For these categories is it safe to assume the times are taken from a standard full course run; or are you allowed to do a specialized run where you use all three items in one lap for a better time? Just curious! Thanks! ☆

Yes, Best Lap times are taken from a standard full course run, however it does not mean you cannot use all the three items in the same lap: as long as the whole run is done by following the rules of the category you are competing in, then the time is legit.

Here are some examples, to make this more clear:
- Using 3 Mushrooms in a Best Lap run IS allowed.
- Pressing the R button (in No-R) or doing a Mini-Turbo (in No-MT) before your Best Lap is NOT allowed. This goes for No D-Pad too, you cannot start a Best Lap run on lap 2 or 3 with a better angle set with the usage of D-Pad.

Thanks for clarifying! This helps a lot! ^^