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Florent Lecoanet (view source)

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Florent was born in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rennes Rennes], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France France]. He grew up in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montauban-de-Bretagne Montauban-de-Bretagne], a small town near [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rennes Rennes]. It’s there where he started playing [[SMK]] around 1994/1995, reaching respectable times of 1’02”00 and 12”30 on [[Mario Circuit 1]] ([[PAL]] [[Non-NBT]]) back then. The internet era had not taken off by then yet, so these achievements were reached without being aware of competition elsewhere and without watching any strategy videos. After these initial results he did not play [[SMK]] again until 2005.

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== The MKDD connection ==

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It was not before long until Florent learned about the art of mushroom generated [[Long Boosts]] (LB’s) and quickly specialized himself in this technique. This specialization would soon become a fruit bearing one, allowing him to hit his first ever GP WR, taking down Camille Batier’s (a French karter also known as Don Camillo and mostly known for his GP skills) [[MC1]] flap, with an LB aided record of 7”76. Later on he would drive countless more LB involved GP WR’s and also create a couple of video compilations demonstrating the use of LB’s nicely, one of them can be found [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x29bcbfgUUk here].

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== CDF 2005 ==

Florent’s first GP WR came right before the start of the [http://www.championnat-smk.org/CDF2005.php CDF 2005] (which was the first CDF he participated in). Because his name was on the list of participants, many people were wondering who this new kid on the block was: the newcomer who beat one of Don Camillo’s most prolific WR’s. This created a fuzz amongst the karters present and they could soon observe a new star in the making. Outside of [[Mushroom Cup]] GP and some Battle Mode practice, Florent was relatively unexperienced playing against other players, but he still performed quite well, ending on an 11th position in the overall ranking of the tournament. He almost caused an upset by beating [[Harold Christensen]] in the Battle Mode quarter final. At this point in time Harold was already an accomplished Battle Mode player and well known for his skills in this mode; in other words a clear favourite to win that tournament. In his match against Harold however, Florent was leading 5-3, much to the shock of the karter’s watching. In the end Harold’s experience proved a little too much as he came back to proceed to the semi final with a 7-5 win.

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== World Wide Kart meet London 2006 ==

In the summer of 2006, the webmaster of the [http://www.mariokart64.com/smk SMK Time Trial site], [http://speedrunwiki.com/Sami Sami Çetin], hosted a world wide kart meet in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croydon Croydon], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England England]. Florent attended this event and this was the first time he travelled outside of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France France] to meet fellow karters. He wore a T-shirt specifically designed for this event, a gesture that was greeted with much enthusiasm by the other karters. At this point he had already become a strong force to be reckoned with in [[SMK]], but he still lacked a little experience against the likes of [http://speedrunwiki.com/Pierre_L%27Hoest Pierre] and [[Sami]], thus losing to them marginally in Match Race. He did however pull out a 10-10 tie against the [[PAL]] [[Time Trial]] Champion at that time, [[Karel van Duijvenboden]].

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== CDF 2006 ==

The [http://www.championnat-smk.org/CDF2006.php CDF 2006] saw Florent step up as a great ambassador of [[SMK]] as he literally saved the event that year. The organisation did not succeed in finding a venue for the [http://www.championnat-smk.org/ CDF] of 2006 and it looked like it would get cancelled. However, as a last resort, Florent offered the final solution by actually letting the players use his appartment as the venue. As the host, he surpassed the expectations of many by winning both the GP and Match Race tournaments. This was against the odds, as prior to this CDF it was [http://speedrunwiki.com/Pierre_L%27Hoest Pierre L’Hoëst] who singlehandedly ruled the three previous [http://www.championnat-smk.org/ CDF] events with an iron fist. [http://speedrunwiki.com/Pierre_L%27Hoest Pierre] still managed to win the overall classement of the CDF 2006 version, but it was very close, with Florent finishing just behind in 2nd position. His amazing skill and talent was becoming increasingly more evident and most karters agreed that it would only be a question of time now before he would win some major prizes.

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== NLG Norway 2007 ==

Florent effectively became the World Champion of Match Race by winning the [http://nextlevelgaming.ogamewar.com/nlg-history-f4/nlg-07-norway-t3.htm SMK tournament] at the Next Level Gaming Championships ([http://nextlevelgaming.ogamewar.com/ NLG]), which was held in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orkanger Orkanger] ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway Norway]), July 2007. He beat his eternal rival [http://speedrunwiki.com/Pierre_L%27Hoest Pierre L’Hoëst] in a historically thrilling semi final and secured the victory by beating [[SMK]] veteran [http://speedrunwiki.com/Sami Sami Çetin] in the final with a convincing 10-5 win. He also took part in various other tournaments and delivered an especially fine performance in the [http://www.absolute-playstation.com/api_review/rcircuit.htm Circuit Breakers] tournament. He almost made the final round, which featured the 4 best players, but in the end he lost out to [[Patrick Wessels]] in the deciding semi final tie-breaker.

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== CDF 2007 ==

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Because of his success in Norway, Florent entered the [http://www.championnat-smk.org/CDF2007.php CDF of 2007] as one of the two clear favourites to win. It was expected that the overall win would either go to [http://speedrunwiki.com/Pierre_L%27Hoest Pierre] or him. The rivalry between the two became clear from the very start as they faced eachother in the final of the first event, which was the [http://www.championnat-smk.org/TT2007.php TT tournament]. This final took place on one of his favourite tracks, [[KB1]], but the pressure got to him as he hit some weed and ended in 2nd place with [http://speedrunwiki.com/Pierre_L%27Hoest Pierre] grabbing the first gold medal of that [http://www.championnat-smk.org/ CDF] with a clean race. Florent made his candidacy for the overall win clear early on though. In the Match Race tournament he faced [http://speedrunwiki.com/Pierre_L%27Hoest Pierre] in the final again, but this time the gold medal went to Florent after a convincing 11-7 in his favour. The Battle Mode tournament saw another [http://speedrunwiki.com/Pierre_L%27Hoest Pierre] versus Florent final. The level on display was extremely high and to this day Florent claims that the level he reached in this match was the highest he has ever reached as an [[SMK]] player. Despite Pierre’s strong resistance and fine form, Florent proved to be an unstoppable force from now on, winning the tournament in style with a 11-4 victory. Florent was comfortably in the lead in the overall rankings now, with his best mode (GP) still ahead. Only a miracle could stop him from winning his first CDF from that point onwards. When Florent reached the semi final of the GP tournament ([http://speedrunwiki.com/Pierre_L%27Hoest Pierre] was knocked out at this point), he was already certain of the overall victory. But as a true champion he gave it his best once more to also claim the title in the GP final in a thrilling early morning match against [[Nicolas Haufmann]] (also known as El Nico on the boards). Nicolas could not prevent Florent from reaching a landslide 5-1 victory, meaning that Florent succesfully crowned his [http://www.championnat-smk.org/ CDF] with another gold medal. Rarely had the [http://www.championnat-smk.org/ CDF] seen such a display of dominance from one karter, winning all the multiplayer modes with big scorelines plus reaching the final of the TT event as well.

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Because of his success in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway Norway], Florent entered the [http://www.championnat-smk.org/CDF2007.php CDF of 2007] as one of the two clear favourites to win. It was expected that the overall win would either go to [http://speedrunwiki.com/Pierre_L%27Hoest Pierre] or him. The rivalry between the two became clear from the very start as they faced eachother in the final of the first event, which was the [http://www.championnat-smk.org/TT2007.php TT tournament]. This final took place on one of his favourite tracks, [[KB1]], but the pressure got to him as he hit some weed and ended in 2nd place with [http://speedrunwiki.com/Pierre_L%27Hoest Pierre] grabbing the first gold medal of that [http://www.championnat-smk.org/ CDF] with a clean race. Florent made his candidacy for the overall win clear early on though. In the Match Race tournament he faced [http://speedrunwiki.com/Pierre_L%27Hoest Pierre] in the final again, but this time the gold medal went to Florent after a convincing 11-7 in his favour. The Battle Mode tournament saw another [http://speedrunwiki.com/Pierre_L%27Hoest Pierre] versus Florent final. The level on display was extremely high and to this day Florent claims that the level he reached in this match was the highest he has ever reached as an [[SMK]] player. Despite Pierre’s strong resistance and fine form, Florent proved to be an unstoppable force from now on, winning the tournament in style with a 11-4 victory. Florent was comfortably in the lead in the overall rankings now, with his best mode (GP) still ahead. Only a miracle could stop him from winning his first CDF from that point onwards. When Florent reached the semi final of the GP tournament ([http://speedrunwiki.com/Pierre_L%27Hoest Pierre] was knocked out at this point), he was already certain of the overall victory. But as a true champion he gave it his best once more to also claim the title in the GP final in a thrilling early morning match against [[Nicolas Haufmann]] (also known as El Nico on the boards). Nicolas could not prevent Florent from reaching a landslide 5-1 victory, meaning that Florent succesfully crowned his [http://www.championnat-smk.org/ CDF] with another gold medal. Rarely had the [http://www.championnat-smk.org/ CDF] seen such a display of dominance from one karter, winning all the multiplayer modes with big scorelines plus reaching the final of the TT event as well.

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== Time Trial ==

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Although not a [[Time Trial]] expert to begin with, he has made his mark in that competition as well by climbing as high up as #3 in [[PAL]], a position he reached in January 2006 (currently he is ranked 4th). Moreover he won the highly acclaimed Player of the Year ([[POY]]) award in 2006, a victory he secured by driving his first ever [[Time Trial]] WR in [[PAL]] on 22 December of the same year; a 9”37 WR tie at [[KB1]] flap. One month before that, on the 13th of November, he had already driven his first ever [[Time Trial]] WR on [[NTSC]] with a 11”52 [[GV2]] flap. He joined the [[NTSC]] side of the competition a few months prior to getting his first WR there, in September 2006, entering in a high position at #12 on the ladder. The highest rank he ever reached in [[NTSC]] so far was 7th during December 2006 (he is currently ranked 10th). He currently holds 6 WR’s in [[PAL]] and 1 WR in [[NTSC]].

He also participates in [[SMK]] [[Non-NBT]] competition at the [http://www.mariokart64.com/smknonnbt/ Non-NBT Players’ Site], which is an old school [[SMK]] competition that limits the use or abuse of zigzag boosting. He joined the [[PAL]] ladder of this site in October 2005 in 31st position. He joined the [[NTSC]] part of the rankings 1 year later in October 2006 in 24th position. To further demonstrate his all-round [[SMK]] ability he also hit WR’s in this competition, the first one being the [[VL1]] 5-lap WR (with a time of 50”88) on November 14, 2007. He currently holds 3 [[Non-NBT]] WR’s and is ranked 9th in [[PAL]] and 7th in [[NTSC]] on the [http://www.mariokart64.com/smknonnbt/ Non-NBT Players’ Site].

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== Professional life ==

KVD

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