Changes

[[Image:Kart Meet London 2006.JPG|thumb|Worlwide Kart Meet, London, July 2006]]

[[Image:Kart Meet London 2006.JPG|thumb|Worlwide Kart Meet, London, July 2006]]

Florent’s first GP WR came right before the start of the [http://www.ffsmk.org/?task=results&year=2005 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 in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9gos Ségos] 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.

Florent’s first GP WR came right before the start of the [http://www.ffsmk.org/?task=results&year=2005 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 in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9gos Ségos] 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.

== World Wide Kart meet, London 2006 ==

== World Wide Kart meet, London 2006 ==

[[Image:Flo and Pierre.jpg|thumb|NLG World Championship 2007]]

[[Image:Flo and Pierre.jpg|thumb|NLG World Championship 2007]]

For the [http://www.ffsmk.org/?task=results&year=2006 CDF 2006] Florent stepped up to be 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 solution by actually letting the players use his appartment in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angers Angers] 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.

For the [http://www.ffsmk.org/?task=results&year=2006 CDF 2006] Florent stepped up to be 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 solution by actually letting the players use his appartment in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angers Angers] 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.

== Next Level Gaming (NLG) World Championship, Norway 2007 ==

== Next Level Gaming (NLG) World Championship, Norway 2007 ==

Two months later in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orsay Orsay], near [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris Paris], Florent confirmed his newly acquired SMK dominance with a winning performance at the French Championship. Because of his success in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway Norway], Florent entered the [http://www.ffsmk.org/?task=results&year=2007 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 L'Hoëst] 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.ffsmk.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 Florent claimed afterwards that the level he reached in this match was the highest he had ever reached as an [[SMK]] player thus far. 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 [http://www.ffsmk.org/ CDF] from that point onwards. When Florent reached the 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.ffsmk.org/ CDF] with another gold medal. Rarely had the [http://www.ffsmk.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.  

Two months later in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orsay Orsay], near [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris Paris], Florent confirmed his newly acquired SMK dominance with a winning performance at the French Championship. Because of his success in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway Norway], Florent entered the [http://www.ffsmk.org/?task=results&year=2007 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 L'Hoëst] 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.ffsmk.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 Florent claimed afterwards that the level he reached in this match was the highest he had ever reached as an [[SMK]] player thus far. 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 [http://www.ffsmk.org/ CDF] from that point onwards. When Florent reached the 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.ffsmk.org/ CDF] with another gold medal. Rarely had the [http://www.ffsmk.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.  

Currently this is still the closest Florent has ever gotten at winning the Grand Chelem (the holy grail of winning every mode at a single Championship, named after ''the'' Grand-Slam in tennis, which refers to winning all four Grand Slam singles tournaments in the same calendar year).

Currently this is still the closest Florent has ever gotten at winning the Grand Chelem (the holy grail of winning every mode at a single Championship, named after ''the'' Grand-Slam in tennis, which refers to winning all four Grand Slam singles tournaments in the same calendar year).

== SMK European Championship 2008 ==

== SMK European Championship 2008 ==

In Match Race everything was going according to plan as well and he reached the final with relative ease, after a strong semi final performance against UK Champion [http://speedrunwiki.com/Sami Sami] (9-5). The fact [http://speedrunwiki.com/Drew_Blumfield Drew] would be his opponent in the final came as a surprise to pretty much everyone, seeing [http://speedrunwiki.com/Drew_Blumfield Drew’s] only previous [[PAL]] experience came from playing it on an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Console_emulator emulator], which is sub-optimal compared to practicing on a real [[SNES]]. Even more surprisingly he even gave Florent a good run for his money, though Florent did finish the job by winning 11-7 in the end. Battle Mode was the mode everyone was waiting for though, the field had never been this strong, especially with Battle Mode World Champion [http://speedrunwiki.com/Drew_Blumfield Drew Blumfield] taking part. Florent faced [http://speedrunwiki.com/Drew_Blumfield Drew] in the semi final in an epic match. He gave it his outmost best, even so much so in fact that he ran out of breath after the match had finished. [http://speedrunwiki.com/Drew_Blumfield Drew] did win (9-6), but Florent definitely didn’t go down without a fight. Florent and [http://speedrunwiki.com/Drew_Blumfield Drew] were quite close in the overall rankings at this point, however Florent already practically sealed the victory with his strongest mode GP coming up. [http://speedrunwiki.com/Drew_Blumfield Drew] got knocked out early, whereas Florent went on to win the final against [[Matthias Boucher]] (also known as Gatchan on the boards) in a 5-0 clean sweep. Thus, Florent was the winner of the [http://www.ffsmk.org/?task=results&year=2008 CDE 2008] edition. Being the trophy hunter that he is, he also won the Master Cup after, defeating [http://speedrunwiki.com/Sami Sami] comfortably in the final.

In Match Race everything was going according to plan as well and he reached the final with relative ease, after a strong semi final performance against UK Champion [http://speedrunwiki.com/Sami Sami] (9-5). The fact [http://speedrunwiki.com/Drew_Blumfield Drew] would be his opponent in the final came as a surprise to pretty much everyone, seeing [http://speedrunwiki.com/Drew_Blumfield Drew’s] only previous [[PAL]] experience came from playing it on an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Console_emulator emulator], which is sub-optimal compared to practicing on a real [[SNES]]. Even more surprisingly he even gave Florent a good run for his money, though Florent did finish the job by winning 11-7 in the end. Battle Mode was the mode everyone was waiting for though, the field had never been this strong, especially with Battle Mode World Champion [http://speedrunwiki.com/Drew_Blumfield Drew Blumfield] taking part. Florent faced [http://speedrunwiki.com/Drew_Blumfield Drew] in the semi final in an epic match. He gave it his outmost best, even so much so in fact that he ran out of breath after the match had finished. [http://speedrunwiki.com/Drew_Blumfield Drew] did win (9-6), but Florent definitely didn’t go down without a fight. Florent and [http://speedrunwiki.com/Drew_Blumfield Drew] were quite close in the overall rankings at this point, however Florent already practically sealed the victory with his strongest mode GP coming up. [http://speedrunwiki.com/Drew_Blumfield Drew] got knocked out early, whereas Florent went on to win the final against [[Matthias Boucher]] (also known as Gatchan on the boards) in a 5-0 clean sweep. Thus, Florent was the winner of the [http://www.ffsmk.org/?task=results&year=2008 CDE 2008] edition. Being the trophy hunter that he is, he also won the Master Cup after, defeating [http://speedrunwiki.com/Sami Sami] comfortably in the final.

== SMK World Championship 2009==

== SMK World Championship 2009==

Moreover, Florent was interviewed for a french TV documentary about the SMK World Championship 2009. It is available to watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzlfWwCcrYY

Moreover, Florent was interviewed for a french TV documentary about the SMK World Championship 2009. It is available to watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzlfWwCcrYY

== SMK World Championship 2010==

== SMK World Championship 2010==

For the third year running, Florent got eliminated by [http://speedrunwiki.com/Drew_Blumfield Drew Blumfield] in the semi final of Battle Mode, though he put up a good fight with a 9-6 score. Furthermore, Florent obtained the bronze medal in a battle with [http://speedrunwiki.com/Sami Sami] that had direct consequences for the overall rankings. This result meant that reaching the GP finals would be sufficient for Florent to propagate his World Champion title. Being the absolute favourite in the GP tournament, this proved to be no problem for him. With the overall result decided, the final  against [http://speedrunwiki.com/Sami Sami] still proved to be one of the biggest fights in the history of the [http://www.championnat-smk.org/ Championships], with both players determined to show the world who was best. Florent started out winning the first cups by utilizing some techniques adopted from Match Race, to give him the extra edge. On the other end of the spectrum in this clash of styles, [http://speedrunwiki.com/Sami Sami] managed to take the match back to 4-4 with very impressive [[Time Trial]] like driving. Eventually, Florent came through as the victor in the final and ninth cup by driving a very solid Flower Cup; for the first time in [http://www.championnat-smk.org/ CDF] history a ninth cup was needed to decide the GP final. In his victory speech Florent had some encouraging words for his rival [http://speedrunwiki.com/Sami Sami], when he expressed that [http://speedrunwiki.com/Sami Sami] was too strong a karter to not win a CDM one day, signaling a sentiment perhaps shared by many. Future speculations aside, Florent could now boast about becoming the first back-to-back World Champion of [[Super Mario Kart]].

For the third year running, Florent got eliminated by [http://speedrunwiki.com/Drew_Blumfield Drew Blumfield] in the semi final of Battle Mode, though he put up a good fight with a 9-6 score. Furthermore, Florent obtained the bronze medal in a battle with [http://speedrunwiki.com/Sami Sami] that had direct consequences for the overall rankings. This result meant that reaching the GP finals would be sufficient for Florent to propagate his World Champion title. Being the absolute favourite in the GP tournament, this proved to be no problem for him. With the overall result decided, the final  against [http://speedrunwiki.com/Sami Sami] still proved to be one of the biggest fights in the history of the [http://www.championnat-smk.org/ Championships], with both players determined to show the world who was best. Florent started out winning the first cups by utilizing some techniques adopted from Match Race, to give him the extra edge. On the other end of the spectrum in this clash of styles, [http://speedrunwiki.com/Sami Sami] managed to take the match back to 4-4 with very impressive [[Time Trial]] like driving. Eventually, Florent came through as the victor in the final and ninth cup by driving a very solid Flower Cup; for the first time in [http://www.championnat-smk.org/ CDF] history a ninth cup was needed to decide the GP final. In his victory speech Florent had some encouraging words for his rival [http://speedrunwiki.com/Sami Sami], when he expressed that [http://speedrunwiki.com/Sami Sami] was too strong a karter to not win a CDM one day, signaling a sentiment perhaps shared by many. Future speculations aside, Florent could now boast about becoming the first back-to-back World Champion of [[Super Mario Kart]].

== Belgian Open 2011==

== Belgian Open 2011==

Florent started off by winning the [[Time Trial]] 1-try event with crushing dominance. After being victorious in all the sub-stages (from qualifiers to semi finals), he landed a great 59”58 on [[MC1]] in the final, leaving no chance to his surprise opponent in the final [[Guillaume Leviach]]. His strongest rival [[Sami]] was already lagging behind in the general rankings due to some disastrous crashes in the [[GV1]] semi final. For the third consecutive year, Florent did not manage to obtain the gold medal in Match Race. After a virtually spotless qualification phase he faced a surprising semi final exit after a match against an unchained [[Karel van Duijvenboden]]. This repeat match of the famous quarter final of 2010  was another thriller, which culminated in a very tense double LB finish on [[MC2]], this time with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_people the Dutchman] coming out on top. Florent redeemed himself by cruising to a 9-2 win in the bronze medal play-off versus [[Geoffrey Label]], but most observants will agree that Florent did not show his true level in MR this year. Contrarily, Florent enjoyed a very prolific Battle Mode tournament, winning a silver medal despite not having practiced this mode much at all this year. [[Geoffrey Label]] surprisingly managed to eliminate the reigning BM World Champion [[Drew Blumfield]] in the quarter finals, meaning the main  obstacle that prevented Florent from reaching the BM finals in previous years was removed. However, [[Geoffrey Label]] managed to narrowly defeat Florent in a climactic final, featuring a dramatic 11-10 scoreline and both players being down to their last balloon on match-point. History had repeated itself as a high finish in the BM tournament, combined with an early quarter final exit of his rival [[Sami]] on the hands of a rampant [[Harold Christensen]], meant Florent was cleanly in the lead after BM day, with only the GP tournament left. Florent decided to use the heavy weight characters in all cups for GP this year. After the GP final of 2010, which he drove with the brothers on some cups, he had sensed that he was more vulnerable to body-checks and losing out to full speed potential when exposed to Sami, who equips himself with the big guys everywhere. Florent's character switch was a rewarding one as he strikingly underlined his absolute dominance in GP on the final day of the CDM 2011. After one odd defeat in the group stage, he went on to beat Sami in the early morning final with a convincing 5-2 scoreline, including some near WR level performances on tracks like [[MC4]]. Combined with his dominating Belgian Open win, 2011 had once again been a very succesful karting year for Florent.

Florent started off by winning the [[Time Trial]] 1-try event with crushing dominance. After being victorious in all the sub-stages (from qualifiers to semi finals), he landed a great 59”58 on [[MC1]] in the final, leaving no chance to his surprise opponent in the final [[Guillaume Leviach]]. His strongest rival [[Sami]] was already lagging behind in the general rankings due to some disastrous crashes in the [[GV1]] semi final. For the third consecutive year, Florent did not manage to obtain the gold medal in Match Race. After a virtually spotless qualification phase he faced a surprising semi final exit after a match against an unchained [[Karel van Duijvenboden]]. This repeat match of the famous quarter final of 2010  was another thriller, which culminated in a very tense double LB finish on [[MC2]], this time with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_people the Dutchman] coming out on top. Florent redeemed himself by cruising to a 9-2 win in the bronze medal play-off versus [[Geoffrey Label]], but most observants will agree that Florent did not show his true level in MR this year. Contrarily, Florent enjoyed a very prolific Battle Mode tournament, winning a silver medal despite not having practiced this mode much at all this year. [[Geoffrey Label]] surprisingly managed to eliminate the reigning BM World Champion [[Drew Blumfield]] in the quarter finals, meaning the main  obstacle that prevented Florent from reaching the BM finals in previous years was removed. However, [[Geoffrey Label]] managed to narrowly defeat Florent in a climactic final, featuring a dramatic 11-10 scoreline and both players being down to their last balloon on match-point. History had repeated itself as a high finish in the BM tournament, combined with an early quarter final exit of his rival [[Sami]] on the hands of a rampant [[Harold Christensen]], meant Florent was cleanly in the lead after BM day, with only the GP tournament left. Florent decided to use the heavy weight characters in all cups for GP this year. After the GP final of 2010, which he drove with the brothers on some cups, he had sensed that he was more vulnerable to body-checks and losing out to full speed potential when exposed to Sami, who equips himself with the big guys everywhere. Florent's character switch was a rewarding one as he strikingly underlined his absolute dominance in GP on the final day of the CDM 2011. After one odd defeat in the group stage, he went on to beat Sami in the early morning final with a convincing 5-2 scoreline, including some near WR level performances on tracks like [[MC4]]. Combined with his dominating Belgian Open win, 2011 had once again been a very succesful karting year for Florent.

== SMK World Championship 2012==

== SMK World Championship 2012==

*The Master Cup was introduced as a new element at the SMK Championships of 2008 as an experiment and was scheduled after the overall competition was finished. The goal was to see if a more randomly organized tournament system could work for future tournaments, clear favourites were not seeded for example, but it was not an undisputed success and would not return in tournaments thereafter.

*The Master Cup was introduced as a new element at the SMK Championships of 2008 as an experiment and was scheduled after the overall competition was finished. The goal was to see if a more randomly organized tournament system could work for future tournaments, clear favourites were not seeded for example, but it was not an undisputed success and would not return in tournaments thereafter.

== Time Trial ==

== Time Trial ==