International Stunts Master 2008

[Mark L. Rivers]

No words... Now it's correct... Sorry, really sorry... 

Now, 23 hours to the deadline, 198 hours for you, BJ, 186 hours for me... It seems I have no hope...  ::)Anyway, let's see!   

[Mark L. Rivers]

There're not by now many words to describe what this track are reserving us... In the night, another, the umteenth, double improvement for BJ and me has shaken the scoreboard making more and more exciting and incredibly serried the fight for the 1st Bonus Time, that for the two opponents who gave life to a marvellous challenge in this Final Round, could mean the title... BJ sent 1:10,30 at 3.44 a.m. and I replied very soon with the new current limit 1:10,25, so: BJ's LT is 199 hours, my LT is 189 and only 16 hours to the deadline: what a awesome final for this ISM edition!!    Well, we are by now at the real facedown for all the participants: who will win the title? The two great animaters of this race? The dominator of the Eliminatory Round, Duplode? A cattish and silent Chulk? A strong and determined Zak? An alwasy surprising AbuRaf70? Gentlemen, it's time to discover your own cards!     From now, no other updates until the Finish! The appointment for the final result is tomorrow, around the 11.00 p.m...   

http://digilander.libero.it/stunts.SDR/ISM/2008/index_ISM2008.htm

[Mark L. Rivers]

Here it is my final time for ISM2008. I realized it this morning at 10:42. Please consider it as published now, in this moment. Maybe BJ could be interesting to know that I improved... 

[Duplode]

I only wonder what Chulk must be preparing...

[CTG]

I only wonder why Mark forgot to update the site this morning.

[BonzaiJoe]

I wonder too - after updating nearly all other mornings. But of course there is an obvious explanation: that he has limited time in the mornings and this update is a bigger one than the others.

[Duplode]

BonzaiJoe looks calm...

[BonzaiJoe]

Yes, but not as calm as you! Your enigmatic messages are making me anxious. I really feel that my time should have been 2 seconds better, and that people like you would achieve that without problems...

[Duplode]

Well, indeed I have no reason to be anxious about you (or vice-versa), as I have been not even close to be beating you by two seconds all the time...

[Mark L. Rivers]

Bonzai Joe has won the International Stunts Master 2008!! The great danish champion affirms his supremacy with the final best time and also the longest leading time, overtaking, even if only for a bit in both cases, his main opponent, me! Both under 1:10 (!  ), BJ and me have inflict quite heavy gaps to the other drivers: Zak McKracken closes 3rd (+3,20 seconds, no improvement for him after his quite far leading time), Duplode 4th (+4,15 seconds taking out 1 second in last day), Chulk 5th (+6,15 seconds improving for 2 seconds in last day) and AbuRaf70 6th (+11,65 without further improvements). Wow, really dazzling this edition, above all for the neverending challenge animated by BJ and me: 26 leading times in 20 days of race (16 in last 4 days!) are sure a real evidence of the intenseness and quality of the race!    Really great the effort of BJ in last day with four (!) new leading times aiming to keep the 1st Bonus Times: target reached and determinant for the final 1st place! 
Anyway, BJ could be quite tranquil about leading time, after I had published my declared final time (crypted) on the Forum at 13:57. In that moment BJ?s leading time was 201 hours and my leading time was 191 hours: having to race only 10 hours, I only could pair BJ?s leading time, and 1st Bonus Time would be remained anyway in the BJ?s hands?    But, in the afternoon, with a double improvement in only 10 minutes (1:09,95, same time of my final time, and 1:07,75, absolute best), BJ consolidated his affirmation winning more than deservedly the title!   
But now, follow me: we are going to immerse us in the chronicle of the race passing step by step through the crucial tracts of the track and the intermediates times! 
After the launch ramps, 5 drivers take the left at the initial switch, while AbuRaf70 chooses the right. Sure shorter the argentinian?s way but not faster than other one where all obviously skipped the tunnel skimming the wall placed on the left to research the best angle to approach the first hill. And the first hill reserves the first surprise: while all others pass inside the tunnel placed on top of the hill (with really dazzling slides!  ), Duplode chooses to cut completely it, retaking the road only in the downhill, correspondently at the 1st Intermediate! Good choice that permits to the brazilian driver to transit 1st at Intermediate 1, ahead me and BJ (both +0,15, prelude to the ?magic? challenge), Chulk (+0,70, not very fast entrance in the tunnel after very good first 20 seconds of race), Zak (+1,05, good entrance in the tunnel, but bad previous large curve before the fast chicane) and AbuRaf70 (+3,05, due to the previous unfortunate choice). Second section begins with a classic couple of ramps to retake speed (after the slow curve subsequent at the downhill) so to approach the engaging following tract that leads to the fast elevated straight! And, just in this section we find the ?magic? that permits to Bonzai Joe to take a large advantage on all others, above all on me, an advantage who BJ will succeed to administrate until the end winning the race. What does he make approaching the L/R corkscrew? Availing the known crazy rebound that projects a car on the left with a long jump when it is directed on the extreme right of the corkscrew, BJ jumps almost until the end of the second wall-obstacle, skipping the large curve and the difficult path to keep to introduces the car into the fast chicane that leads to the second hill. Zak also follows the same line (but with a shorter jump) while all others follow the conventional track. Result: BJ reaches quickly than all others the fast-grass and, with a superb trajectory, approaches the hill with a large advantage! All drivers make good slides to land with the highest possible speed on the elevated straight, but the clock tell all a naked truth at Intermediate 2: BJ leads on me (2nd, +1,25), Duplode (3rd, +2,00), Zak McKracken (4th, +2,35), Chulk (5th, +2,55) and AbuRaf70 (6th, +7,60). So BJ gains only in this section almost 1,5 seconds on me and Zak, about 2 seconds on Chulk and Duplode and over 4 seconds on AbuRaf70?Really impressive!! Even if it results dazzling definitely, third section doesn?t present many differences between all drivers, even if BJ succeeds to increase his advantage on all others at Intermediate 3: +0,05 on me (total gap +1,30), +0,05 on Duplode (+2,05), +0,35 on Zak (+2,70), +0,45 on Chulk (+3,00, a bit more than others on the grass before to approach the bank-road) and +0,85 on AbuRaf70 (+8,45), even if the argentinian is author of a fantastic and stunning cut flying for a long tract just before the 3rd intermediate! 
And we are now at the beginning of the last section! I think that when all drivers (contest manager alias designer included) saw it, maybe they have thought that it was a spectacular and original tract, but maybe they had not thought (contest manager alias designer included?  ) how much it would be resulted determinant to reach a good final result! All have obviously rejected the conventional track on the left (too low due to the iced slow curve) availing instead the Up/Down Corkscrew on the right, but the way to approach it was not so simple as it maybe appeared at the beginning? In fact, checking replay after replay (btw, you can check all single replays sent downloading them from the ?Latest Replays? column placed on the right so to follow the subsequent improvements!), we can see that (above all for me and BJ) the final tracks has been ?maxouted? many times to reach the best times. So, how did drivers finally approach this tract? And how did this tract result determinant for the final classification? Let?s go inside it! AbuRaf70, Chulk and Duplode simply land on the final tract of the corkscrew trying to make the cleanest possible line, and the brazilian driver seems to succeed better in it, keeping his car very near to the left guard-rail. Other drivers choose a more risky but remunerative way to avail the corkscrew. Which one? Sliding since before the ramp, so to land on the final tract of the corkscrew with a better angle that permits them to open the gas in advance! And BJ succeeds to made a perfect line in his attempt, controlling in a spectacular way his Porsche 962!    Even Zak makes a very good slide, so to rescue a lot (about 1,5 seconds) on Duplode in last section, snatching him the final 3rd place for 0,65 seconds! What about me? Until the last day, I had tried to avail in the same way the corkscrew. In fact, if you check my penultimate replay (1:10,25 downloading it from the ?Latest Replays? column), you can see that I had followed the same line of BJ and Zak. As you can also see, I resulted faster than them, due to a landing on the water inside the corkscrew, near to the end of the internal guard-rail, succeeding in this way to approach the final straight with a higher speed (191 my speed at the moment of a hypothetical crash against the finish pillar, 180 BJ's speed in the same hypothetical crash). Anyway, when I understood that my limit (1:10,15) with that line probably wouldn?t be resulted enough to try to catch the 1st Bonus Time, I tried (in last day! ) to find a different way to avail the corkscrew. A bet, really a bet, but I?ve succeeded in it. In which way do I avail the corkscrew so to rescue 1,10 seconds in last section on BJ, arriving at only 0,20 seconds from him at finish-line?    Well, maybe it results a bit hard to explain, and so I ?push? you to look directly my final replay to see the original and very fast way I?ve found?    And for all other details you can check Analysis page!

Well, what can we say more about this ISM edition? Not before to express again congratulations to the winner for his awesome race, we can say that ISM 2008 has showed, during the whole event, Eliminatory and Final rounds, high quality and really amazing replays and races, isn?t it? And sure I hope that all drivers enjoyed taking part in this event. About me it has been an honor racing beside all these 5 great drivers! 

OK, for the moment, that?s all. Even if? I have thought yet to the next edition and, if I will able to organize it, you can be sure that it will be an innovative contest indeed, with original and interesting, I think, new stuff?    But we will talk about it a bit later, now it?s still time to remain a bit with our eyes on the great performances of this very good ISM!


PS
Password to open my published times: HJYS79TR 

[Duplode]

I wonder if BJ can show he's the best or he'll let any of you to win.

Oh yes, you reminded me: my tip is BJ by quite some margin...

Just as predicted, congratulations BJ!  (and if you're wondering, 0:20 feels like quite some marging after such a race!) And an honrous mention to Zak, who achieved his ambition...

Now about the laps, between BJ and Mark replays there were three amazing tricks I plainly lacked nerve to complete, even more so after the skiddin' car started to skid to the left on its own after the final banking - thinking back of it, I might even have used it to my advantage, but then again IMSA slides are still my weakest point...

And of course, thanks to Mark and all fellow pipsqueaks for this grand tournament!

[BonzaiJoe]

Ah, that explains your drunk driving on the last straight
Anyway, this was great, I'm glad to win, especially as it is my first race victory since 2006 (although in January 2007, I had the best time on ISM Track B...). The race was really tough - the tighest race for first place in my whole career I think! and with excitement until the very deadline. I missed Ayrton and CTG, but of course if they'd been there, I wouldn't have won, so I should just be happy.

About the last race: your ending is superb, Mark! I speculated about such tricks (including landing on the inside of the corkscrew, which I didn't succeed in either), but I cast them off as too difficult or impossible. Really good job doing that highly advanced trick, taking advantage of the flawed collision-point/graphics relation of the up/down corkscrew. I feel that you deserve the victory more, because your unique trick demanded both luck and extreme skill, while my unique trick (left/right corkscrew jump) demanded only the idea and some basic steering/speed keeping.

Congratulations to Zak for 3rd place - really a great result, and thanks for helping me win! I can reveal that Zak discovered the sliding trick at the last corkscrew for Cork's Crew.

Thanks Mark L. Rivers for hosting the tournament again, and I apologize (too easy after having won...) if I was offensive in the heat of the race.

[AbuRaf70]

Congratulations Bonzai Joe, for the brilliant victory...!!! 
 
and to Mark for the excellent organization of the competition...!!!

[CTG]

I predicted BJ's victory... so I'm satisfied.

Nice work, Bonsai Tree!

[Krys TOFF]

Master Jacky. Congrats.