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I'm throwing a party on Saturday and I need some nice sailor songs to play!

Anything that comes to your mind and is not too downbeat

So, a guy walks into a bar. He goes over to the bartender and says "heyy, can I have a beer?". The bartender says "sure", flips him a beer and then casts a weird, prolonged look at the guy, who in turn breaks into a big smile of recognition.

This happened last night!
The guy's name was SuperBrian and the bartender's name was Bonzai Joe.

They then proceeded to serve beers together behind the bar even though they were both total newcomers. After the party ended, they went over to SuperBrian's place and played card drinking games and a little bit of live racing in the morning. They were joined by Pavekiller, a serbian guy and a lithuanian woman sleeping on SuperBrian's floor. Bonzai Joe left them, very sleepy, at 8.30AM.

Soon the Tour de France will begin again. And does anyone care anymore? I think in the end, I still care. I don't know how. It's also fun to guess who will be taken out of the race for doping and who will manage to stay in, and to see if any pipsqueaks are not doped. I have a suspicion that Sylvain Chavanel does not use doping. This is because when he won a stage in the last tour, he was so extremely happy, and he cried. Cheaters don't do that. When they win, they feel the guilt, and the victory is only half good. You can see it on their faces if they are doped. They smile falsely, celebrate only a little bit and then "act" in the interviews.

Now that only Zakstunts (and FTT?) remains active, we really need someone to set up a fun Indy competition which is easier than Zakstunts.

I happened to browse some old scoreboards and came across ZCT60. I think it's the only track of which I can say I was happy to claim 6th place. Look at the top-7: it has 6 absolutely legendary names, and then a strong Chulk in his heyday beating three of them. It made me think: was this the strongest Stunts race ever? But I've come to think of some other really strong races too, which I have listed above. I'm not thinking about races with a really good winning replay (like every race in 2008) or where two pipsqueaks have had a strong duel (like ZCT35, Torino or ZCT89), but big races with lots of strong replays and an intense finish...
Please remind me of really good non-ZCT races too!

I've saved a few of the best pieces of news generated by the randomizer when loading Zakstunts! Such nostalgia...
Enjoy and comment:


2005-03-16
vamologocomisso
I remember the day I was born: The rain was terrible, all the lightning outside of the mansion scared me. The pins in my head hurts me. Suddenly, I heard a voice yelling : "Its alive, its alive". It was Dr. Alan "Frankstein" Rotoi, my creator. 


2007-07-26
DieselJoe
"what is your point?"
I just wanted to point out, that my cock is bigger than yours. By the way you don't have to take everything I say seriously...
Unless I talk about the enormous size of my mighty cock!



2006-01-08
Alain
may I go to bed without those south american indians sending replays faster than me? thanks.



2005-10-01
Akoss Poo
Happy birthday XTorres, but... who knew by password? I`m Akoss.. who knew my password? I want the girlfriend of my friend!!!



2004-02-23
Alain il professore
okay, lets all remind CTG level before he used manual transmission... a donkeY. Now using manual trans, he turned into a blood thirsty donkey.



2005-04-22
Usrin
48900!!! :-)))




2006-02-07
CTG
Rotoi, you are right! BJ mustn't be punihed because of Chicago Striker, I think he made it just for fun after seeing Gelato Baker. But Gelato's owner must be punished for sure. Who's IP was it, Zak?




2005-06-21
Akoss Poo
The formula is simple: when Ayrton's replay is good enough and LTB is safe, it's time to drive for Gutix. When "he is done", Chulk's time will be created, if I am right. One of my dreams is to destroy this not really funny ghost invasion.



2005-04-05
alain
advice to a young pipsqueak: dont worry if, downloading an antique replay, back from 2002 or 2003, and trying maxing it out by your own means to make it better than those days champions could... it will be the hardest challenge. Or, if you are trying to replay the permanent competition tracks and ignore how to reach those incredible times... your hopes will vanish. As the great bonzai joe, argammon, or alanrotoi chewed their young teeth on them. It's a lifetime challenge... You will just become another champion if you are trying again after all hope has vanished.



2006-05-06
CTG
You must just b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff and b?ff!!! Yes, I'm drunk!

Take your best guesses for the heir of the Stunts community.

When Zak dies in the middle of ZCT719, the competition will change name to:

XXXXXstunts

How about, instead of an amateur league, a sub-scoreboard for everyone who has been here less than 1 year (counting from 1st replay submission)?

Purpose: stop new pipsqueaks from being demotivated by their distance from RH-efficient old pipsqueaks.

In the course of ZCT91, we will find out something very important: whether Ayrton is still playing. With nothing more to achieve, it is indeed possible that he will stop racing, but maybe he just loves the game and will keep playing, which I do indeed hope! His Stunts art is priceless, and even if he sometimes kills the contest, he brings an extremely high level to it, which makes it an honour to participate in. I doubt if Ayrton will win the 2009 season. This is simply because I expect him to have problems with motivation.

If Ayrton will not race (and also possibly if he will), the obvious candidate for victory is Duplode - this is because we expect this rising star to keep rising. He has done magic in his replays and shown potential for much easy improvement.

The second obvious candidate is Mark L. Rivers, who seems already to have reached a very high level of Stunts mastery. The championship could depend on how the fast cars are favoured this season, as Mark L. is known to be much better in them.

Then there is the option of a 2004, 2005, 2006 scenario where a relatively new pipsqueak would suddenly emerge, drastically improve and claim the championship.

A motivated CTG could be a serious candidate too.

I myself will have to be the extreme outsider, and I don't think there are other possible winners among the current pipsqueaks - for this season! - SuperBrian and dstien and others may keep improving and become Zakstunts champions in the future.

I'm going to propose again:

1. Erase all the closed tracks and all the records, maybe except the ones on Cherries and Skids, which I know are done with ISA rules. Default, Joes, Helens and Bernies obviously contain trickery made possible because the tracks aren't really closed, you can just do some tricks and not others. It makes no sense 

2. Instead of silly water-covered tracks, simply make an "ISA rules" scoreboard (specify ISA rules on the site).

3. Make a noRH permanent competition too - same DOSBox  (or filming) requirements as Feel The Thrill.

[The first thing that we need to do these special bugs, is know their existence. And like somebody says "the source of knowledge is the experience"; we want to remember those unexpected tricks made in the past, the majority useless and not appearing in the final replay, also we can learn from another driver's replays. Ex; The jump in the start of the cork up/down, the jump sliding over the border of the roof of the tunnel, the jump in the border of the hill, the jump in the back/in the border in the end/start of the banked road, the jump in the ramp down, and a lot more.Another thing is to think that these unusual tricks exist in all sections and in all tracks, like commonly bugs (ex. PG) aren´t product of luck, the matter is that in ones we know more technics to make it happen and in others almost nothing (Ex. Extra G force, Magic Carpet). At last comes the lap where you try to do the trick applying and improving the technic known. For this is needed some method, while searching for a trick do not redrive twice in the same way (in agreement with point 2), try different gas/brake/steering positions and car angles/coordinates/...In the case of ZCT86, I knew the jump of the banked road wall, but not the jump close to the kerb on the paved flat corner, I discovered it accidentally while jumping on it with Porsche 962, but the Bonus was very low, then i try with NSX, the jumps were easy to recreate, more difficult was to reach the land point after the corkscrew jump due to the lack of power of the NSX vs. 962.]

Here is a long expected interview with the "phantom" Ayrton. He has answered many of the questions I asked him, but has also promised to answer more, so stay tuned for part II!



I'm glad you want to answer some questions in the middle of our battles on Rijad and ZCT87, and hope you will not only answer with "yes/no/maybe" 
First of all, I must say we are all very impressed and taken aback by your 8 wins in a row in Zakstunts. Zakstunts has a long history and nobody has ever done something like that before.
Sometimes it seems that you are able to use many more bugs and improrable tricks than the rest of us, let me ask the first question:
do you have a special method for making these bugs happen (your jump onto the banked road on ZCT86 is an example), or do you just try very, very many times?

The first thing that we need to do these special bugs, is know their existence. And like somebody says  "the source of knowledge is the experience"; we want to remember those unexpected tricks made in the past, the majority useless and not appearing in the final replay, also we can learn from another driver's replays. Ex; The jump in the start of the cork up/down, the jump sliding over the border of the roof of the tunnel, the jump in the border of the hill, the jump in the back/in the border in the end/start of the banked road, the jump in the ramp down, and a lot more.
Another thing is to think that these unusual tricks exist in all sections and in all tracks, like commonly bugs (ex. PG) aren´t product of luck, the matter is that in ones we know more technics to make it happen and in others almost nothing (Ex. Extra G force, Magic Carpet).
At last comes the lap where you try to do the trick applying and improving the technic known. For this is needed some method, while searching for a trick do not redrive twice in the same way (in agreement with point 2), try different gas/brake/steering positions and car angles/coordinates/...

In the case of ZCT86, I knew the jump of the banked road wall, but not the jump close to the kerb on the paved flat corner, I discovered it accidentally while jumping on it with Porsche 962, but the Bonus was very low, then i try with NSX, the jumps were easy to recreate,  more difficult was to reach the land point after the corkscrew jump due to the lack of power of the NSX vs. 962.

Imagine a typical Zakstunts race: how do you go about winning? What are your methods (if you are willing to reveal them!) and your habits? Do you drive test laps?

With the actual system i do a lap with very low RH (only for an eventual crash) choosing a fast car (Indy generally)
to recognize the circuit (in the ordinary way) and see possible tricks and shortcuts. If the track is multiway I first see the map. Soon I go to ZakStunts page and see the bonus chart, I choose some cars according to bonus and to the shape of the track. Then I drive one lap with each car selected doing basic tricks and shortcuts, and without taking section times, spending no more than  20´- 30´ per car, only to see which do the best times. Later I drive the car with best time in a new lap, this time trying advanced tricks/shortcuts and taking section times.
Anyway I continue the development of the other cars. Also I listen to music while driving and generally spend near 10 tracks in a day of play, this help to not get bored. Like reading a book take the replay when you have desire and leave it when not. The most important thing is enjoying while racing, this is a game !! not a war (unless CTG says that you are a ghost) ;-)

And more questions:

What is your short-term goal in Stunts, this season?

To have good races. For me is much better a great battle with lots of leaders and replays than win a race alone, but if furthermore I can win races it´s even better. This (2008) was a great season with tight battles against Bonzai Joe, CTG, Duplode and Mark.

What are your long term goals and dreams regarding Stunts?

First keep the relation with the community. Beyond of my poor participation because my lack of english, always read mates posts and know enough of each one. I can´t imagine leaving this community someday, it´s full of good people with who I enjoy a lot and whom I desire the best.

How do you feel about your opponents – are you afraid they will beat you or do you always feel sure you'll win when you've realized your final Zakstunts replays?

None of the two. I consider them like friends (not enemies), admire their replays and learn from them.
Too, in stunts like in races, until the goal you never can consider that a replay is the winner.
First you need to beat all your opponents, when done you need to beat yourself, when done and you can´t beat more yourself you continue without having the winner replay. Even I don´t know the formula for being sure.

Are you going to try and break Renato Biker's (and my) records on the permanent tracks?

Not in mind by now, but if you want ;-).

How did you enter the Stunts world and what were your first impressions?

My first contact with the game was near 1994, but with competitions was in 7/2004 while viewing an abandonware page, a window was opened inviting me to race an online competition of Stunts game. This was "4dsl" managed by "Alan Rotoi" ...

Are you a good noRH pipsqueak?

I don´t think so, my first and only participation in NORH was in ZCT79 (Default) it took me around 1 - 2 hs to do 35.xx but when i send it the system took the time of Skid and put over 1:00 in the scoreboard :-/
Anyway sometimes race in norh against the opponents choosing slows cars but even so it's very easy to beat them.

I miss doing that. We enjoyed that a lot when we were kids and playing at school.

Argammon's current absence is his longest ever. He is known always to return at the same high level, but will he this time? Is this game over? Is it time to write an epitaph for this Stunts legend?

My Rijad battle with Ayrton is documented in this "race diary" I took the time to write during those intense days of September . Zak, if you would like to upload this to the "Articles" section on Zakstunts, I would be very pleased!:




DIARY OF AN ALL-IN RACE

8th September

It's a fight to the death. The winner will win the league and the loser will lose. After the 5th of the seven rounds of the Unskilled Stunts League, the leaderboard is tight. Bonzai Joe 11 points, Ayrton 11 points. If ever I can conduct the complicated and mysterious act of motivating myself for a Stunts race, it would be now. I use the words "winner" (the sound of the word), "1st place" (the visual (phallic? :-S) representation of the number "1" mainly, "legendary Stunts master" (including a strange mental image of kalpen.de, an Indy from above, Stunts news and awed faces by computers) to make the win desirable and thus to justify spending time on this track. It's with the Corvette. I hate the Corvette. Or do I only hate it because I'm playing Ayrton, who seems to be able to beat anyone whenever he feels like it, with quite a margin?
To start the hard work off lightly, I downloaded all the Corvette winning replays from Zakstunts and Unskilled Stunts, put them in their own folder, fetched some raspberries, put on my "Racing" playlist and watched them, studying the behaviour of the car while revelling in the feeling of being Bonzai Joe, not just Jacob. I noticed some special traits of the car and "got the feeling" of it. Mental note not to race with other cars during this race. My smile was weighed down. I love the other cars... So I reminded myself again of the above mentioned motivation factors.
The following step was to make a plan. I would make sure to max out every section before moving on to the next. I would try to have fun racing, race far ahead of the deadline and never accept a section before I did something extraordinary on it.
Open Stunts. Track menu. More tracks. Geartest. Main Menu. Opponent. Skid Vicious. Countach-Jeep-Ferrari-Carrera-Indy-Corvette. Main Menu. Let's Drive. I had seen Alain shifting at 55, Argammon shifting at 58 and Ayrton shifting at 60. And the second shift should be around 107. Let's find out... 60-86-115 seems to be it. And then somewhere around 137...

9th September

Ayrton has sent a strong time to the scoreboard. 1.08.15. Undoubtedly he is trying to psych me. I feel the effect of it spreading like a cancer in me. My awareness makes no difference. However, I am still too determined, and I am going to continue working on the beginning. I believe I have figured it out. Jump from the left side of the corkscrew, bounce on the edge of the tunnel, land quite far to the left on the tunnel, jump to the right, skid hard to the left, land straight on the dirt corner with a high speed. I've got to perform that, and not just perform it, no, I have to perform it at the highest possible speeds. My arms are troublesome again, but I'm fighting the temptation to use this as an excuse and give up the race. I still want to win!

15th September

There are so many things in life to take my mind off racing. This weekend was a mess of strange thoughts, depression, alcohol, wildness, songwriting, night skies... So today I am kind of "hung over" after this: perfect situation for racing. I've just spent 30-40 minutes racing the beginning of Rijad: I found out that after the small jump on the corkscrew, the angle and height of the jump towards the tunnel, which I had to hit exactly at the beginning of the roof of, was largely determined by the timing of my shifting to 3rd gear. I tried back and forth for some times and finally found the optimal time. Then the question was how far to steer to the right in order to get the car straightened up while also going as far into the middle as possible (I already had to think forward to the dirt corner and the following banked corner). Then the task of getting the car as far to the left as possible followed. I had to move to the left to get an angle onto the bridge that allowed me to gain spin on the bridge by steering left, and still hit the hillside to the right of the bridge. If I didn't do this, I would land on the grass on the hill and lose too much speed.
One problem is with Zak gone, I have nothing to compare my beginning with. I did the first corkscrew-tunnel jump in a reasonably difficult way now, but could it be done faster? I don't know. Maybe it can always be done faster. Maybe Ayrton has easily done it much faster. It's hard to say. Anyway, at one point I decided to move on and after quite a large number of tries, I had a breakthrough in at the dirt corner, allowing me to drive it at 146mph and go around the banked corners at about 195mph. Now I've come through 22 seconds. Still quite a way left, but I'm proud of myself for focusing on the beginning first! It's the only way to ever win in Stunts.
About the standings, it struck me that if CTG wins this track and not me or Ayrton, then the standings at the last round will be 13-12-12, the winner of me vs Ayrton with 13 points, loser and CTG with 12 points (assuming loser of me vs Ayrton takes best loser bonus). Then whoever wins the last track can claim shared 1st place. I must win this track, because then it will be 14-12-11 for me, which will only require me to beat Chulk in the last track. Not so much focus on hypothetical results now, focus on racing....

Finished quickly in 1.06.55 to compare my performance with Ayrton and CTG, but with 39 seconds of penalty time. I should still be able to do better than 1.08 though. I wonder how far this will get me.
Finished in 1.05.50 without penalty time... I imagined the headlines if I won: "BJ wins with heavy time-hiding". I consider sending 1.08.05, but that would scare my opponents into thinking I have something really strong in my hand. I then considered sending 1.09 as a decoy, but remembered that CTG watches other people's replays. I am going to send nothing except maybe a re-driven listfiller. Now, I still think there is 2 seconds more to be saved in this replay by taking the absolutely fastest power gear way. It will be hard, but it will have to be done.

Evening: improved my power gear line and finished in 1.03.60. It makes me wonder what CTG and Ayrton have in their pockets. Race description tomorrow.

16th September

Rijad after the double banked corner. You need to get past the slalom blocks somehow. You could go between them, but you would get an inferior small jump at the end of the banked road. You could go past them to the right, doing a big small jump, but you would inevitable land 2 wheels on the grass, losing some speed. In a serious race, you have to exploit the bug that allows you to go right through the slalom. In my 1.05, my speed entering the jump was 198 mph (using option 2). That was not good enough, so I upped it to 205 mph by going through the block. Every fifth centisecond counts.
Okay, up the jump and to the left. I have to think of 3D-lines now. It is always important to keep straight and direct lines in Stunts, but one tends to think of lines in 2D. Jumping is bad if you don't get a lot of speed from it, as you usually do. At this loop, even a small jump will propel me into power gear, so I have to stay as close to the ground as possible. Not easy. Eventually I have to settle for a rather big jump. Okay, power gear mode begins! From now until the end of the track, only one thing counts, and that is finding the shortest possible way to the finish line without getting penalty time. Power gear racing is simpler than regular racing because the relationship between grass and roads isn't a factor, nor is the speed advantage you can get from jumps, nor is the outcome speed after a curve or a trick/sequence. Only the line counts. In regular racing, outcome speed is extremely important, depending on how the track continues.
I go to the left of the road because I know the track goes left at the top of the map. There's a banked corner which has to be cut, but I keep getting penalty time. A Stunts track is divided into squares. Penalty time comes when your car fails to touch a square. In the case of track elements consisting of more than one square, though, you only have to touch one of the squares. Theoretically, the car can touch four squares at once, so penalty-dodging is possible to a high degree. I wish I could push my car left of the loop without getting penalty time, but I fail, so I have to go under the loop and then find exactly the right angle to let me squeeze between the end of the tunnel and the beginning of the next banked corner. This does seem to be faster then using the road. Only use the road in an emergency. I like this part of the track. It reminds me of sunshine and summer!
I then go as far to the left of the following straigh road-high jump-bridge sequence. You can test if you are keeping the right distance to the road. If a white arrow is blinking on the screen, you are safe. If it is there constantly, you will get penalty time. If it's not there, you could go further off. I'm keeping left because the road will turn left, as they always do in USC because CTG likes left turns better than right turns. The next part is tricky, and I'm not totally sure what's the best way to cut it, but it will only matter few splitseconds. Eventually I employ the bridge side for a jump. A big cut of the following chicane-corner-corkscrew up/down sequence and then I'm at the final part.
The key to this part is when to let your car go and lose control. When you let it slip, it will spin in a less sharp curve on the ground and a more sharp curve once it gets into the air. Try to watch your car from F2 angle to experience this. To avoid penalty time but still cut to the finish, you need to cut with steering and then jump with heavy spin. If you steer all the way to the finish, you will cut way too well and get penalty time. If you skid too early, you will miss the hill and/or fly too far to the right, either missing the finish line or taking too long a line. So, I used a typical RH trick: I went back to a point where I was sure I would skid too late, skidded from there, failed, then went back to 0.05 earlier, skidded from there, failed, 0.05 earlier again, skidded from there, failed, 0.05 earlier again and success! Just to test my method; I went further back too. Got the same time then started getting worse time. So I know my finish is perfect. 1.03.60, let's see how far it goes.
Sometimes a strange thing happens in Stunts. You are sure you can't do your replay any better, but then an opponent submits a time 3 seconds faster than you. Then you KNOW you can do it better, and the knowledge makes you see things you couldn't see before. I wonder if that will happen on this track.

17th September

Did a noRH replay to send in. 2.17... I wasn't happy with that – is RH really that much of a difference? 1.03 to 2.17? It was an empty feeling... Later I improved 10 seconds but didn't send that in. No improvement on my real replay.

18th September

CTG seems to be worried about my performance. He's certainly not expecting me to have 1.03 in my pocket at the moment. I told him I didn't want to talk about Rijad because I was also racing against him. I have had quite some difficulty improving on 1.03.60. In fact, I sat down very enthusiastically today, determined to find the best possible power gear way. But as I went through the parts one by one, I just couldn't really find any better way than the one I had already done. In the end, I redrove the last 20 seconds, cutting exactly at the edge of the hills, and eventually, after doing the same RH trick as last time, saved 0.05. Hmm. This is the kind of progress you have to love in top Stunts. Ayrton is still a mysterious figure in shadows. I see him as a kind of robot, capable of anything if he wants it enough. But there is also, somewhere, a belief in myself as the wisest and most experienced pipsqueak – could I really miss anything significant? The answer is probably yes.

21st September

The last day. Even with so much meticulous planning and determination, I have structured my race wrong. Several times during the last days have I sat down, determined, wanting to improve my replay, but finding no splitseconds in the power gear part that I raced on. I missed either the time or the guts to go back to the beginning and improve, so my determination was spilled on the floor. I should have spent 2 hours more on the first 20 seconds of the track. If Ayrton has succeeded in this, he will win the track, and he will have won it with his mind, outsmarting me. My 1.03.55 stands as my final replay, now is the time for the cards to be shown and the USL to be won and lost.

22nd September

What an ending! I actually won the track by 0.05... What could possibly be a better reward for all my racing? Every splitsecond counted! And truer words were never spoken than "saved 0.05. Hmm. This is the kind of progress you have to love in top Stunts." Those 0.05, more than any other 0.05, will win me the USL if I can beat Chulk in the last round. It was all worth it.... The tight finish also adds to my image of this as some kind "battle of the titans". Another vision to feed my vanity, and how wonderfully it does. Yet vanity never loses its appetite...
Did I beat him with experience? With skills? With time-spending? With smarts? Experience is most likely, as that is what I have over him and nearly everyone in the Stunts community. So let this be a lesson: every 0.05 counts, and if you spend 30 minutes saving 0.05, you might have won the competition!

2nd October

After a series of delays, everything is official and the replays are up. My replay is attached to this article so you can see what I'm talking about. With a feeling of pride and a little excitement, I sat down to watch Ayrton's replay. Where would he be faster and where slower? It was very simple. He did the dirt curve wrong, had too low a speed in the banked double corner, but was faster everywhere else. I beat him with strategy even though he had the better skills. I knew his skills were better. It turns out the double-cut by the loop was possible even though I had given up on doing it. CTG did that too.
If I do well in the last round, then there is a championship won and a lesson learned: no matter how much I try, no matter if I really do the best I, Bonzai Joe, am possibly capable of, I will be quite far from the perfect replay. I cannot win with supremacy, but I can with other people's inferiority. When you look at Ayrton on ZCT86, that is winning with supremacy. Doing tricks the others just couldn't do however they want to.
In any case: mission accomplished. Thank you for reading.

Will you be ready to do an interview soon? I'm sure people will be still be very interesting to hear about you and your racing habits, memories and dreams, and maybe who you are in real life...

I have already thought of some questions...

After some years, I am beginning to feel curious about what kind of person you are? You post almost only in racing subforums and about replays and tricks, but never in chat forums!
Where in Italy are you from? What do you like to do when you don't play Stunts, what's do you work with and do you have kids? Would you like to come to WSM someday?
Fill us in! You are a top pipsqueak and strong community member, we need to feel like you're our friend

Cheers!

Is anyone else still following this event?

As it looks to me right now, there are three possible winners:

Cadel Evans, Riccardo Ricco, Frank Schleck, Denis Menchov.

Outsiders:

Carlos Sastre, Christian Vandevelde.

It's looking good for Cadel Evans. Only Ricco seems to be better in the mountains. None of the others have proven they are better than him on the mountains, but they have to be because he will beat them on the time trial.

Compare to the "price" and the amount of work involved.


Getting drunk?
Studying?
Loving?
Marrying?
Having children?
Being the best at something?
Looking good?
Knowing a lot?
Helping friends?
Helping strangers?
WSM?

So, who has the best name?

I like Alan Rotoi, partly because of the story and the image of the man with the dog's head, but it's also aurally catchy. But there must be other really good ones.

If you were to show the art of Stunts to someone in just 10 replays, which ones would you choose? It's hard for me to decide, but I think some are clear:

Gutix ZCT70
Argammon ZCT35
Ayrton ZCT59