#FrontRunning

[soundleer]

17 seconds before chaos

——————

reference video:

[unopenablebox]

man. i even still like the photos of me in those dresses. what the hell

[pikachu-deluxe]

been thinking recently about how i play games (in general but also a bit on the competitive side on some)

turns out i don't particularly care about winning, i just want to have fun, but obviously i do like winning i just try to do win by doing very stupid stuff

it's way more fun for everyone involved when you do things against the meta or common sense and end up winning anyways bc it's so weird that it takes others by surprise

[atbpgamerandfriends]

Frontrunning as Usual until... #mariokart #babypeach #mariokart8deluxe

[slutforpringles]

wlll just be leaving this here for the idiots still banging on the daniel has been so terrible this year, particularly in quali 👀🤫

and honestly while I genuinely feel bad for sergio/his fans, seriously what the fuck is going on??? this continued downward spiral is honestly getting hard to watch at this point. it's embarrassing for him, for red bull - and it's incredibly frustrating watching him drive around with the backmarkers in a frontrunning car with performance potential that most other drivers on the grid will never get to drive in their entire careers 💀🙃🫠

[bisexualseraphim]

For the love of Goddd it is not 🤙🏻owning the libs😎 to be all ✨both sides✨ about the Democratic and Republican parties, it’s uhhh denying reality lmao.

If you’ve paid the most minute amount of attention to the US election outside of viral soundbytes you categorically cannot claim that both sides are even remotely the same: completely different views on the working person. Completely different views on reproductive rights. Very different views on gun control. I could go on and on and on.

And yes, they do in fact have different views on Israel. One side is eye-rollingly centrist about the issue but acknowledges the suffering of both Palestinians and Israelis alike and is open to providing aid to Gaza and possibly a ceasefire. The other side openly wants Palestine bombed off the map. If you can’t see that those are verrry different views and that one, although not ideal, is significantly preferable to the other, then sorry but you’re living in a fantasy world of pure naïveté where, in the US and the entire world in their current states, you think you’re going to find a frontrunning politician who isn’t some level of apathetic or straight up hungry towards war. And if you can somehow find one, you’re gonna have to show massive support for them for many years OUTSIDE of election season, not just kick your feet up and only remind people of their existence when two candidates you don’t like are frontrunning against each other. That’s just not how third party support works.

It’s fine to criticise the Democratic party. It’s GOOD to criticise them. They could always be doing more for the most vulnerable and that deserves criticism. Kamala Harris proudly stating she is going to ensure the US has the most lethal military in the world is nothing short of horrifying and not something that should be endorsed by literally anyone; her centrist-level takes on Israel are also very much worthy of criticism.

But this singular issue voting, “both sides are just as bad” mindset a lot of (usually around my age) voters seem to have is seriously concerning to me because you CANNOT base your voting and/or political activism around idealism. Real change just simply does not happen that quickly. You have to work for it and sometimes that means holding your nose and voting for someone whom you’d absolutely end up in a heated argument with over a holiday dinner — because they are a baby step towards someone you’d instead happily shake hands with.

Plus the whole, you know, Donald Trump wants the rich to stay rich, anyone whom he doesn’t perceive to be a white American to never remain in “his” country and for LGBTQ people to be erased in both the historical and literal sense, plus many, many more. A vote that isn’t for Harris/Walz is a vote for Trump/Vance. Remember that.

Vote Blue — and then, HOLD THEM TO ACCOUNT.

[soundleer]

he's got a bomb :))

whooew!

[valyrfia]

mclaren still the frontrunning car is to be expected but also it still makes me want to get violent

[eclecticelectriceccentric]

I need to make a longer post later but my GOD dexter the show is fucking obsessed with foils mirrors and parallels which is great because I am too

anyway we can broadly divide people in dexter's life who are his confidantes etc into a few categories: Family, Lovers, Apprentices, Killers, Angels, Devils, and Hunters. these overlap so so often. let me explain them. this got long so lemme add a cut.

Family are his either literal (biological or adopted) or spiritual family (Vogel). self explanatory. We can divide this into Parents, Children, and Siblings. This has Harry Morgan, Debra Morgan, Laura Moser, Joseph Driscoll, Brian Moser, Evelyn Vogel (+ Oliver Saxon by extension), as well as Astor, Cody, and Harrison. Zach Hamilton is claimed as a 'spiritual son' also

Lovers is also self explanatory. He has 4 main lovers throughout the series: Rita Bennett, Lila West, Lumen Pierce, and Hannah McKay. He also has a few ancillary love interest type people - Luci the store clerk in "Nebraska", Mindy who asked him to the dance, Cassie who he got made to go on a date with, Trisha at the high school reunion, an unnamed woman he has sex with, and LaGuerta who makes unwelcome sexual advances

Apprentices are people he either teaches or attempts to teach the Code to in some form. There are four, by my estimate: Jeremy Downs in season 1, Miguel Prado, Lumen Pierce, and Zach Hamilton. Travis Marshall seems to fit in this category also despite differences

Killers are people he broadly relates to through shared murdering. This includes basically everyone he lays eyes on, but especially the Ice Truck Killer Brian Moser, Arthur Mitchell, Jonah Mitchell, Isaak Sirko, and three who become more than killers: Hannah McKay, Jeremy Downs, and Zach Hamilton

Angels are the people who inspire him to be morally better. These include Rita Bennett and Brother Sam as well as Harry and Deb Morgan. He also acts better for his children often. Occasionally his care for his Angels inspires him to kill people for them, but that's not their fault

Devils are the opposite of Angels and inspire him to act worse. Most blatant is his Dark Passenger, to the extent that exists outside of a justification. Brian and Lila are pretty clear Devils. Harry and Deb, interestingly, are Devils as well as Angels; both directly tell him to murder people. Evelyn Vogel encourages him to lean into his serial killing as well

Hunters 'know what Dexter is' or are chasing him down for Justice reasons (rather than because they are trying to kill him/his family). Doakes is the frontrunning Hunter - Joey Quinn sort of takes his narrative place. Lundy and also the Miami Metro PD is hunting the BHB but Lundy is the real dedicated Hunter. LaGuerta becomes a Hunter in Season 7 - a rare case of a developing Hunter. Elway in Season 8 is also a Hunter.

anyway lmk what you think + if you agree or disagree and any connections or categories you'd make + if you'd be interested in me continuing this analysis

[hi-im-greenjunipertree]

My face when I hyuk up at the last minute in a racing game after frontrunning for like 99% of it:

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Shrouded in axions

Physicists show that neutron stars may be shrouded in clouds of ‘axions’ – and that these clouds can teach us a lot

A team of physicists from the universities of Amsterdam, Princeton and Oxford have shown that extremely light particles known as axions may occur in large clouds around neutron stars. These axions could form an explanation for the elusive dark matter that cosmologists search for – and moreover, they might not be too difficult to observe.

Earlier this week, the new research was published in the journal Physical Review X. The paper is a follow-up to previous work, in which the authors also studied axions and neutron stars, but from a completely different point of view. While in their previous work they investigated the axions that escape the neutron star, now the researchers focus on the ones that are left behind – the axions that get captured by the star’s gravity. As time goes by, these particles should gradually form a hazy cloud around the neutron star, and it turns out that such axion clouds may well be observable in our telescopes. But why would astronomers and physicists be so interested in hazy clouds around far away stars?

Axions: from soap to dark matter

Protons, neutrons, electrons, photons – most of us are familiar with the names of at least some of these tiny particles. The axion is lesser known, and for a good reason: at the moment it is only a hypothetical type of particle – one that nobody has yet detected. Named after a brand of soap, its existence was first postulated in the 1970s, to clean up a problem – hence the soap reference – in our understanding of one of the particles we could observe very well: the neutron. However, while theoretically very nice, if these axions existed they would be extremely light, making them very hard to detect in experiments or observations.

Today, axions are also known as a frontrunning candidate to explain dark matter, one of the biggest mysteries in contemporary physics. Many different pieces of evidence suggest that approximately 85% of the matter content in our Universe is ‘dark’, which simply means that it is not made up of any type of matter that we know and can currently observe. Instead, the existence of dark matter is only inferred indirectly through the gravitational influence it exerts on visible matter. Fortunately, this does not automatically mean that dark matter has no other interactions with visible matter at all, but if such interactions exist their strength is necessarily tiny. As the name suggests, any viable dark matter candidate is thus incredibly difficult to directly observe.

Putting one and one together, physicists have realized that the axion may be exactly what they are looking for to solve the dark matter problem. A particle that has not yet been observed, which would be extremely light, and have very weak interactions with other particles… could axions be at least part of the explanation for dark matter?

Neutron stars as magnifying glasses

The idea of the axion as a dark matter particle is nice, but in physics an idea is only truly nice if it has observable consequences. Would there be a way to observe axions after all, fifty years after their possible existence was first proposed?

When exposed to electric and magnetic fields, axions are expected to be able to convert into photons – particles of light – and vice versa. Light is something we know how to observe, but as mentioned, the corresponding interaction strength should be very small, and therefore so is the amount of light that axions generally produce. That is, unless one considers an environment containing a truly massive amount of axions, ideally in very strong electromagnetic fields.

This led the researchers to consider neutron stars, the densest known stars in our Universe. These objects have masses similar to that of our Sun but compressed into stars of 12 to 15 kilometres in size. Such extreme densities create an equally extreme environment that, notably, also contains enormous magnetic fields, billions of times stronger than any we find on Earth. Recent research has shown that if axions exist, these magnetic fields allow for neutron stars to mass-produce these particles near their surface.

The ones that stay behind

In their previous work, the authors focused on the axions that after production escaped the star – they computed the amounts in which these axions would be produced, which trajectories they would follow, and how their conversion into light could lead to a weak but potentially observable signal. This time, they consider the axions that do not manage to escape – the ones that, despite their tiny mass, get caught by the neutron star’s immense gravity.

Due to the axion’s very feeble interactions, these particles will stay around, and on timescales up to millions of years they will accumulate around the neutron star. This can result in the formation of very dense clouds of axions around neutron stars, which provide some incredible new opportunities for axion research. In their paper, the researchers study the formation, as well as the properties and further evolution, of these axion clouds, pointing out that they should, and in many cases must, exist. In fact, the authors argue that if axions exist, axion clouds should be generic (for a wide range of axion properties they should form around most, perhaps even all, neutron stars), they should in general be very dense (forming a density possibly twenty orders of magnitude larger than local dark matter densities), and because of this they should lead to powerful observational signatures. The latter potentially come in many types, of which the authors discuss two: a continuous signal emitted during large parts of a neutron star’s lifetime, but also a one-time burst of light at the end of a neutron star’s life, when it stops producing its electromagnetic radiation. Both of these signatures could be observed and used to probe the interaction between axions and photons beyond current limits, even using existing radio telescopes.

What’s next?

While so far, no axion clouds have been observed, with the new results we know very precisely what to look for, making a thorough search for axions much more feasible. While the main point on the to do-list is therefore ‘search for axion clouds’, the work also opens up several new theoretical avenues to explore.

For one thing, one of the authors is already involved in follow-up work that studies how the axion clouds can change the dynamics of neutron stars themselves. Another important future research direction is the numerical modelling of axion clouds: the present paper shows great discovery potential, but there is more numerical modelling needed to know even more precisely what to look for and where.  Finally, the present results are all for single neutron stars, but many of these stars appear as components of binaries – sometimes together with another neutron star, sometimes together with a black hole. Understanding the physics of axion clouds in such systems, and potentially understanding their observational signals, would be very valuable.

Thus, the present work is an important step in a new and exciting research direction. A full understanding of axion clouds will require complementary efforts from multiple branches of science, including particle (astro)physics, plasma physics, and observational radio astronomy. This work opens up this new, cross-disciplinary field with lots of opportunities for future research.

[slutforpringles]

"watching Perez’s most likely replacements take RB from sixth to eighth in the standings has got to be a grim experience". Unfortunately I have to once again hand it to The Race for actually calling out the underperformance of both VCarb drivers and the team and the total lack of obvious and sensible option Red Bull have for 2025, unlike some other 'journalists' in the paddock. Somebody should investigate how much certain journalists (Mat Coch, Thomas Maher) are being paid by Liam Lawson's management, because no-one with even half a brain and who understands F1 can watch how he's fairly significantly underperformed relative to both Yuki and Daniel in the VCarb this season and think he's the clear frontrunning choice for the second RBR seat next year. | via

[coimbrabertone]

Injuries, Job Security, and How MotoGP and Indycar Differ...Or Don't.

In the last two years, two racers I support have been seriously injured. One was Enea Bastianini, rider of the #23 Ducati in MotoGP, and the other was David Malukas, who never actually got to drive the #6 NTT Data Arrow McLaren-Chevrolet Indycar.

So, just to go over what happened to them: Enea Bastianini was injured in the opening sprint race of the 2023 MotoGP season, the Portuguese GP at Portimao. Luca Marini went up his inside into turn five (Torre VIP), lost it, and his bike slid into Enea's bike. Enea broke his collarbone in this crash, wound up missing the opening five races, came back, injured himself again at Catalunya, and missed another three races.

Enea would return for the Indonesian Grand Prix and would then win the Malaysian Grand Prix towards the end of the season. That win, combined with Jorge Martin on the Pramac Ducati failing to beat Francesco Bagnaia for the championship, secured Enea's seat for 2024.

So, while Enea was enjoying a secure offseason, David Malukas was preparing for his switch from Dale Coyne Racing to a frontrunning team in the form of Arrow McLaren...except, he never actually made his debut for the team.

David Malukas was mountain biking in California, riding an easy trail, when, trying to slow himself, pulled the front brake too hard, went up and over the handlebars, and landed on his hands. He would break his left wrist and it was announced he would miss St. Pete and probably Thermal.

St. Pete and probably Thermal soon became St. Pete and definitely Thermal, missing those two races. Callum Ilott would fill in.

Malukas missed Long Beach next, with Theo Pourchaire in the car now.

Then Theo Pourchaire raced Long Beach as well.

Around this time, various rumors started flying about Malukas getting replaced. This only grew as Nathan Brown reported that Malukas had traveled to Panama in order to receive stem cell shots to speed up his recovery, and only then did he get the pins in his wrist removed.

Then, after Barber - the fourth race of the season, Malukas blacked out his twitter page. I was sat in a discord debating what exactly this meant with some other Indycar fans, with news picking up that he had been dropped. With the story pretty much out there, Arrow McLaren made the announcement early in the morning, David Malukas had been released after failing to meet his contractual obligations.

By now, it's been announced that Ilott will do the Indy 500, and then Theo Pourchaire will fill out the rest of the season in the #6. The Malukas at McLaren story ended before it could even begin.

Meanwhile, in MotoGPland, Enea Bastianini continued with the factory Ducati team. However, with Jorge Martin now building up an annoyingly large championship lead and Marc Marquez on the Ducati stealing all the attention, the whole world seems to think it's between the two of them to get the Ducati factory seat for 2025.

For the record, Enea is tied on points with Marquez, just two behind his teammate, and spent this weekend's race - the French Grand Prix at the Le Mans Bugatti Circuit - starting tenth, getting a penalty, recovering to fourth, setting fastest lap, and finishing just 2.2 seconds off the lead.

Enea is an immense talent, he's the rider I chose to support when I decided to become a MotoGP fan ahead of the 2023 season, and it's so rotten to see his career falling apart because of factors outside of his control.

As for Malukas, he's a young, popular kid and has proven so talented on the ovals in a Dale Coyne Racing car. I was so eager to see what he could do with an Arrow McLaren, particularly at tracks like Iowa, Gateway, and Nashville which seemed like they'd suit him. Now, we're not going to get the chance, and it's unclear where he might land if he were to try and return to Indycar.

So, in theory, MotoGP gives more time to injured racers, but no matter what series you're in, motorsports can be a cutthroat business. Bastianini and Malukas certainly aren't the first racers to lose top rides after an injury, and they certainly won't be the last. It's not exactly an industry known for job security.

If I could manifest a happy resolution to both, I'd have Enea Bastianini go to factory Aprilia to join Maverick VInales, while David Malukas could join Meyer Shank Racing (perhaps with Tom Blomqvist returning to IMSA with the same team) to reinforce their oval program the same way Felix Rosenqvist has revitalized that team on the road and street circuits.

For now though, we wait to see what happens to them.

To end on a happier note, Brad Keselowski won the Darlington Goodyear 400 NASCAR race last night running a throwback scheme in honor of the TOM's Castrol Supra. That is an awesome motorsports word randomizer and the fact that it's real is why NASCAR is really cool in 2024.

One day I'll write a blogpost where talking about current NASCAR is actually the point instead of just spending the final paragraph gushing about last weekend's cool race.

[batsplat]

I have seen some stuff about the Honda going into decline post 2014 and I wanted to ask how accurate that is cause it’s obvious that each year it got slightly worse with the worst being 2019 of you compared Marc’s results to the other Hondas but where did it become Marc masking the issues and does that mean the even if Marc won the championships from 2016-19 doesn’t mean he necessarily had the best bike on the grid. And even in 2021 with the wins that he got. Also how do you define the bbest bike on the grid would it be by combining the bike with the skill of the rider that’s on it or would it be purely looking at the package of the bike.

I answered most of the questions in this ask here, so conveniently I can just link to that lol. in general, I wouldn't characterise honda as a linear downward progression after 2014. they had a rough year in 2015 specifically, but in 2016 the tyre switch and spec electronics was basically a bit of a reset. when we assess how much weaker they got year on year, it is always important to remember that of course this will be relative to the competition... in 2015, honda was second best after yamaha. by 2018 at the very latest, yamaha had slipped back, having fallen behind its competition after the reintroduction of michelins and a failure to keep up in the tech race. instead, it was ducati who were honda's main adversary. when we're assessing what the strongest bike is, ideally we very much are talking about the bike here - and not what the rider is doing, because that's a separate issue and is only relevant to the overall 'package'. however, there is a bit of a complicating factor here: a distinction between how much raw performance it is possible to extract from a bike and how easy it is to extract that raw performance. in 2019, honda did not have a bad bike. you cannot do what marc did that season with a bad bike. it was a very fast bike... in marc's hands. in the post I linked to, I made a rough distinction between a bike being good in the sense of being 'fast', and a bike being good in the sense of being 'rideable':

by 2018 the yamaha is still a considerably more rideable bike than honda, which means more riders can extract a decent amount of performance from it. but its ultimate potential, its raw pace, was pretty mediocre a lot of the time. what honda were able to do is essentially build a bike that catered to one rider alone - and whether that bike is 'better' or 'worse' than the ducati during that same time is a little more up to interpretation. but this was a temporary fix for a set of more deep-rooted problems. marc's development direction certainly didn't help here, though it helped even less when he was gone with injury and honda didn't even have that direction anymore. in 2021, this bike is very much already declining in competitiveness, though not quite yet in free fall like in the years to come. that year, a fully fit marc probably could have done a fair bit more with the bike they had at their disposal. the three victories come at his two specialist circuits, plus at his strongest clockwise circuit where the two factory ducati riders fell off ahead of him (the other circuit where he came close to victory was, of course, aragon). after that season, honda increasingly reached a point where it was not just impossible to ride but also too slow. marc did more frontrunning last season than that bike deserved, but fundamentally he wasn't able to ride that bike in a way that was both fast and in any way sustainable. sometimes, the performance just isn't there to be extracted

[mathcat7]

A beginner's guide to Dr. Robotnik's Ring Racers any%

(Mirror to the speedrun.com guide post)A written companion for the commentary by Mathcat and Eve's Plate

Disclaimers:

This and the video guide are both presuming some beginner-tier knowledge with the game, i.e. knowledge but not necessarily mastery over the game's mechanics and courses. The author of this written companion (Mathcat) themself is only a fledging runner for the category at time of writing.

This guide is written around and for a run performed on Gear 2 speed (A.K.A. Intense difficulty) with version 2.3 of Dr. Robotnik's Ring Racers. This run will look significantly different on a different version (i.e. v2.2 bubble smuggling to 1st place to abuse bunnyhop strats) and/or on Gear 3 speed.

This written companion, unlike the commentary, draws information directly from both Mathcat's run and the current WR run performed by troy236. As such, any different strategies performed in the video by the former may or may not be inferior to optimal play either due to opting for safer strategies, or from gaps in skill/knowledge, and strategies here will speak more on what is ideal whereas the commentary focuses more on moment-to-moment actions taken and solutions to problems faced.

Pre-run setup

Currently, the any% rules on speedrun.com require we start from a clean game data file and as such, video proof of the run starts with deletion of our saves. Obviously backup those files if you wish to play casually elsewhere, but there is one optimization prior to the run itself that can be done: our game profile character selection. The profile settings allow a preset character choice, so by selecting our character here we save some time fumbling in the menus once the run begins. As for the characters itself, the only choices we've seen used in any% (in recent time) are Sonic and Metal Sonic, the class C and I characters respectively. Why we've picked these two up to this point is quite self-evident: more top speed means we can clear through courses as fast as is possible in the moment. Moreover, the more time we can stay frontrunning is less volatility from having to deal with items being used by CPUs in the pack. As for the differences between the two hedgehogs:

Sonic turns faster and gains more relative benefit from frontrunning ring use due to a lesser known mechanic known as metabolism. Riskier, but ultimately the supreme choice for any% and what this guide will mostly center strategy around.

Metal Sonic is heavier (better for the more finicky position moments), gains ring sting resist, and gets better exchanges out of drifting, especially during triangle boosts. Safer option, especially if you aren't used to looking for clean lines or are approaching this run from the perspective of more casual kart games.

Once you've made your choice and reset the file, the clock begins as soon as you enter "gaster" in the password prompt (to skip tutorial). Mash through the challenge unlocks, character select, and menus to get to Ring Cup in GP. (The menus have memory so make sure you weren't on any unnecessary selections to save a little more time.)

Important Universal Tech and Terms

First Blood - The First Blood boost you get after Position is tantamount to every course in this run. This advice is self-evident, but there are some strategies for extending our frontrunning that are only possible when this is used in tandem with:

First Blood Tripwire Skips (Abbreviated to FBTS later in this companion) - Several of these courses have tripwires so close to the starting line, that a First Blood boost can let us cross and gain a powerful shortcut very early into the race. Knowledge of where these are and if additional prep/resources are required is important.

Roulette Choices - As rings are our main resource to build and maintain momentum and speed, we will want to focus on getting the super ring item (a.k.a. 20 ring refill) from our roulettes as often as possible. If you're frontrunning, super rings will always show at the 13th slot, and you can easily tell when to time for regardless of if you have the normal roulette or a shield-less one (press after the three orbis on normal, orbi-mine-orbi on shield-less). Alternatively, if you open an item box at an empty ring count, every other item will be a super ring, so timing for a pull during those is rather easy. If fishing for rings is too inopportune, your next best choice is the hyudoro, as these won't add more volatility to your driving lines and can be helpful if a boosting item is stolen from the CPUs. This will be the 1st, 2nd (hold your item button before selection to override mash protection on these), and 7th slots on the standard roulette, or 6th, 8th, and 14th (after super rings!) slots on the shield-less roulette. If you're not frontunning, item choice starts to become more dependent on gamestate and it will be on your best judgement on what item to pick, though avoiding trapping items will usually be best for avoiding extra clutter for your driving lines. A full list of the roulette item orders can be found on the SRB2 forums.

Sliptiding and Wavedashing - It's unfortunate this information was omitted from the tutorial and there aren't any other ways to intuit this mechanic in game, but a key mechanical piece in our toolset is the ability to sliptide and wavedash. ArcadeStriker has a well constructed video on the matter I would refer you to for learning how to use them, but this written companion will be more focused on the where of that equation as we get into the courses.

Triangle Dash - Another (albeit more forgivable) omission from the tutorial, a triangle dash is performed by expending drift charge into a boost while midair, sending the kart at a downward angle whilst inheriting momentum from airtime. This is usually much more preferable to gravity drops as a fast falling option, as some speed is usually lost from both the bounce and additional airtime resulting from a gravity drop. Another very context-important mechanic to keep in the pocket.

Extra Stage Quit Outs - be prepared for the button combination of [start]-[up]-[a]-[a] after the 2nd and 4th races of each cup. Any% does not require us to handle the extra stages (and getting access to the special stages would especially slow us down), so you'll want not to waste any excess time by being fast with menuing.

Burning a Continue Early - Grand Prix mode has difficulty scaling built into it; the more successful you are in a race, the more bonuses and aggression is given to the CPUs. This can be dangerous, as one misstep can result in failing to place 4th or higher, and thusly requiring you to use a continue and effectively lose the run (most races are 2+ minutes and that's an unaffordable amount of time loss in most scenarios.) You can however, opt to reset this on your own terms by using "Try Again" in the menu at the start of the race. This will lose you a few seconds in time, but if you're making good pace it may be worth doing this to add more safety to your run. (Please note that in the event of doing any% on Master Mode, this does not work as the CPU difficulty will already be at the maximum level.)

Ring Cup - ~13 minutes

Robotnik Coaster

Collect 10+ rings during position and line yourself up so you can see the first tripwire in the course. FBTS to it immediately after the start of the race, but be ready to steer/sliptide to the right upon passing it. Drift for the sneaker panels around the long curve, but drive cleanly for almost everything else and sliptide to correct angles as necessary. For the 2nd/3rd laps, use the first sneaker panel to sliptide the bend.

Northern District

First Blood lets you cut the first turn. Don't burn all your rings before the bend, you'll want a few for the turn since its too deep to not drift. Always take the downhill path to restock on rings + get the sneaker panels to make the upcoming sharp turn easier to handle with a sliptide. Final turn can also be sliptided using the right-hand panel, as you won't lose too much speed cutting the ensuing chicanes.

Panic City

The second sneaker panels (the ones not around the jumps) can be used to sliptide-cut the sharp turn, and help adjust your angle for the incoming chicane. Try to hit all 4 sneaker panels in the final stretch (if you know how to snake sliptide to hit the second, all the better for you), and be ready for a very sharp sliptide for the hook of the turn (let off the gas if you find yourself overshooting into the wall).

Sonic Speedway

You'll want to aim yourself at an almost right degree angle towards the water during position to hit the FBTS in this course. Otherwise most of this course is balancing ring collection with clean lines, though the last sneaker panel can be sliptided to avoid having to drift the entire turn.

Green Hills

Use a drift around the corkscrew to land a triangle dash over the spring jump (use rings as needed to maintain momentum). Drift deep into the hairpin turn to hit the sneaker panel, and then sliptide to course correct your angle as needed. The bottom of the halfpipe can be drifted to triangle dash once you're through the zig-zag springs. How you handle the last jump mostly comes down to your momentum, the state of the ring, and the gamestate in general in that moment; if you're already moving fast (or if the ring is set to the weak Yellow), aim away from the springs to get on the ground as soon as possible, but if you need a bit of a momentum boost, and the ring is currently set to Blue or Red, aim for the boost ring to get your speed back. (Note that while under the influence of this ring, you will not be able to gravity drop to end your airtime early.)

Sneaker Cup - ~14 minutes (~27m total)

Emerald Coast

Be careful with your first turns while under the influence of first blood; many springs around that will ruin all momentum/force a respawn should your steering be poor. If an SPB is on the field, a free lightning shield is available in the small ramp jump towards the end of the course.

Storm Rig

With perfect steering and ring use it should be possible to drift every single panel in this course. Failing that, making sure to use sliptides to adjust angle and get a little boost off is serviceable. Final straightaway has sneaker panels structured in a way to incentivize a snake-sliptide, but this is particularly tricky to execute with Sonic.

Lucid Pass

First Blood lets you cut the first turn and sliptide the first hairpin. The sneaker panel before the second hairpin allows for a sliptide, but you'll want to exit the turn wide to let the sliptide boost push you through a longer cut. Burn some rings before the following turn to push through another cut, instead of taking the very awkward road.

Autumn Ring

For the big jump you should only stay in the air as long as it is necessary to collect the aerial ring boxes. The second sneaker panel can be sliptided to avoid drifting the corner, but Sonic's turning radius is a bit too tight to utilize and further beyond that. The jump before the dash rings can be avoid if you're going fast enough to triangle drift the nonexistent corner (most likely with rocket sneakers/invincibility), but otherwise take the jump near to the right hand side and add a gravity drop to be pushed out the red dash ring; this will ensure another ring box and a really smooth transition back to the ground. Last straight and chicane has some potentially snake-sliptide-able panels, but taking them normally will also be serviceable.

Withering Chateau

There's a potential FBTS here, but is inadvisable to take as the normal road will have back to back sneaker panels to use instead (not to mention position here means no time to properly charge/angle a spindash). The corkscrew is the only turn in the course worth truly drifting, as every other turn is shallow enough to be steered around normally (or sliptided in the case of the sneaker panels near the start).

Spring Cup - ~15 minutes (~42m total)

Popcorn Workshop

Keep the conveyor belts on the left position for all turns, as your 2nd turn adjustments will be a lot shallower in this configuration. Try to use the sneaker panel to lock a wavedash, and keep it stored by drifting the corkscrew. You have barely just enough time to charge yellow drift sparks before the jump to the downhill portion, so a triangle dash to get down fast plus a wavedash boost once your on the popcorn will get your momentum building very fast.

Sundae Drive

Collect the rings boxes in the back close to the end of position, as using these plus your reserves should get net you a FBTS for the first bend. Try to avoid the jump on the right side of the course split (cut near the mound), and use the sneaker panels following it to sliptide the final turn of the course.

Cadillac Cascade

After the first switchback, either of the steel uphill sections allow to jump over the tripwire and onto the super panel. Be careful about how you land this jump, as the rest of the area of this "island" is offroad, and is small enough to fall of it with a poorly aimed gravity drop. A zipper panels further in this section, but won't be super strong unless you were already going fast from the first panel. The uphill sections are not kind for C class as the rings are spaced around the wide turns; the first one you'll want to use the rings/boxes as you get them to maintain your speed as much as possible. If you're falling behind before the big jump, it is imperative you grab something capable of clearing the tripwires there, as the ensuing shortcut has several sneaker panels and collectible rocket sneakers that will trivialize the final switchback of the lap and make the following one very fast, conserving time.

Rumble Ridge

This course has no tech related to base driving moveset at this time, however it was recently discovered by Wil_12 that a drop target is capable of skipping the split path section of the course if aimed at the wall and rebounded into the player.

Opulence

Max out your ring supply during position, and cash it out in its entirety during position for the FBTS at the end of the straight. In the spike ball area, the ring boxes end up a bit overkill, and it'll be faster to swing from the left end of the road to the right end on the turn. Gravity drop just before you past the first pair of islands on the water skimming section to collect a Bubble Shield, which can be spent at the start of the coin slide switchback to clear a tripwire and skip it entirely. (The timing for this is tricky without slowing down due to the sharp turn prior.) Laps 2 and 3 will have to contend with the opening bend, but there are half a dozen sneaker panels to wavedash on before you need to turn the other way.

Barrier Cup - ~15 minutes (~57m total)

Angel Island

The curve near the rocks hides a sneaker panel. Due to it being uphill, it's tricky to land without some good speed, but can be sliptided for a nice burst of extra speed (and sliptiding is the only way to get a turn that also avoids the following spikes. Similar to Autumn Ring, both jumps only need to be as long as needed to get rings/on the ground, respectively. Use rings to drift the first corkscrew and the momentum from the boost to handle the descent.

Roasted Ruins

FBTS straight ahead, you'll already be going downhill so not much else to do to make it. The 3 bends following this section all have bunches of rings and a sneaker panel, but really only the last of the 3 is worth going out of your way for. Use sliptides as needed for line corrections, but otherwise the course is purely execution.

Obsidian Oasis

The water skimming section near the boardwalk can be triangle dashed with tight timing to force the wheels under the water (there's ground underneath) and keep momentum. (If this fails, just aim for the lilypad sneaker panel instead.) Sliptide the sneaker panels on the boardwalk itself instead of drifting the corner.

Mirage Saloon

The only corners that should be drifted are first (as you'll have downhill momentum helping you), and last (for reasons that will be apparent in a moment). This is a course where staying in the front is upmost priority, as the turn with the sand bridge will collapse for all other players and leads to a trick jump whose voltage bonuses are really good for tackling the final corner.

Regal Ruin

FBTS is only possible here if the ring boxes (30 total) near the position area are collected before the race, as the leftover ring boost combined with a full cashout is just enough to barely clear the tripwire. Only take the lower split path; the higher one has a really awkward wide turn to make. Sliptiding the last sneaker panel can be helpful if there isn't enough momentum for the final curve's drift.

Invincible Cup - ~15 minutes (~1h 12m total)

Isolated Island

FBTS mostly straight ahead, just do some light steering to avoid the dirt, and gravity drop after the grey springs in the shortcut to get the wheels planted as soon as possible. The sneaker panels on the slight incline following the first quarterpipe should be sliptided to make the incoming chicane easy pickings. The dash ring following the zipper panel should also be immediately gravity dropped, as hitting the incline there normally will kill a lot of speed instantly. The quarterpipe drop near the course's end should be triangle dashed (somewhat tight timing), as regaining ground control will make maneuvering the kart around the quarterpipe a lot easier.

Gigapolis

Triangle dash the jump following the first corkscrew. You'll need to make some split-second decision making during the second on if you'll have enough speed to make the first wall climb: If so, gun for it and be ready to gravity drop once you're on the platform; if not, be ready to kill the throttle and let the spring carry you up. The upper balance beam area is optimal at the path split, as the large ring capacity there and potential triangle dash off of the springs will let you brute force the other steep climb.

Darkville Castle 1

First blood will let you cut the first corner and the first few instances of split pathing. In all other cases, take the right path, as the second turn has a driving line you can take with little course-correction, and the second split will have an easy collection of rings to restock with. Chain the two sneaker panels near the end, as sliptiding the second will let you cut the final corner and avoid the awkwardly placed ramp.

Bronze Lake

Triangle dashing into the wall in the underwater section is ideal, as you'll be able to hug the quaterpipe behind you afterwards and regain momentum very easily. Ideally you'll want to wait a little to unleash the trick following the switchbacks, as you'll want voltage going into the starts of lap 2 and 3 to boost the kart to the outer edge of the 2nd turn for the sneaker panels. (Waiting for the trick on lap 3 itself is not required, as there is no lap 4 here, of course.) Also resist the urge to drift the final corners, most of all because too many early drift boosts will also dissipate the voltage.

Collision Chaos

Be ready to null boost and gravity drop after the first wall climb, as you won't have enough momentum to get to the upper section initially. After the second wall climb dumps you in front of the balloons, you can barely thread the needle between them and the center wall from the right side if your steering is precise. Immediately gravity drop through the balloon pit, and be quick to do it again on the red springs, as it will be faster to have the sneaker panel pull you through the turn than to course correct from a larger jump, and will let you retain momentum for the smaller yellow spring jump.

Emerald Cup - ~13 minutes, (~1h, 25 min total)

Emerald Hill

While it may not look like it, you can go slightly off the main path near the incline before the final corkscrew to avoid the awkward first jump entirely.

Azure City

FBTS is entirely possible at the path split, but requires you cash out all rings and get a super ring from the item roulette that must also be cashed out. Otherwise, take the right hand path; the sneakers can be sliptided, but an especially good racer will store a wavedash just long enough to redirect that boost around the lengthy corner. Right after the route convergence, you'll want to go wide to reach the sneaker panel, but keep in mind chaining into the second on the boardwalk will be awkward as stairjank terrain has little-to-no traction, meaning your angle will have to be correct before you drive over the whole thing.

Gust Planet

Sliptide central. Don't go for the very first pair, as they'll likely be overkill; focus on clean lines early into the lap, and use easier to get sliptides to correct your angles as needed. The sliptide boost before the corkscrew will let you power through the tight cornering there. Lastly, sliptide the final hairpin since the long line of sneaker panels will throw you into the wall otherwise.

Mystic Cave

Always take right hand split, the alternate path takes to long to get any benefit from the sneaker panels there. Swing wide before the set of jumps as, there is a sneaker panel leading into them there (as well as the ring rewards not in the center being better). Try to stay near the center between the pairs of crush traps to make it easier to avoid death (or to correct your turning with less effort).

Joypolis

Just don't forget to take the silver ring box before the elevator in Position. There isn't much specific track tech otherwise, and there is no benefit in using the blue conveyor belts.

Extra Cup ~18 minutes (~1h 43m total)

Hill Top

Always take the left path at the split, it's the most normal to drive through with little-to-no driving line correction required. Triangle dash should be prepared at the hairpin inbetween the two spring jumps to hasten airtime. Sneaker panels on the second-to-last turn can be sliptided, and the ensuing boost will help power through the final curve.

Marble Garden

At the cost of a few frames snatching the lightning shield and using it on the entire crowd during position will help make frontrunning a little easier. Gravity drop during the big jump to get the kart planted as soon as possible. Generally, the safe option is to approach the spike balls from the left, in their direction of rotation, as it will be easier to adjust for being caught on the wrong cycle of their movement. During the mud climb, jump the first ramp, and then gravity drop to bounce into the mud; this will likely land your kart back on or near solid ground at minimal speed loss. Similarly to Isolated Island/Bronze Lake, a triangle dash before the final drop will get the kart planted and make getting through the drop slightly quicker.

Silvercloud Island

The sneaker panels on the switchback should be sliptided to make the cornering fast. Further in, the timing is strict and bumping a wall beforehand will lose so much speed and time, but the sharp turn before the spring jump can be triangle dashed with some tricky timing. Always take the right path split, as the sneaker panels can be wavedashed to burst through the ensuing straightaway. After that, either swing wide at the final turn to restock on rings, or snake-sliptide the final sneaker panel to build some speed.

Sub-Zero Peak

First Blood lets us take the uphill route at the start and skip most of the opening switchback. The first pair of sneaker panels can have snake-sliptided into a wavedash, which can then be spent to regain momentum through the following corkscrew. Similarly the last readily available sneaker panel can have a wavedash stored to power through the final hairpin turn as well. Otherwise, this course especially demands attention for ring usage as the ice physics and wide turns will make keeping speeds up difficult.

Launch Base

You'll want to max out your rings and then cash them out for the opening stretch, as you'll want to be fast enough the beat the flamethrower cycles, as the first set guards a sneaker panel. (Ideally, the flames are disengaged around ~X'07"XX and ~X'12"XX timing where relevant to that portion of the course.)Otherwise, this track is very straightforward; the balance beam paths are obviously good. Just make sure not to cash out rings right before any of the pole sections, as these reset any ongoing ring boost while traveling through them.

Credits - <1 min (~1h 43m total)

Just hold [A] at this point, lol. Timing ends when the Extra Cup Results screen is cleared and fades to the game credits.

Universal Time Losses to be Mindful of:

Beyond issues in general execution, there are two big factors that will result in time loss that are hard to play against or around:

SPBs: Beyond the direct disruptiveness of the Self-Propelled Bomb, it's passive ability to block ring collection both limits our maximum speed output and our ability to play aggressively until the the bomb is resolved, neutralized, or the race is over. Popping the bomb on purpose is situational at best; it takes 30 or so seconds while the bomb is locked onto you (the siren and SPB icon over rings) before the ring loss and spinout time start to fall more in line with the damage taken from a proximity mine for example. (If the SPB lasts over a minute on you, then it'll just harmlessly tumble you at that point.) Other times taking the hit is inevitable and your play may need to adjust to recover from that, such as during Troy236's Gigapolis in the current WR run. Roulette'd Lightning Shields aren't easily made part of this equation either, as them being removed from the frontrunner pool upon an SPB deployment means there is little in the way of reactive play against the bomb.

Shrink: Obviously, being struck by a shrink laser cuts top speed greatly while in effect, and while nowhere near as troublesome as an SPB, there is no form of proper counterplay outside of a lucky Hyudoro steal. The erratic nature of the laser placement also prevents any real strategy to drive around hot zones when the item is in effect.

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With that, that should cover the basics of what to watch out for specifically when running any%. Best of luck to any future runners!

Special Thanks

Eve's Plate - For commentary assistance and being a loose "rival" of sorts before I started taking this game on as a speedgame. The Stray Banana and Ring Racers Speedrunning Communities - Obviously without the resources from both groups, running and writing for this game in a speedrun context would not be possible.

[bytefriend]

basically they killed frontrunning so badly between the item spam and the great pulls midpack get and the mushroom cuts thatre littering almost every track especially in the last stretch so the new strategies arent even skillbased its purely learning to bag and then praying nobody gets lightning, the shroomdodge has a bigger window sure but its impossible to hold a shroom that far ahead anyway so- where are you going. hey come back