Player Profile: Mario Kart 8 Championship - Finalists 9-12

As we hope you're aware, we've teamed up with the Official Nintendo UK Store to run the Mario Kart 8 Championship 2014 in the UK, looking for the country's fastest racer who'll receive some fantastic prizes.

This Championship has four online heats, with the top three in each of those heats then progressing to a live final at EGX London - this weekend - on Saturday 27th September. With all four heats now completed we're taking some time to meet the finalists ahead of the Grand Final, having already met finalists 1-4 previously and finalists 5-8 we now move on to the final batch of top Mario Kart 8 racers.

Finalist #9

Name: Xander Gilbert

Nintendo Network ID: XandzR

Qualified: Heat 3, 232 points (3rd place)

Which was your first Mario Kart game?
Mario Kart DS

Which character do you play as in MK8?
Morton or Mii; I don't really know why

What is your favourite new feature of MK8?
Fire hops

Which is your favourite Mario Kart game?
Mario Kart 8

What is your favourite memory of playing Mario Kart?
I really have no idea.

Which is your favourite Nintendo game series?
Mario Kart

Which is your favourite Nintendo system of all time?
Wii U

How do you feel about competing in a live final at EGX London?
I feel pretty dank tbh [sic]

Finalist #10

Name: Daniel "WYLD-WOO" Harris

Nintendo Network ID: WYLD-WOO

Qualified: Heat 4, 231 points (1st place)

Which was your first Mario Kart game?
Mario Kart (SNES)

Which character do you play as in MK8?
Donkey Kong because he's the King of Swing

What is your favourite new feature of MK8?
The new items which help balance things out much better

Which is your favourite Mario Kart game?
Mario Kart 8

What is your favourite memory of playing Mario Kart?
Using motion control for the first time and taking out a few lamps

Which is your favourite Nintendo game series?
Fire Emblem

Which is your favourite Nintendo system of all time?
SNES

How do you feel about competing in a live final at EGX London?
I feel mighty excited

Finalist #11

Name: Craig "Sarger" Sargent

Nintendo Network ID: SargerMK8

Qualified: Heat 4, 228 points (2nd place)

Which was your first Mario Kart game?
Mario Kart 64 (Which was also my first game ever)

Which character do you play as in MK8?
Morton, I love his voice and most importantly - He's fast

What is your favourite new feature of MK8?
Out of every single MK game to exist on this universe, either MK8 or SMK

Which is your favourite Mario Kart game?
Fire-hopping. Hands down. Adds a extra layer of skill to the game IMO

What is your favourite memory of playing Mario Kart?
When I first played Mario Kart 64. I was completely gobsmacked with awe

Which is your favourite Nintendo game series?
Either Mario Kart or Smash. Probably Mario Kart though

Which is your favourite Nintendo system of all time?
I would like to say the Wii U, just because of how amazed I am with it, but I also want to say the GameCube, because I was amazed with that too. I'll just say GameCube

How do you feel about competing in a live final at EGX London?
Excited :3

Finalist #12

Name: Liam "Samurai" Lane

Nintendo Network ID: SamuraiSonic

Qualified: Heat 4, 221 points (3rd place - won tiebreaker)

Which was your first Mario Kart game?
Mario Kart 64

Which character do you play as in MK8?
I usually play as Bowser, as he's my one of my favourite Mario characters, but I'll occasionally play other characters like Peach, Yoshi or Koopa

What is your favourite new feature of MK8?
Probably the new tracks

Which is your favourite Mario Kart game?
At the moment, Mario Kart 8, though I have a soft spot for Mario Kart 64

What is your favourite memory of playing Mario Kart?
Baby Park on Double Dash!! with two friends. Utter chaos!

Which is your favourite Nintendo game series?
So tough! On an impulse, Metroid

Which is your favourite Nintendo system of all time?
The GameCube. It's what turned me into a Nintendo fan, so there's a lot of fond memories there

How do you feel about competing in a live final at EGX London?
Really excited, but also a liiiiittle nervous. It's going to be awesome!

Thank you to our finalists for taking part in this article and thank you to everyone who has entered our Mario Kart 8 Championship, there is only one thing left now - the grand final!

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