Ok yes I agree this is ridiculous. I just lost a race because I had my item stolen the exact second that I collected it. I anticipated that might happen and had my finger ready to hit the button as soon as I collected, but I was too slow, they gave me 0 seconds to use it before it was stolen. Then on the next set of items, an NPC used the skill that locks my ability to use items the second I collected it. Their timing is too precise like you'd expect a computer to be, but they need to be less perfect to simulate the reaction times of a player.