14 Nov 2007

A short interview with Duplode, "revelation" of 2007 season!

1) Happy to meet you, Duplode, and congratulations for your very good performances in this outset year! You are sure the “revelation” of this season, and we would be glad to know your Stunts background before you reached the Stunts racing world on the web: would you talk us about it?

Hello Mark, thanks for the compliments! It will be a pleasure to tell how I came to this sui generis league of racers… My first contact with Stunts was somewhere in 1995 or early 1996, in the form of a floppy casually lent to us at home. I was seven years old by then, and Stunts was probably the first PC racer I’ve ever seen (alongside with the good old Indy 500…). By that time, however, I already found lots of fun in watching F1, and liked to sketch imaginary racetracks with pen and paper. Needless to say, amazement followed instantly. I remember racing with friends, not competing but just designing a track as insane as we could get and laugh like hell crash after crash! :D Anyway, time passed and with it came Grand Prix 2, NFS2, Gran Turismo and many more; but Stunts was never really forgotten. Every so often I would return and relive some of that glory, everty time finding something new and making more pretentious tracks. I even found the community on the web by mid 2003, but back
then I couldn’t find enough motivation to join (what have I missed…). My definitive comeback to Stunts this year had a really unusual trigger. I wished to perform some analysis of torque curves, just for fun, and tried to think about some game where I could toy with them effortlessy – and thus I thought of Car Blaster. Obviously my original plans resulted lousy, but after driving a couple laps the fire was lit again. This time, though, I finally entered the legendary Kalpen, gateway to this realm…

2) Why do you like Stunts, which features of this endless game push you to play it instead to spend your time in newer games?

I feel the soul of Stunts is in the freedom stemming from its very simplicity – in essence, you are given only a bunch of oddly-designed cars, some acres of land and a diverse set of track elements, the rest being up to drivers’ imagination. That factor was decisive to keep me returning time after time to Stunts: there is always something new to do. Especially after you get in touch with the community… ;-)

3) OK, let’s talk now about your wonderful season! Did you expect to reach so high position in SWR in just few months?

Not at all, and in fact I’m still surprised! When I first joined Kalpen, my expectations were to race very casually, just for the kicks of being in the scoreboard. I hardly could cope with manual gears back then! It took about a month for me to realize I could be aiming higher… It must be said, however, the circumstances were quite favorable to such quick ascension; e.g. a lot of top-class drivers were absent or on a light schedule during European Summer. And simultaneously, the lack of a sizeable midfield in most contests has done well to my racing, forcing me to compare directly with the top guns. 

4) What’s the most important trick/knowledge did you learn since your outset, so to improve a lot your RH performances?

Difficult question, there are just so many things learnt… I would rather not individuate a single trick, but the overall result of watching and testing so many crazy racing lines, which is the attitude of looking to save time everywhere and not being afraid of trying whatever insane idea crosses the mind. My heaviest defeats to date followed from failing to do so…

5) You got some podiums yet this year and you are improving race by race. Not considering your victory in WSC (IRC rule makes that race not comparable with a standard RH race), how much time do you think still have to pass before we can see your first victory in a RH race?

That is something hard to predict. Winning RH races is always a tough challenge considering the level of the opposition… but I have no hurry; whatever has to come will come naturally. 

6) You have demonstrated a very good level in RH races, but you showed an incredible skill in NORH races, above all winning in a thunderous way the 7th race of the season! Was that, the most exciting NORH race for you in this championship?

Despite all the fond memories from R7 ;-), the most thrilling race up to now was, without a doubt, Abandon. Getting an early lead, then dueling for it vesus Chulk and finally reaching a second place tantalizingly close to you on a desperate final attempt… That was really emotional, especially so early in my career, and I’m still quite proud about it.

7) And what about the tracks? What was your favourite one in the season?

To make my pick slightly easier, I will name one from each contest. For NORH it was Emotions… alongside with the obvious reasons, it had flawless rhythm and showcased brillantly the all the jaw-dropping attributes of Speedgate. As for RH, I would name Tetris: a real blast, infectiously fun from start to finish.

8) From your point of view, which are the characteristics that a Stunts driver must have to excel in NORH races? And which motivations can lead a Stunts driver to feel an attraction towards this kind of races?

NORH calls for strong racing instinct combined with sharp focus, and a healthy dose of patience helps quite a lot as well… I like to think Stunts as a mix of racing and artistic driving, RH racing leaning heavily at times to the artistical, perfectionist approach, and NORH being closer to “pure” racing. Driving at the limit in NORH means one will ever be a step from a crash, the consequence being that every track can be arbitrarily difficult depending only on how hard one pushes… This is a thrill harder to enjoy with RH, and a very important factor contributing to NORH’s unique challenge. 

9) Your NORH score has been impressive. If you had begun since the first race you could fight for the final victory. It could be futile to ask, but… will the 2008 NORH title be between your targets?

Well, to the extent I am able, I will try to battle for the top of the standings – my hopes are it will be my first real chance to do so, and drive won’t be missing…

10) And what about ISM 2008? You will be sure admitted: will you participate? And if it’s so, which is your aim?

No way I would miss such an enriching experience! There is only so much to learn on those super match-ups for a relative newcomer… About goals, thinking back of my sixth place in USL, qualifying to the final round would be a fine start; and then, we’ll see what will happen ;-)

11) A last thing. As you know, SDR is going to the closure and sure it’s really proud that you chose to race in it in this last season. Could we ask you a final thought about the contest and what it has meant for you and your career?

What could I point out about SDR? Several things: very cool (and very creative!) tracks, innovative rulings, flawless management, NORH support and, obviously, wonderful on-track battles as a consequence. The contests were the ones I felt most at home with, and where I found more fun in racing. They will be sorely missed, but the memories of my first serious battles and the accompanying lessons will remain for sure. Grazie! 

Thanks so much Duplode for this interview and for the emotions that you arouse in all us with your great performances! I augur you a long and joyful career full of successes!