Changes

== SMK Championship of France 2005 ==

== SMK Championship of France 2005 ==

[[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 - F.Lecoanet (FRA) vs K.van Duijvenboden (NED)]]

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.

== SMK Championship of France 2006 ==

== SMK Championship of France 2006 ==

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

[[Image:Flo and Pierre.jpg|thumb|NLG World Championship 2007 - F.Lecoanet (FRA) and Pierre L'Hoëst (FRA)]]

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 organization 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 organization 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.

== SMK European Championship 2008 ==

== SMK European Championship 2008 ==

[[Image:Sami_and_Flo.JPG|thumb|Championship of Europe 2008]]

[[Image:Sami_and_Flo.JPG|thumb|Championship of Europe 2008 - S.Cetin (ENG) and F.Lecoanet (FRA)]]

This year the [http://www.championnat-smk.org/ CDF] became the Championship of Europe (CDE), with players joining from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France France], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland Switzerland], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain Spain], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/england England], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands the Netherlands], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgium Belgium], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany Germany] and even one from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA USA]. Because of all those countries being represented in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thil,_Marne Thil], the number of participants reached a historical high of 39 (this record has since been eclipsed by the [http://www.ffsmk.org/?task=results&year=2012 CDM 2012]). With his biggest rival [http://speedrunwiki.com/Pierre_L%27Hoest Pierre] now being retired from multiplayer SMK, Florent entered the tournament as the big favourite. New rivals emerged though, the American [http://speedrunwiki.com/Drew_Blumfield Drew Blumfield] would prove to be the surprise package of this edition, both in his behaviour and his extreme karting abilities. Florent’s main focus was on winning the [[Time Trial]] event, which he labeled his [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Open Roland Garros], seeing it was the only mode where he didn’t win a gold medal yet. Obviously this refers to his idol and look-a-like [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federer Roger Federer] not being able to win [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Open Roland Garros], whereas he has won all other [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Slam_(tennis) Grand Slams] numerous times. Florent would break his own tradition though; he enjoyed a prosperous start, doing very well in the qualifying stages and winning with seconds to spare in the [[CI1]] final versus [http://speedrunwiki.com/Karel_van_Duijvenboden Karel] by making the wall Shortcut 5 out of 5 times.

This year the [http://www.championnat-smk.org/ CDF] became the Championship of Europe (CDE), with players joining from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France France], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland Switzerland], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain Spain], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/england England], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands the Netherlands], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgium Belgium], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany Germany] and even one from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA USA]. Because of all those countries being represented in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thil,_Marne Thil], the number of participants reached a historical high of 39 (this record has since been eclipsed by the [http://www.ffsmk.org/?task=results&year=2012 CDM 2012]). With his biggest rival [http://speedrunwiki.com/Pierre_L%27Hoest Pierre] now being retired from multiplayer SMK, Florent entered the tournament as the big favourite. New rivals emerged though, the American [http://speedrunwiki.com/Drew_Blumfield Drew Blumfield] would prove to be the surprise package of this edition, both in his behaviour and his extreme karting abilities. Florent’s main focus was on winning the [[Time Trial]] event, which he labeled his [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Open Roland Garros], seeing it was the only mode where he didn’t win a gold medal yet. Obviously this refers to his idol and look-a-like [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federer Roger Federer] not being able to win [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Open Roland Garros], whereas he has won all other [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Slam_(tennis) Grand Slams] numerous times. Florent would break his own tradition though; he enjoyed a prosperous start, doing very well in the qualifying stages and winning with seconds to spare in the [[CI1]] final versus [http://speedrunwiki.com/Karel_van_Duijvenboden Karel] by making the wall Shortcut 5 out of 5 times.

== SMK World Championship 2009==

== SMK World Championship 2009==

[[Image:Sami,_Florent_and_Geoffrey.JPG|thumb|World Championship 2009]]

[[Image:Sami,_Florent_and_Geoffrey.JPG|thumb|World Championship 2009 - S.Cetin (ENG), F.Lecoanet (FRA), and G.Label (FRA)]]

In 2009, the [http://www.championnat-smk.org/ CDF] evolved into its final form, that of a World Championship (CDM, abbreviation for Championnat du Monde, which means World Championship in French). The event in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allenjoie Allenjoie] was open for and advertised towards the global SMK population and in the end karters from two additional continents participated. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_america North America] was represented by [http://speedrunwiki.com/Drew_Blumfield Drew Blumfield] from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA USA] once again and this time [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/south_america South America] was represented as well by the Champion of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil Brazil], [[Guilherme Arantes]]. Of course, much like in 2008, karters from throughout [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe Europe] were present,  including karters from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands Netherlands], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland Switzerland], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain Spain], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/england England], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/germany Germany]. Of course the vast majority of the participants came from the hosting nation [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France France] itself.

In 2009, the [http://www.championnat-smk.org/ CDF] evolved into its final form, that of a World Championship (CDM, abbreviation for Championnat du Monde, which means World Championship in French). The event in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allenjoie Allenjoie] was open for and advertised towards the global SMK population and in the end karters from two additional continents participated. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_america North America] was represented by [http://speedrunwiki.com/Drew_Blumfield Drew Blumfield] from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA USA] once again and this time [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/south_america South America] was represented as well by the Champion of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil Brazil], [[Guilherme Arantes]]. Of course, much like in 2008, karters from throughout [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe Europe] were present,  including karters from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands Netherlands], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland Switzerland], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain Spain], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/england England], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/germany Germany]. Of course the vast majority of the participants came from the hosting nation [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France France] itself.

== SMK World Championship 2010==

== SMK World Championship 2010==

[[Image:Flo_et_Sami_CDM_2010.JPG|thumb|World Championship 2010]]

[[Image:Flo_et_Sami_CDM_2010.JPG|thumb|World Championship 2010 - F.Lecoanet (FRA) and S.Cetin (ENG)]]

Florent succesfully defended his title at the second SMK World Championship, the [http://www.ffsmk.org/?task=results&year=2010 CDM 2010], adding another milestone and achievement to his already illustrous career. Attendance rates to the event were still high, however, when compared to the previous two editions, this year the balance in number of participants shifted even more towards  karters from the hosting country [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France France].  That said, international karters from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands the Netherlands], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland Zwitzerland], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain Spain], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England England] and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA USA], were present in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thil,_Marne Thil] to complete the field.  

Florent succesfully defended his title at the second SMK World Championship, the [http://www.ffsmk.org/?task=results&year=2010 CDM 2010], adding another milestone and achievement to his already illustrous career. Attendance rates to the event were still high, however, when compared to the previous two editions, this year the balance in number of participants shifted even more towards  karters from the hosting country [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France France].  That said, international karters from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands the Netherlands], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland Zwitzerland], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain Spain], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England England] and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA USA], were present in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thil,_Marne Thil] to complete the field.  

The 2010 edition had without a doubt the strongest line-up of participants that the [[SMK]] playing world had ever witnessed thus far: in addition to the presence of all the top ranked players of the [http://www.ffsmk.org/?task=results&year=2009 CDM 2009], triple [http://www.championnat-smk.org/ CDF] winner [http://speedrunwiki.com/Pierre_L%27Hoest Pierre L'Hoëst] and multi-medal winner [[Matthias Boucher]] (known as Gatchan on the boards) also returned to the competition for this event. As could be expected after the events that transpired during the previous year ([http://www.ffsmk.org/?task=results&year=2009 CDM 2009]), Florent’s biggest opposition once again came from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom UK] Champion [http://speedrunwiki.com/Sami Sami], who announced his ambitions in the days prior to the event by an inspirational [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYxitvoVlXQ trailer], heralding the now famous words: “The Time is Coming”. To underline this, [http://speedrunwiki.com/Sami Sami] took the #3 spot from Florent in the [[PAL]] [[Time Trial]] rankings at around the same moment. The intense rivalry between Florent and [http://speedrunwiki.com/Sami Sami] was really starting to resemble the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federer Roger Federer] vs [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Nadal Rafael Nadal] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis tennis] rivalry in an increasing number of ways and in reference to this, [http://speedrunwiki.com/Sami Sami] now called himself 'the Rafael Nadal of SMK', wearing a sleeveless top to match.  

The 2010 edition had without a doubt the strongest line-up of participants that the [[SMK]] playing world had ever witnessed thus far: in addition to the presence of all the top ranked players of the [http://www.ffsmk.org/?task=results&year=2009 CDM 2009], triple [http://www.championnat-smk.org/ CDF] winner [http://speedrunwiki.com/Pierre_L%27Hoest Pierre L'Hoëst] and multi-medal winner [[Matthias Boucher]] (known as Gatchan on the boards) also returned to the competition for this event. As could be expected after the events that transpired during the previous year ([http://www.ffsmk.org/?task=results&year=2009 CDM 2009]), Florent’s biggest opposition once again came from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom UK] Champion [http://speedrunwiki.com/Sami Sami], who announced his ambitions in the days prior to the event by an inspirational [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYxitvoVlXQ trailer], heralding the now famous words: “The Time is Coming”. To underline this, [http://speedrunwiki.com/Sami Sami] took the #3 spot from Florent in the [[PAL]] [[Time Trial]] rankings at around the same moment. The intense rivalry between Florent and [http://speedrunwiki.com/Sami Sami] was really starting to resemble the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federer Roger Federer] vs [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Nadal Rafael Nadal] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis tennis] rivalry in an increasing number of ways and in reference to this, [http://speedrunwiki.com/Sami Sami] now called himself 'the Rafael Nadal of SMK', wearing a sleeveless top to match.