Run Notes: It is possible to DNF skip Kilimanjaro R1 or R2 OR Riveria Open R1 (preferrably Kilimanjaro because it'd be the 1st run), NOT both, if you were to do that route you need to win the event otherwise you can't perform the Meru Park Sprint R1 skip.

When fast AIs don't race, 2 mid AIs go the pace of the fast AI, it is possible to kill the AIs but you need full damage and a well timed hit into a tree and just generally very good luck, sometimes you'll never see the AI in the 2 races you do on Kilimanjaro (or 1 in the case of Riveria). However i've only gotten the RNG required to win the event ONCE off camera (about 1/100 odds if not worse), this yields about 1 minute of timesave potential outside of driving mistakes made late in the run.

Using a setup on the Meru Park Sprint may be worth it because you're already menuing to change difficulty, however you can only really change downforce as changing anything else may be superficial, making Meru Park and possibly any other long DNF Skip Kenya stages the only stages where using a setup in a % run could be worth it.