Hello there. I updated the WR by 9.7 seconds. PogChamp Oh, wait... Perhaps this run should be classified to another category.
If putting the game on pause after loading a race immediately, as seems possible, followed by a resumption after the appearance of "PAUSED", the time at the finish will be about 2.1 seconds less than normal. As far as I managed to figure out, the amount of "cut" time is not affected by any bike or race, but only how early the game was suspended. Also, please note that in a normal game, the in-game timer starts 2.116-2.233 (127–134 frames) seconds earlier than the girl gives the go-ahead and bikes begin to move.
I created a similar topic on the RR2 forum: https://www.speedrun.com/road_rash_ii/thread/9tct8/1#dre79
If no one responds by the end of the year, I will verifying this run in the main category. 😈
Since this glitch does not actually contribute to speedrunning of race (it only delays startup of the in-game timer), in order to avoid unintentional manipulation of the number of seconds/milliseconds at the finish, I suggest adding a rules clause prohibiting pausing the game – before start and, just in case, during race itself.