Hi everybody, today we have a driver from The Netherlands, who competes on serveral racing games instead of just Trackmania - but he is quite fast on this game too - he's Tamarillo! You can find more information about the project here.
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1. Could you tell us something about yourself?
Hello, my name is Robert Crone, perhaps better known in the game as Tamarillo. I play for Euronics Gaming, am 21 years old and come from the Netherlands. My passion is racing, but I like to follow most sports. I study psychology at the University of Leiden. Besides that, I am a huge supporter of Manchester United in football!
2. How and when did you find Trackmania?
Like I just said, I've always been a fan of racing. In the time I discovered TrackMania, which was around 2006 - 2007, I followed the racing class 'A1 GP'. This class had no racingteams, but racing 'countries'. I searched if there was a similar game on the internet and quickly found TrackMania Nations ESWC, which was a free game. I downloaded it and I kept starting it up, trying to beat all the local records in the Fruity Shorties Racing server (in the Netherlands).
3. You recently moved from Team Acer to Euronics gaming. What happened?
What happened was, was that I basically was considered as too inactive. I focused more on the individual tournaments of TrackMania, whereas I was not always around when the team tournaments were there. My priorities lay more in university and in other stuff, than for team tournaments, even though I had the will to beat Team Dignitas and become champions once again. Sadly, not enough, apparently.
I was warned earlier and it's completely understandable that they did not want me on the team anymore, not as a contract player that is. That was fine. I had the chance to stay, but I thanked them and followed a new path.
4. What other racing games are you playing with TM, and on which level?
To be honest, there is not one particular racing game I'm playing consistently besides TrackMania. I always pick up the F1 games, but not for long; I basically play all racing games, just not so long. However, since I have joined Euronics, I will refocus on sim-racing, like I have in the past (before TrackMania) and hope to become successful in that too. These sim-racing games consistent of RaceRoom Experience/DTM Experience and Race On, but I'm sure I'll pick up rFactor (2) again and perhaps iRacing. Time will tell.. I do enjoy all of 'em though! Racing is fun!
To answer your question on which level I am with these racing games, it's hard to tell. I've been twice second of the Netherlands with the F1 games, but I never practised for the final, so I thought I could win that if I would have tried. I tend to think I'm pretty good at it, heck, I know I am pretty good at it. But how good? That's something time will tell. I hope I'm better than some of the topcontenders now in the sim-racing world, but I don't know yet how good I am, as I have not played that much. Currently I am pretty fast in the RaceRoom competitions, but these competitions are only about setting good laptimes; I don't know how well I will perform in races. We'll find out!
5. Are you still playing leagues in Trackmania?
Yes, eventhough I wasn't as active at Team Acer, I think that had a lot to do with how the team was ran and how more, indirectly, it demotivated me sometimes to play. However, now I've found a team in the form of BX3 that has some real potential to win team tournaments aswell. With a new environment, I'm sure I'll be more motivated, and besides that I'll have more sparetime next semesters on the university, which will be a key aspect aswell I think. I see it as good practise for the bigger individual tournaments, but there is nothing more fun than doing 'unexpected' things; for instance: how cool would it be if BX3 would win a team tournament instead of the favorites, Team Dignitas? These kind of achievements feel great if you are part of it.. so why not make it happen?
6. Tell us something about your TM-career history and highlights.
Well, this is kind of a wide question.. there are a lot of highlights, positive and negative, and some random stories. For instance, the first match I've ever played, was Fruity Shorties Racing (my team) against team HOT. This was back in 2007 I believe, and who was in team HOT? That's right, KarjeN. My first match was against this beast. It wasn't the KarjeN everyone knows now, but neither was I (about the Tamarillo I am now.. god this sounds so weird).
And furthermore, highlights? I was invited to the top Dutch team back in the days, Shadows, which was honour. I slowly kept growing, became Dutch champion and got asked for Team Dignitas on TeamSpeak by Bergie, the day before the Dutch qualifications of WCG. I was hyped!
And yes.. the trip that I got to China was probably the best experience I've ever had in TrackMania. Actually, this is something very few people know, but after watching the group drawings live (they did that back in the day), I refused to go, because I did not think I stood a chance. I was put in a group with Moriah and frostBeule.. so yeah, me not being the fast guy I am now, it was kind of hard. Eitherway, of course I still went, it would have been stupid to not go..
Other highlights? I became champion of the Benelux in 2010, I've always failed at world cups (WCG 2009, ESWC 2010 and ESWC 2013), but always performed greatly in Poitiers; that's where Gamers Assembly was held. I got twice second, the first time with a bit of luck, the second time with a bit of bad luck.. but hey, that's TrackMania.
The thing I'm most proud of, however, is that I have won Giant Cup. I am one of the three persons (in Nations Forever) who can say that; and eventhough it wasn't as rewarding as many other big tournaments, it felt great. I still remember I yelled so hard that my parents downstairs thought I fell or something, haha. This tournament was special for me, because when I first started in the competitive scene, this was the first tournament I ever played in. I told myself, that one day I had to win it.. and it actually happened! (I also said this about ESWC, but till today, nothing has changed, haha)
7. Well, maybe this year is your turn! Have you any favorite maps?
This will be a boring answer, but no, I do not have a favorite map. I just play them, don't judge them.
8. Who are currently the best stadium players in your opinion?
Currently I must say it's still Carl Jr, together with KarjeN of course. But besides that, there is kind of a big group who are good at the moment. I must say that I am impressed with how well Kronos and PokeR have been lately and also that frostBeule seems to have returned to his old level. There are more players who are good and who I respect, one of 'em is tween, who I praise for his mentality and ability to put every game to his own hands.. which also counts for hakkiJunior and YoYo. Ugh, so many good players, hard to choose from.. but I'd be lieing if I'd say someone else than Carl Jr. He's definitely the best in individual tournaments.
9. During your TM career you have made several live interviews with players during your lan trips. Why did you start making them?
I started making them because I think that there are not so much interviews with the TrackMania players nowadays and that most of the people don't have a real sight of how the people are in real life; there opinions are based on what they say online, which, in my eyes, most of the time is so much different than speaking to and/or see the person live. I hoped to show more than only their TrackMania faces, but just how they are, as a person.
10. They were one of things boosting me tho do these! But which interview is your favorite?
Haha, well obviously the most funniest one is with Jakub (kubayz), but my favorite must be with tween. The answers he gave were clear, funny and thoughtful, which was the reason why he made my interview so much easier.. it has more quality than most other interviews, even though all of 'em are not prepared.
11. Will we see more of them to come this year?
If I will be invited to the Electronic Sports World Cup, definitely! And hopefully i can make them of a higher quality this time too, by preparing them better. So, if I'll be going, then yes: you'll see more of them this year.
12. Your top 3 websites, games, songs & movies.
Okay, this is a hard one.. I don't really have a top three for everything, but I'll give it a shot:
Websites:
1. www.voetbalzone.nl (Dutch football news website)
2. www.facebook.com (/TamarilloRC  ) (Social Media platform.. for the few who do not know, haha)
3. www.twitch.tv (/TamarilloTM ) (A website where you can watch gamers stream)
Games:
1. The Legend of Zelda series
2. Assassin's Creed series
3. Super Smash Brothers series
^ These games I enjoy playing on my own, but are not competitive.. as I'm a competitive person, I opt to play more sim-racing and TrackMania.. which both, would definitley stand in my top ten. It's just.. you have to make a decision here, and everyone should know I like these games already.. would be kind of boring to put them there in between aswell. Other games that should be in this list, are: Mario Kart series, Civilization series and the FIFA series. These are the ones I could think of, this fast.
Songs:
1. Train - Drops of Jupiter
2. One Republic - Apologize
3. T.I. - Whatever You Like
Movies:
1. Senna
2. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
3. The Hangover
13. Is there something that you still want to achieve in gaming?
Well, I'd lie if I say I wouldn't want to become world champion anymore, but it's hard.. it is however on my list, though, still. Other than that a win in a big individual tournament at an event would be nice, for example Gamers Assembly. But most of all I'd love to entertain people in the game, whether it's with streaming or via Facebook or ingame, and whether it's three people watching, or millions, it does not matter.. it's all cool, it's something I have appreciated through my 'career' and hopefully will still evolve. It's amazing.
14. And you are doing it even now, via this interview! About Facebook, your followers have learnt that you will move to same student apartment with dNs. Do I smell the best TM-cave of the history?
Yeah, that was the original plan, untill the house owner came up with some extra costs out the middle of nowhere which were not possible for me to pay on a monthly basis, so we had to look for something different. We couldn't find something for us together, so we both look for an individual room.. and at the moment I am writing this, he just called me that he has a room in a The Hague, the city where I currently live, which is great. I can imagine we will stream together a few times! But I can imagine even more beers.. somehow..
15. Sounds right. Now describe yourself with four words.
Trustworthy, social, undisciplined, stubborn
16. Last actual question, why is your nickname actually Tamarillo?
Haha, the nickname I obtained when I was playing on the same server for quite a while at the start of the game, when I was still playing with my other nickname: pastrelli. The server was called 'Fruity Shorties Racing' and if you wanted to join this team, you must had change your name to a fruit.. i thought that Tamarillo looked slick, so I went with that nickname and kept it when I moved on!
17. If you have something else to say, please write it here.
Not so much, I wrote pretty much in here already, haha. But, yes, I am sorry, but I am going to advertise a little. I want to thank you for the interview and all people that have supported me in the past to let me become the guy I am now. If you want to follow me, see me play, give commentary, head over to my Twitch.tv channel (www.twitch.tv/tamarillotm). I'm streaming more often than ever! Also, if you want to follow all the updates around me and my team, go to my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/tamarillorc) and the one from my team (www.facebook.com/euronicsgaming).
Oh yes, one final note, keep an eye especially on my Facebook page, as I'll be announcing a brand new tournament soon.. well, at least I hope so! See you online!
Thank you for interesting answer Tamarillo! I will keep my eyes on you pages and continue posting my bad comments 
Cu guys next time!
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