time. 8"8x laps looks sick already!)
3- DP1 13"59 (I was really hesitating between this and the 5-lap, but 13"67 was already close to maxed and no strat change was done to get into 13"5x, WTF!?)

ScouB and me seem to agree for the most part about which ones are special. I would also mention the MC2 5-lap, it's the biggest WR gap in modern times and I can imagine it's super hard to be consistent enough with that funky strategy. I would also make a mention of DP2 16"25, which surprised me a lot, as the 16"26 of last year looked so bloody perfect already.
The orders are more or less random for me too, they could be different if you ask me again tomorrow.  

NTSC:

- VL2 0'45"99 (KVD)
- MC2 0'11"12 (ScouB)
- KB1 0'08"77 (ScouB)


PAL:

- VL2 0'08"69 (KVD)
- MC2 0'12"02 (ScouB)
- MC4 1'32"35 (C. Wild)

Ultimately I feel that the popular consensus is a match up between Karel's VL2 times and ScouB's MC2 times.  All of ScouB's MC2 world records stand alone, no one else even comes close.  Even so, Karel's VL2 PAL flap, his VL2 NTSC 5-lap, and ScouB's KB1 NTSC flap are the WRs that had me the most awestruck in 2017.  I vividly remember thinking to myself whenever I saw Karel's VL2 flap on PAL and ScouB's KB1 flap on NTSC that "No one will ever beat these times!"  And I still stand by those thoughts  .  Also, there's C. Wild's MC4 PAL 5-lap.  MC4 is a marathon and a course that I have no love for which gives me mad respect for his performance there  .

wxyz wrote on 01/03/18 at 12:17:59:


Classic Moll brilliance.  
But those are legit claims for WR of the year anyway. Both are superb 5-laps.

Short answer from me:

MC2 PAL NBT 12''02 by Scoub

Out of this world!!!  

A crate of Hertog Jan. You receive it when you drive your next SMK WR.