I'm not sure what the intention was for emulators when ParadoxKarl set up the boards, and I'm not very knowledgeable on emulator types. Probably best to ask him.
I haven't played much emulator myself but I'd assume it'd affect load times only (I don't recall getting much in-game lag). However the load times are already affected by which console you play on (I use the New 2DS XL so my loads are pretty fast compared to a normal 3DS or a DS), so if anyone were to ever upload an actual video of a run we'd have to consider timing it differently (i.e. listing time with and without loads, like many games do).
In somewhat of a collaboration with the DKR64 SRC team, the level leaderboards have been totally restructured, so that the "categories" for each track are now the race mode (Time Trial, Single Race or Coin Challenge) rather than the vehicle. This has allowed for the number of redundant categories to