If you want to compare NSR to trackmania, you should compare the gameplay and the track design as well.
Building tracks with blocks is very convenient, but it leads to a lot of similar tracks.
So maybe comparing hundred thousand tracks to NSR tracks is just meaningless.
A lot of players love trackmania and we respect them (in fact a lot of our fans are trackmaniacs), but we are proposing something different.
We are a very small team and we have focused on quality rather than quantity.
We are developing NSR for several years and we would like to give it for free, but I'm sorry it's just not possible.
Maybe when we'll have sold hundred thousand units we'll give a version for free...
Don't forget Trackmania has been selling for several years before releasing a free version.
So Stage 2 and Stage 3 will probably not be free, sorry