Round 1/Prologue Results
Before we get into the first round of results, I’ve unfortunately had to disqualify four contestants, as their entries did not comply with the rules, and they did not reply in time with an entry that was compliant.
SwedenVirre
Rekludere
Pontoumporcento
fillman86
Better luck next time!
And with that…
Several of the competitors at the pre-race show and shine event, at the Automation Design Centre.
Automation Results
Looks like we’re going to have a very close field on the Automation side! @Killrob sets the benchmark, but @AndiD is hot on his tail, and a number of others within five percent of the benchmark time; how this plays out when we get to tracks that favour other traits will be interesting to watch, for sure! The field is especially close in the P10-P25 range, with only six seconds separating @T0M in 10th place, and @dylansan in 25th…anyone in that group could make big waves on the final scoresheets by being consistent with the times in The Cyclist!
The Cyclist Results
An extremely close finish at the top of the field, with @Der_Bayer exactly matching the benchmark time set by Killrob in the Prologue Event!
How is this possible, you ask? With the way that The Cyclist plays, there is - somewhere deep within the nearly infinite permutations of how to approach an event - the perfect score. On shorter events, it is a lot easier to find that perfect score, since there are fewer turns and fewer permutations of how to approach the event!
There are also a number of other solutions that are very, very close…AndiD once again is right at the top of the field; with a solution that had them lose out to Der Bayer by 0.01 turns! AndiD’s times with James and Wolfgang were actually faster than either Killrob or Der Bayer’s times, but in doing so, they sacrificed two riders instead of just one, and lost out by the slightest of margins! Shroominator is right up there too, with a solution that was very close to AndiD’s, but just slightly slower, losing out by only a quarter turn for third place.
The results were very tight in the Prologue too, with only two combined turns separating @karhgath in 5th place from @Maverick74 in 13th place - it’s a long challenge, and I’m almost certain that times in The Cyclist are going to tumble…it’s going to be exciting to see just how much everyone improves over the remaining five events!
And a big congratulations to @Ludvig, who won the random draw for a $25 US Steam gift certificate, for completing the Prologue Event!
Overall Standings
Overall Cyclist Standings
AndiD leads the field, less than three behind Killrob’s benchmark, with a very strong performance on both sides! Karhgath in second place, showing consistently good pace in both Automation and The Cyclist, and @Xepy and @Riley close behind, both of them also showing good consistency as well. Der Bayer was let down a bit by his performance on the Automation Test Track, but his strong finish in the Prologue event brings him right back into contention, holding a slight lead over @LS_Swapped_Rx-7 and Roadkill.
The challenge pulls up stakes and heads east, through the densely populated Great Lakes region of Gasmea, through the bustling metropolis of Harford, the nation’s capital, on their way to the heart of stock car racing, the very fast and very challenging Ellisbury Tri-Oval! The cars will be doing a hot-lap challenge on the road course, while the cyclists will be doing another challenging two-stage time trial event, with the field proceeding from downtown Ellisbury to the Tri-Oval, where they will complete five laps, before heading south of town to Ike’s Peak for the second day, where they face a brutal climb up the mountain on the storied hill climb course.
Some of the challenge competitors making their way though road construction as they bypass through Harford, capital of Gasmea, on their way to Ellisbury.
The Cyclist Event #1 times are due in 4 hours!
And just a friendly reminder that Community Voting continues until August 2nd, so get your votes in soon!
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), which is great to see! There is lots of room for improvement for many of the contestants, and points readily available by climbing the skill ladder. To help you with that, I have recorded my playthrough of the prologue and uploaded it with my live commentary here:
