Changes

Florent claimed his 7th World Champion title and his 9th overall 'Championnat' title at the 2016 SMK World Championships. For the third year running the CDM was hosted in the excellent venue of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Suze-sur-Sarthe La Suze-sur-Sarthe] and this time with a record breaking number of 56 participants. Notably, 6 Americans, 4 of which participated in the competition. At this CDM, Florent had to fight for the top position with fellow French karters [[Geoffrey Label]] and [[Julien Holmiere]], as his traditional rival [[Sami]] endured a series of disappointing results.   

Florent claimed his 7th World Champion title and his 9th overall 'Championnat' title at the 2016 SMK World Championships. For the third year running the CDM was hosted in the excellent venue of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Suze-sur-Sarthe La Suze-sur-Sarthe] and this time with a record breaking number of 56 participants. Notably, 6 Americans, 4 of which participated in the competition. At this CDM, Florent had to fight for the top position with fellow French karters [[Geoffrey Label]] and [[Julien Holmiere]], as his traditional rival [[Sami]] endured a series of disappointing results.   

Much like last year, Florent cruised into the final for the [[Time Trial]] event, enjoying crashless races throughout the knock-out stages of the tournament. The final turned out to be an almost exact repeat of the 2014 [[Time Trial]] final, facing [[Sami]] on Marcio Circuit 2. The feeling of déjà vu was further strengthened by the manner in which Florent defeated his opponent, opening the race with 2 Long Boosts, whereas Sami stuck to normal driving once more. In sharp contrast with the predictable Time Trial results, The Match Race tournament turned out to be full of upsets. In the quarter finals, the established pecking order in SMK was firmly put to the test. [[Jey]], a rising star in multiplayer SMK, managed to eliminate [[Sami]] through a convincing 7-4 victory, while [[Guillaume Leviach]] defeated another tournament favourite in [[Julien Homiere]]. The revolution was almost completed by [[Conor Wood]] from Team UK, who came shockingly close to knocking-out Florent in a 7-6 thriller of a match. Florent recovered from this match well and delivered a solid semi final win against [[Geoffrey Label]]. After the quarter final onslaught, Geo was the biggest remaining threat to Florent's overall position, but Florent disposed of him with a 9-6 win. In the final a surprise opponent awaited him in the form of [[Guillaume Leviach]]. Though Guillaume fought with all he had, Florent proved too strong and clinched an 11-6 victory, acquiring already his 3rd MR gold medal in a row.

Much like last year, Florent cruised into the final for the [[Time Trial]] event, enjoying crashless races throughout the knock-out stages of the tournament. The final turned out to be an almost exact repeat of the 2014 [[Time Trial]] final, facing [[Sami]] on Mario Circuit 2. The feeling of déjà vu was further strengthened by the manner in which Florent defeated his opponent, opening the race with 2 Long Boosts, whereas Sami stuck to normal driving once more. In sharp contrast with the predictable Time Trial results, The Match Race tournament turned out to be full of upsets. In the quarter finals, the established pecking order in SMK was firmly put to the test. [[Jey]], a rising star in multiplayer SMK, managed to eliminate [[Sami]] through a convincing 7-4 victory, while [[Guillaume Leviach]] defeated another tournament favourite in [[Julien Homiere]]. The revolution was almost completed by [[Conor Wood]] from Team UK, who came shockingly close to knocking-out Florent in a 7-6 thriller of a match. Florent recovered from this match well and delivered a solid semi final win against [[Geoffrey Label]]. After the quarter final onslaught, Geo was the biggest remaining threat to Florent's overall position, but Florent disposed of him with a 9-6 win. In the final a surprise opponent awaited him in the form of [[Guillaume Leviach]]. Though Guillaume fought with all he had, Florent proved too strong and clinched an 11-6 victory, acquiring already his 3rd MR gold medal in a row.

The next day, Florent enjoyed a strong group phase showing in battle mode. For a brief moment a monumental ‘Grand Chelem’ looked liked it could be in the works, but it was traditionally disrupted by the man Florent fears most in battle, [[Drew Blumfield]]. Whereas Florent had managed to finally overcome Drew in 2014’s BM semifinal, this year things returned to normal through a 9-4 Drew victory. At the same time [[Geo]] managed to qualify for the final after a thrilling fight with gold medal favourite [[Julien Holmiere]]. Florent subsequently lost the ensuing bronze medal play-off versus a rampant [[Julien]], though for the overall rankings his lead on rival [[Geo]] was still substantial. This was also helped by [[Drew]] defeating [[Geo]] in the BM final; the American, who is a big crowd favourite, reclaimed the gold for the first time since 2010.  

The next day, Florent enjoyed a strong group phase showing in battle mode. For a brief moment a monumental ‘Grand Chelem’ looked liked it could be in the works, but it was traditionally disrupted by the man Florent fears most in battle, [[Drew Blumfield]]. Whereas Florent had managed to finally overcome Drew in 2014’s BM semifinal, this year things returned to normal through a 9-4 Drew victory. At the same time [[Geo]] managed to qualify for the final after a thrilling fight with gold medal favourite [[Julien Holmiere]]. Florent subsequently lost the ensuing bronze medal play-off versus a rampant [[Julien]], though for the overall rankings his lead on rival [[Geo]] was still substantial. This was also helped by [[Drew]] defeating [[Geo]] in the BM final; the American, who is a big crowd favourite, reclaimed the gold for the first time since 2010.