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Waiting for the results... 

The following message appears when you try to launch whatever function on the left menu of ZakStunts:

"Warning: mysql_fetch_row(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL result resource in /home/virtual-ftp/stunts/zak/engine.php on line 9
Unknown column '0' in 'field list'"

I think this happen since the past "crucial" midnight...

[Highlights:]

Waiting for the announced official page in FTT  , here it is the current statement of the Official NORH races (and a place for future comments about it):

Highlights:

• Duplode has won the half of the races he took part 
• Chulk has to defend his 2nd place from Duplode: only a higher number of silver medals is conferming him in current position
  

Questions:

• Who will be the next driver able to climb on one of the 2 tallest steps of the podium?
• When will we see JacStunts' drivers on FTT?

No one can't avoid to say that we are probably in front of the strong dominance of Stunts driver, not only in order of tha current winning stripe, but in order of the replays he succeeds to make (see Z88's replay, but only for example). What is realizing, race after race, is more and more surprising, almost astonishing. I "met" him in WSC almost 2 years ago, and I had way to understand that he was already the absolute best driver, as I said yet on the Forum. But I think that the results is obtaining this year in Zak Stunts deserve a more proof analysis.
What do you think about? What has he more than all other drivers, historycal and legendarious included?Only an immense skill? An immense amount of time to spend in order to try and re-try to find unimaginable bug-jumps? A secret as it could be a forced slow motion during the race so to manage in a unknown way some passages? Other?
Let's give a right weight about his perfomances in order to understand as well as possible the real phenomenom named Ayrton....

Wow, dazzling experience for me this morning! 
I took part at a periodic event called "48 ore Volkswagen" (English for "ore" = hours), planned this weekend on Monza circuit (10 km from my house... ). After the inscription and a short briefing about safe driving (30 minutes), all the participants at the session (50 every 30 minutes) have made an absurd and comic run to the cars, in order to preempt the most powered. I miss the Golf R32  , but I jumped into a white new Volkswagen Scirocco (1.4 160 HP  ) beside a true driver.  Seat very low, and... fasten your seabelt!
One lap for me (only one lap...  ) and one lap for him. I never drive a car with a so high grip: while I was driving into the second chicane, "Variante della Roggia" (after a strong brake from about 200 kmh to 70 kmh), and above all in first Lesmo curve (pushing on the gas from its half), it was very exciting! But it has been nothing compared with the lap where the driver had his hands on the wheel and his feet on the pedals... While I approached the 1st Lesmo curve modering a bit my speed, after the short lunge subsequent at the "Variante della Roggia", pushing on the gas only when I inserted the car in the curve, the driver has not lift his foot from the gas, exiting from 1st Lesmo curve about at 150 Kmh, obvously with half car on the curb...    But this was nothing respect the entrance in the "Variante" Ascari after the "Serraglio" straight, when I thought "No! The car cannot stay on the road at this speed!  ". But the car has showed (thanks also to the great ability to the driver) a fantastic grip, and we have exiting from the triple curve of the chicane with a perfect path at a "supersonic" speed....  (sorry, I can't report the exactly speed, I have not way to see the tachymeter while my mouth was open and I was thinking "It's not possible!"....  ).

I have to say that I have not regrets having missed a more power car. One lap is not enough to take confidence with a very high power car, and that one I used was really suitable to feel true emotions having good drive sensation without too much scare about a mistake approaching the curves, or during the lap as passenger... 
Anyway, now I have seen as the event works, I think that when there will be the next "48 ore" I'll be there again... 

I think that would be good if FTT could include a page with the complete Ranking of the Official NORH Races competed on the WEB, that is since SDR NORH contest started, in May 2006. 
Adding the results of FTT with the two SDR seasons, currently we have the situation described in the attached image.

Highlights:

- Duplode is rising very strong and soon he could reach the top
- Best Average Gold for Duplode
- Only Mark and Krys ALWAYS on the tracks... 

I've just seen the track with TB: WOW! 
I think it will be an adrenalic and funny race, one of the best of this year! I'm too eager to go down on the track! 

I try to express my thought (awful? genial? mad? Please say it here!) about a new car rating system in ZakStunts.

At the beginning of the new system, Zak attributed after hard tests the bonus percentage for every car. The result was very good, but sure the percentages could be tuned race after race. In this way we would have obtained a more and more balanced car rating near (for how it's possibile) to the perfect rating. Obviously, a car can be more favorite than another one in order of the track design. But thinking about the general features of every car (speed, grip, acceleration, brakes) we can say that averagely:

- LM002 is usually the car wherewith we obtain the highest time.
- Indy is usually the car wherewith we obtain the lowest time.
- Using a Porsche 962 we obtain a lower time than using a Countach
- And so going on.

Powergear is sure a very important variable, but paying attention during the design, we can avoid that this feature can twist the rating.

I think that the original idea with the new system was just to individuate the ideal car rating, a sort of universal rating for Stunts cars, a rating that could permit to everyone in many cases to race and win with his favorite car.
Anyway applying race by race different percentages, trying to induce to race with cars usually not used (increased bonus for unused car, a higher bonus for car unused from more races, hard lower bonus if the same car occupies the full podium), has lead us  very far from the idea about a universal car rating (if this  really was the starting goal as I thought).
Currently we usually see races where only two cars can really obtain good times, often the cars with a very high bonus. But this affects the races in a bad way.
Maybe some tracks would be wonderful to race with a certain car. But everyone will have to race on that tracks only with the cars that will have a high bonus.
I think that the concept at the base of the system (race and try to win with the car you prefer thanks to a more and more balanced car rating) is currently quite far.

So, and this is my first major proposal, I think that we have to aim to a quite fixed rating, tuning it only after 3 or 6 months, basing the eventual modifies of the rating only after seeing the average results of the car used in those months, and not after every race.
In this way it will be the design of the track, and not the floating car bonus attributed in that moment, to determinate the best car to use.

Moreover, and this is the second major proposal, I think that, to obtain a more fixed rating, the bonus system should be different than the current. Let me trying to explain.
Currently the time realized is lowered or increased in order of the positive/negative bonus of every car. For example, in Z87, my 48,55 with Indy becomes a time higher than a minute, and my 1.08,90 with Ferrari becomes about 51 seconds.
As it has been already discussed in another topic, this system has a "bug", that is drivers, in hard maxouting phase, could not to see decreased their time on the scoreboard even they had lowered their race time for 5 or 10 centiseconds.

But we can use another system:

1) We assume that the absolutely slowest car is the LM002
2) We fix the car rating of the LM002 at 1. This means that times realized with LM002 will not modified. For example, realizing 1.05,30 with LM002 we ALWAYS see on the scoreboard 1.05,30.
3) We attribute a higher rating for the other cars that ALWAYS increases their times (for example, if the rating for INDY is 1,50, then realizing 45 seconds with it, we'll see on the scoreboard 1.07,50 (67,5 seconds, that is 45 x 1,50).

So:

Indy >>>  Race Time 45,00  >>>  Scoreboard 67,5
Indy >>>  Race Time 44,90  >>>  Scoreboard 67,35

No more situations where, for example, a driver have to improve for 0,20 seconds to see on the scoreboard an improvement for only 0,10 seconds.


Finally a minor proposal in order to tuning furtherly the system:

If ZakStunts'system could relieve the highest speed reached reading a replay (dstien could help us? ), the system could attribute a higher rating than fixed car rating when it relieves that powergear has been reached, 245 Mph (or higher) for Indy, Ferrari and Corvette, and 203 Mph (or higher) for Acura.

So, for example:

Indy >> Race Time 45,00 - Highest speed relieved 185 Mph >> Rating 1,5 >> Scoreboard 67,50
Indy >> Race Time 30,00 - Highest speed relieved 245 Mph >> Rating 2,5 >> Scoreboard 75,00


OK, I'm ready to read your comments...

Zak, what do you think to implement the LTB table with a new column indicating the car used beside every new leading time? Maybe it will be hard to make the change from China, but when you'll return here... 

[ISM 2009]

ISM 2009

I'm glad to inform you on the International Stunts Master 2009!
This edition will be characterized from big news indeed, which will regard every topic of the event: Tracks, Formula, Leading Time Bonus (new system never seen before!) and Replays. Discover the new features reading the following info and... prepare to see really a dazzling and engaging contest!

TRACKS

All the tracks will be created from contest manager, but all can be sure that he won't be able to realize useful replays before the start of the contest, thanks to the following system: just before the publication of the official tracks, I will ask to three participants to tell me a letter of the alphabet. I'll insert the three letters in the name of the track obtaining so new .TRK files, which will be the official ones used in the contest. For example, I create a track named A09.TRK. Subsequently, just before its publication, I ask to 3 drivers to tell me one letter each of them, at own their choice. Thinking that the 3 letters they tell me are B, G and X, I will rename the file A09.TRK in A09-BGX.TRK. In this way, whatever replay I had realized before on that track won't be utilizable.


FORMULA

The ISM 2009 formula joins elements from the first two editions: simultaneous race on three tracks researching the best sum of time. Differently from the past, the event will be open to all drivers, but to participate they will have to take part to a specific qualifying session.

Qualifying
Drivers will have two weeks to realize their fastest times on a single track in order to reach the qualification at the Final Phase. There will be only two updates (the first one planned after the first week, the second one planned 3 days before the end) but a LTB system will push to discover own cards. A the end of the 2 weeks, only the fastest 80% of drivers (LTB included) will be qualified, until a maximum of 10 drivers.
For example:
1) If 8 drivers will send a time to qualify, only the fastest 6 (80% of 8 = 6,4) will take part at the Final Phase;
2) If 10 drivers will send a time to qualify, only the fastest 8 will take part at the Final Phase;
3) If 13 or more drivers will send a time to qualify, only the fastest 10 will take part at the Final Phase.

Race
Drivers will have to race simultaneously on 3 tracks for almost 4 weeks. The winner will be the driver who will obtain the best sum of times of all tracks, including sum of Leading Time Bonus got.


LEADING TIME BONUS

Qualifying
There will be two checkpoint where it will be relieved the position of the drivers.
First driver at every checkpoint will gain 1"50 bonus on his final time.
Second driver at every checkpoint will gain 1"00 bonus on his final time.
Third driver at every checkpoint will gain 0"50 bonus on his final time.

Race
Leading Time Bonus will be calculated in this way: 0,05 seconds for every new leading time sent on every different track. Anyway, there are some restrictions:

1) A driver can get the Time Bonus only one time in a day, that is only one time between 00:00:00 and 23:59:59 (GMT+1) of every day.
2) Time Bonus will be assigned to a driver only if he's not already the provisional leader when he sent the new replay.
3) Contest Manager will get the Time Bonus only if his time will result the best at the moment of the update.
4) Time Bonus won't be assigned in the last two days of Race, which will be Quiet Days.

You can see an example about how this concept works watching the attached image.


UPDATE

The site will be usually update daily, so to permit to the drivers to see the statement about positions and LTB got.


REPLAYS

Sending
Drivers can send own replays by mail "as is", or zipped with WinZip/WinRar and protected with password. In every case, drivers will have to write in the subject of the mail the following data:

1) Time(s) of the replay(s)
2) Track(s) related.

For example, if a driver sent a mail attaching replays realized on Track A and Track C, the subject of the mail should be: Track A: 1.10,55     Track C: 1.05,60
The time(s) written in the subject of the mail will be assumed as official time. This will permit a faster update consenting to postpone the check of the replays (with RPLINFO utility).


Checking
Replays not zipped. Replays sent "as is" will be checked as soon as possible with RPLINFO utility. The presence of divergences between official times declared and effective times relieved checking the replays, will comport a penalty time: 1,00 second if time sent was a leading time and 0,20 seconds if it wasn't a leading time.

Replays zipped and protected. Replays sent zipped and protected with password, will be checked just after the end of the race. Just before the end of the race drivers who sent encrypted replays will have to communicate the password used for all replays sent (the same for all file zipped, thanks...) permitting to the contest manager to verify the correctness of times declared. The presence of divergences between official times declared and effective times relieved checking the replays will comport the following action:

- If the time was not a leading time, the driver will got 0,20 seconds of penalty time
- If the time was a leading time, the driver will be excluded from the final classification

The omitted communication of the password, will comport the exclusion of the classification too.


Contest Manager replays
As usual in SDR, Contest Manager will publish his times zipped and protected by password contextually at the update of the scoreboard.


DATES

05 Dec 2008 - Contest Manager asks to 3 drivers to publish on the forum a specific letter of the alphabet, at own their choice, that has to be included in the name of file *.TRK which will be used for Qualifying. The 3 drivers will have to publish their own letter just in time for the start of the Qualifying.

08 Dec 2008 – Start Qualifying on a single track
13 Dec 2008 – 1st Checkpoint
20 Dec 2008 – 2nd Checkpoint
23 Dec 2008 – End Qualifying

28 Dec 2008 - Contest Manager asks to 3 drivers to communicate him a new letter that has to be included in the name of files *.TRK which will be used for the Race. The 3 drivers will have to communicate their own new letter just in time for the start of the Race.

04 Jan 2009 - Start Race on 3 tracks simultaneously
29 Jan 2009 - Finish Race

---------------

OK, hoping this could be a glad news for all Stunts drivers, the appointment is for next December, less than three months from today.  Meanwhile, you can already see the new logo...

Which is your personal best replay ever?

I mean the replay you consider the best you have realized ever, the replay that made (and make) you satisfied as no other ones, the replay that you would seeagain one thousand times being really proud about it...

Please, describe your race (difficult passages, strategy, feelings and emotions), and publish it attaching the .RPL file at your post!

Just arrived from a short visit to Montecarlo, this attachments are for all love Lancia Integrale (not Stunts' Lancia, but the real one.... ), found near swimming pools curves...

I discovered today this German site:

http://www.snipah.de/stunts

Last update is 8th June 2008.

Can anybody (maybe speaking in German) try to contact the manager...? 

Highlights:

1) Ayrton's dominance in every section, from the beginning to the end
2) Alan Rotoi always second at every intermediate
3) Only Ayrton and me choose the left at the initial twilight: slow passage at the barrier, but higher speed for the next tract. Ayrton succeeds to find a best angle than me jumping from the loop, making so a faster curve before the barriers.
4) Amazing flying over the tunnel around 50-53 seconds for Ayrton and Alan Rotoi. I tried the same jump but without conviction...

Personal consideration: really a pity for me not to be able to race in last week due to my holidays. As I wrote in ZakStunts message-board, I had maxouted only my first 60 seconds, and seeing the analisys, until there I was still in race for the podium... And to be so near to Alan Rotoi after 50 seconds of race (0,30 my gap from him) makes me quite satisfied, above all because this is only my 3rd official race with Lancia....

Well, not so professional but quite useful... 

Hoping this could bring more drivers in NORH contest... 

http://digilander.libero.it/stunts.SDR/index.htm

I'm glad to publish the video: "NORH Races - The Real Drive".
You can consider it as a tribute to the NORH drivers and their great passion showed in last two SDR seasons.

http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=lM6fCGcTp2Y

Enjoy in it, waiting for the imminent start of FTT, the new great NORH season by Krys TOFF!

[The Stunts Olympic Games 2008]

I'm glad to inform you about a new Stunts event: The Stunts Olympic Games 2008!
Beginning from the 8th June 2008 until the 29 June 2008, SDR will admit the new happening open to all drivers!
The Stunts Olympic Games will be quite different from normal contests where usually drivers have to race as fast as possible. In fact, the Games will include 6 different specialties wherewith drivers will have the possibility to show all their skill, but also their fantasy and their desire to enjoy with their loved game!
Drivers won't be obliged to take part in all 6 specialties or games. Everyone will have to choose in how many single games he will want to partake.
Every specialty will have an own classification that will include the assignation of the classic medals: gold, silver and bronze. But there will be also a general classification that will award the drivers who will catch the highest number of gold medals. In case of deuce, it will be considered the silver medals, and eventually the bronze medals.
So we will maybe have more single specialty champions and only one global winner. Anyway, the Stunts Olympic Games don't want to produce tight battles to demonstrate the absolute best driver. Even if every driver will want sure to aim to reach his best as in every normal contest, I hope this event (I repeat, OPEN to all!) could be greeted as a joyful and happy happening, able to arouse something near to the real Olympic spirit!


FORMULA

The Stunts Olympic Games will be articulated in 3 weeks, with two specialties (games) for every week.


GAMES (In alphabetical order)

Crashing - Fastest crash time touching whatever obstacle (Finish pillars, water and terrain excluded).
Flying -Longest aerial time (searching for crazy bugs...).
Jumping - Highest number of jumps in less than 90 seconds.
Powering - Longest Powergear time through a full-obstacle area.
Speeding - Highest speed crashing into a Finish pillar.
Swifting - Fastest time on a very short and simple track (a real millisecond "war").


TRACKS

The Games will be disputed in three different "locations" (tracks): each one of them will admit 2 different Games.


OTHER INFO

You'll find many other details (Program, Cars, Detailed Rules for every specific game) visiting the official site, soon ready! 

I'm glad to publish a video about some SDR golden moments: "The scent of the speed". You can consider it as a tribute to the dazzling SDR RH seasons and their protagonists.

http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=az-eaIU-C1Y

Hi all, in order to send the invite/advice for ISM 2008, I miss only the mail addresses of Werda and Zweigelt. After a rapid search I found nothing. It seems they are not joined to the Forum and checking ZakStunts, I found only a participation of Zweigelt in 2005, but in pipsqueaks page there's not his mail address near his name. Does anybody know their mail addresses? Thanks in advance.

I think to make a pleasing thing to all informing that SDR site includes from now two short interviews just released me by AbuRaf70 and Duplode! You can accede to them from Archive Page: good reading! 

http://digilander.libero.it/stunts.SDR/index_SDR.htm