OverTake presents our Hero of the Month for July: Quadruple Trackmania World Champion Carl-Antoni ‘CARLJR.’ Cloutier.
Photo credit: Carl-Antoni Cloutier
Winning a world championship once is a great achievement. Winning it four times in a row is proof that this man definitely is the number one Trackmania player in the entire world. The Canadian Carl-Antoni “Carl Jr.” Cloutier won the Trackmania Grand League World Cup in early July, in doing so he added yet another trophy to his extensive collection.
On account of Carl Jr. being so insanely consistent and dominating the field for several years, we decided to choose him as our Hero of the Month for July!
From playing games as a child to dreaming of playing in the World Cup
The now 24-year-old started his interest for racing games as a kid. First, he explored the genre on console with Need for Speed Underground. When he was around nine years old, his brother showed him Trackmania for the first time for the PC. Carl was immediately hooked and has kept playing the game ever since. Trackmania has remained his sole focus up to today: Carl does not really play other racing games, only Nadeo’s title and some FPS games for fun.
At the time, he was not aware that there was also a competitive scene. However, as he further improved over time he eventually joined a French team to play team matches. When he started to follow the professional scene, he looked up to Kalle “FrostBeule” Videkull who was known to be one of the fastest and most consistent drivers, even snatching the victory at the World Cyber Games in 2010. In the same year, the young talent Carl heard that there was an offline World Cup in Paris, the ESWC, and it became his main goal to attend the championship one day.
Surpassing his dreams: The quadruple World Champion
Carl would not only go on to fulfil his wishes, but to exceed them, surpassing his achievements over and over again. The goal to attend the ESWC turned into a third-place finish in 2012 and eventually into a victory in 2013. For the esports racer, winning this tournament counts as one of the two main highlights in his career. Earning the first title as world champion will always be a special moment as reaching the top was always his main objective as a player.
One title as the world champion was, however, not enough: He claimed the golden trophy again in the two following years. Carl explains that while staying at the top is harder than reaching the top and these two titles were harder to win, they nonetheless didn’t feel as meaningful as his title in 2013.
There was no official world championship for several years after, but his chance to prove that he is still the best in the world returned in 2021 with the Trackmania Grand League World Cup. Once again, Carl Jr. emerged at the fastest and most skilled Trackmania player from across the globe. This counts as his second main highlight: Since he had to wait for such a long time and put so much effort into his practice, the victory means as much as his first title.
At the same time, the 2021 World Cup also was his most challenging moment of his career. He has had a friendly rivalry with the British esports racer Thomas ‘Pac’ Cole for the past 7 years and the two powerhouses both reached the finals. In the last match, both drivers performed extremely well and for Carl, it was really hard to play against him. In the end, he managed to maintain the upper hand and continue his reign as the world champion for the fourth time.
WORLD CHAMPIONNNNNNNN!!!! 🔥🔥🔥
— CarlJr. (@CarlJrtm) July 4, 2021
Success outside of esports racing
When Carl is not claiming trophies, his life is already quite stacked with other activities. He is currently studying civil engineering at Polytechnique Montreal. He has already earned his first degree and has now started his master’s degree in geotechnical engineering, as he always thought that it was too risky to be a professional player without a backup plan.
Additionally, the Canadian enjoys playing football. For him, a good balance between gaming, education and physical activity is important.
Graduation 2020! 🤓 pic.twitter.com/gyzhqwjkgm
— CarlJr. (@CarlJrtm) December 13, 2020
What does someone who already climbed the top several times and reached all possible milestone aim for in his career? The champion reveals his main objective for now: staying at the top for as long as possible! We are quite positive that, if you were to fast fast forward a year, you will find that we will get to write another piece about Carl Jr. once again conquering the competition and winning his next major title.
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Are there any personalities in esports racing you would like to nominate for the next edition of Hero of the Month? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below!