WipEout HD Fury - Harimau Team Profile

2 – Harimau International (Malaysia)

AntiGravity racing has never really been a nice easy subject to tackle. It is rare to find any team that is perfectly understood; whether it be the numerous dark deals Qirex/Tigron used to perform, eG-r/EG-X’s mysterious technologies or Piranha’s quiet about their in-house business. But everyone could make their assumptions and fill page upon page of speculation about what evils the above teams could be up to. But the AG-Commission got a shock in 2192 when a new team entered – at first there seemed nothing untoward about that, it was seen as good for business with a newcomer in along with Triakis’ second season. But never before had the team met such an open and friendly reception as with the Malay team.

Harimau International was an international peace organisation started at an unknown date by an American psychologist and a Malaysian writer who began making plush tigers and distributing them along with free care to disadvantaged children. The two women soon began selling extra books and toys on their website, with all the money going to one of the biggest genetic clinics on the planet with the idea of bringing back tigers into their wild after their extinction in 2100.

Mrs Speed and Mrs Suruni were eager to beat off the hordes of businessmen who clamoured to fund their business and triple output of toys. All of them were instead told to send their money into the building of a tiger reserve on the grounds of the old racing circuit in Sepang. The two women’s vision was completed in approximately 2179 with the birth of the first pair of tiger cubs for almost eighty years. There was quite the turnover (and huge amounts of successful reviews in the press) when the park was launched as people flocked from all over the world to see the newborn cubs and enjoy the leafy paradise outside of the bustling metropolis of Kuala Lumpur.

One of the visitors to this park was none other than Nicolo Testa, the head of operations of the Federal European Institute for Science And Research, one of the few teams to have survived the collapse of the F9000. He was fascinated by the work of Speed and Suruni, and to his surprise the respect was responded by the former, being a FEISAR fan during the days of AG-Racing.

Through a series of meetings between Testa, other FEISAR officials, interested Malay businessmen and the heads of Harimau International, the idea was initially set up for FEISAR to have a branch in Malaysia, but this was scrapped after objections were raised from the FEISAR board of executives about having a European branch in Asia. The plans were then instead changed for FEISAR to provide assistance for a new starting team in Malaysia. With the arrival of FX150 soon, FEISAR was finding that some of its’ old locations from the F9000 still had technology and skilled personnel who did not have a place on FEISAR’s new team due to the team member limit enforced as one of the new rules.

Instead, all these engineers were sent to Malaysia to begin work on Harimau’s take on the world championship. It was a slightly rocky ride, partly due to the difficulties the FEISAR employees had with suddenly working together in close conditions but mostly due to the fact that Harimau was mostly working on a budget with strict environmental guidelines. It meant that the team wasn’t ready to enter the world championship until FX250, along with Van-Uber. As newcomers to the league, their unveiling ceremony was not as hotly anticipated as their fellow entrants, and indeed the crowd was fairly small for the unveiling of the second Orange and White ship to grace the starting grid. Only Testa from FEISAR and Levovitch of Qirex attended the ceremony from other teams, though in light of the championship afterwards it has been debated if more praise was deserved for the Malay underdogs.

In a season that was surprisingly dull by historical records, Harimau managed to beat their rivals Van-Uber to the punch at seventh place, but few people took note of the achievement. In a season that had mostly seen squabbles between various teams instead of any flat-out racing, the tradition of Triakis-AGS on the front row followed by Qirex-Auricom, Assegai-FEISAR, what was another fight between the two new teams whose pilots weren’t quite as well known as those of the more established squads? It took the much more impressive FX300 season to turn that impression of Harimau International on its’ head though.

On the island of Makana throughout what was the most ambitious league since the fall of the F9000, Harimau thrust a light, compact ship with excellent handling into the mix and it did not disappoint. The H5 ship was a perfect balance of everything the pilots needed and they began to leave the heavy squabbling Qirex and Auricom ships behind to nip at the heels of the all-conquering Triakis and AG-Systems. And with Triakis disqualified at season’s end, that allowed Harimau to put the number two on their ship from next year. That if nothing else made the punters sit up. In only its’ second season of AG-racing, Harimau had gone from seventh to second. No team before or had made such strides in such short a time including the world title taken by Daniel Johnson in 2163, given that FEISAR itself only finished fourth in the constructor’s championship thanks to Carlos Beneto’s dreadful form.

With Triakis taken out of the picture thanks to the Reverse Inertia Decelleration System, when FX350 rolled around it seemed as though Harimau was the favourites for the championship – after all, their defeat to Triakis and then the shame of being ‘gifted’ the championship grated heavily on AG-Systems’ morale and they could do no better than fourth. But their rivals were still Harimau, the white and red duelling with the orange and yellow for third place. The lack of preparation for FX350 had not produced much advancements with the H6 ship and they lost out to Icaras and firm allies FEISAR, who took their fourth world championship.

Both AG-S and Harimau were back on track soon though, and put the Europeans back into third and fourth. Though the two teams became stern competitors, it never devolved into any sort of animosity or aggression between pilots or engineers. In the words of Thierry Caluroso himself ‘It’s difficult to hate a team when they’re being so damn nice to you.’

AG-Systems therefore is about the only thing Harimau has to any sort of serious rivalry as relations with almost every other team are good. Their old allies FEISAR are close friends on the grid, and Harimau has shown great support to their other newcomers to the grid, especially the shaky Mirage squadron. Qirex has also been a surprise recipient of a lot of Harimau’s goodwill, with Felix Levovitch being given a snow leopard cub to raise as an expansion of the Tiger Programme that Harimau ran throughout the FX400 season. Assegai have also been in talks about the possibility of helping the dwindling lion population in Africa, though not every team is as fond of Harimau as they are of everyone else.

Jessie Fairbank, the head of Auricom has called Harimau a ‘fad’ and nothing more, and Piranha have been aggressive towards Harimau’s attempts to gain access to their funded casinos and hotels where it is rumoured they have zoo exhibits with South American panthers and jaguars within.

Allies: FEISAR, Mirage

Rival: AG-Systems

Ship Details:

The H8 craft has undercut one of their rivals in a critical manner – Icaras now no longer has the lightest ship on the grid. Using spaced lattice composite technology, the wider ship is now flatter and sharper, giving it unbelievable handling ability and the lightness means that it is the perfect ship for ambitious jumps in, something that isn’t lost on Harimau’s lead pilot.

The 100% bio-fuel technology is not reaping the benefits it was intended to, and more typical energy sources are proving more efficient – that said with the new regulations, a lot more teams are looking into the options of powering their ships with regenerative technology and Harimau is more than willing to share what it finds, though this has lead to some competition – namely between Qirex and Mirage, as to whose solar-recuperation panels will have the best effect.

Lead Pilot – Foster Goh En Lai

Foster Goh En Lai was a surprise announcement for the lead pilot for the FX500 season after the departure of Zhara Preest of Switzerland, the development pilot that helped to win Harimau their respect in previous seasons. FEISAR’s old protégée returned to Europe to help the team privately, in particular with winter testing in the Alps on the site of the old Cubiss Float track. Given that Harimau always had an affinity with the Sebenco Mountain Range when they were in Makana and even had a small base built there, Preest looks set to help the European squad with preparations for the rumoured FX600 series which will feature races in differing weather conditions.

What it left Harimau with was a slight problem though. Sekhar Sahib had always been a good second pilot, and being very superstitious had begun to believe that his craft was the lucky one, being the second Harimau ship whether it be number five, eight or even when it was sixteen. So when he was offered the place of first pilot, he turned it down point blank, refusing to step from his #2 position. Instead, Harimau had to turn to their third pilot for promotion.

While there is some worry about how he will perform in race trim, the decision was met with widespread enthusiasm. Foster is possibly one of the best-loved pilots on the grid for his do-or-die approach to the tracks and his enthusiastic commentary style whenever he isn’t flying and takes the commentary box for SEA Radio, the main broadcasting channel for much of South-East-Asia. With his willingness to take a big leap in his career and wear the number four on his overalls, respect for the young Singaporean has risen greatly amongst his fellow pilots as well. Caluroso of AG-Systems was amongst the first to clap Goh En Lai on the back when he first heard the news and quite a few others joined in afterwards.

Despite his enthusiasm and support from the fans and team, Foster is known for being terrible at Zone Mode, and his highly-strung attitude will not lend himself to Detonator mode at all. As with their friends Mirage, Harimau may have to rely on their other pilots for expert flying in the Zone Battle events to come.

Second Pilot – Sekhar Sahib

One of the pilots from the first days of Harimau, Sekhar Sahib is an oddity amongst the grid as being the only non-rookie pilot to have never scored a clean race win. The golds he has won have mostly been due to other pilots’ mistakes, penalties, disqualifications, or the memorable moment when both Mika Repo of EG-X and Vincent Stephenson of Triakis hit a ‘lapped bomb’ on the last corner before the line at Sol 2, allowing Sahib to power through and take the gold, much to the fury of the latter.

The reasoning behind this is irritating to a lot of Harimau fans, but somewhat understandable. Harimau’s first ship in FX250, the H4, was a notoriously fragile beast and in his first ever race, Sekhar’s craft was eliminated by a well-placed shot from Torogu Ukantu’s Auricom and though the H4 had passed most of the necessary safety checks, Sahib was left frightened and shaken by his half-kilometre-long drop off the track until one of the rescue craft could pick him up. Ever since then, he has preferred single events such as time trial, speed lap and zone and lacks confidence in Single Race series.

In particular, Sekhar has developed a deep-seated fear of the Auricom team and doesn’t like to race with them when possible. The team are somewhat concerned about his prospects for Eliminator and his reluctance to take the #1 position has not given him a huge boost of popularity from the public. This looks to be a difficult season for Sahib, with the exception of Zone mode – Sahib is possibly the only pilot on the grid who likes Pro Tozo.

Third Pilot – Ishak Bin Yusof 

Bin Yusof comes to the FX500 grid with high expectations, being the reigning champion of the JX250 junior series, using old H4 craft for the Harimau Cadets team to take the championship and earn a place in the three-pilot ‘full’ series. Ishak was named as a ‘next big thing’ in most of the AG racing publications after his win, and his acceptance into the full Harimau team does not come as much of a surprise. However, there is some wariness about his performance by some experts. The following is an extract written for ‘Float Nation’ Magazine by race analyst Tieran Hawker.

“My congratulations go out to Ishak Bin Yusof for a fantastic victory at Talon’s Junction for Harimau Cadets, with which he seals the junior title ahead of main rival Mercutian De Gautet in the Van-Uber. With that performance, it will be no surprise at all if he gets the seat in the FX500 series with the H8. I wouldn’t go so far to say as that he’ll be very good at it though.

Bear in mind that almost all the previous graduates to FX from JX have not had too much of a gap to make – last year’s winner, Gabrielle Zuzovnitch for EG-X, had to move from a modified FX250 machine to an FX400 machine. Given EG-X’s lack of overall development over this time, it did not take too long for the Pole to slip in to the role comfortably. Bin Yusof however has to deal with switching from an H4 ship to the brand new H8, with almost twice the power and half the weight. It’s lucky that he’ll be starting at Venom speed and even then, he’s likely to be taken aback at just how fast the things are.

Not to mention he has to deal with the new modes, which will be completely alien to him, especially Eliminator. Why the organisers of the JX league didn’t think of putting Eliminator events in when they were there in FX400 escapes me. To be honest, Ishak would have been better staying in JX for another season, but the die is rolled. I wish him the best of luck, but I am not putting any money on the fellow.

WipEout HD Fury - Icaras Team Profile

4 – The Icaras Project (United Kingdom)

It’s no lie that ‘everyone loves an underdog’, which gives credence to the huge number of Mirage supporters that have popped up over the more recent years, but still the big favourite amongst fans, including as the team began to challenge for titles, was The Icaras Project.

Begun by Lancashire-based businessman Barnston Burns in 2109, The Icaras Project was an attempt to get an AG-ship to break the height record for a horizontal-thruster ship. The record was set by FEISAR’s own Sofia De La Rente in 2023 at 4,782m above sea level, and Burns was defiant he was going to see the project come to something.

As the factory outside Clitheroe began to take shape, and the first concepts of the craft were released to the public, more and more UK citizens became interested and offered up donations of their own. People dissatisfied with the way FEISAR was treating them at the Dover plant left to work on Icaras, and fairly soon there was nobody working for FEISAR at their plant any more. The European squad had lost another of its’ constituent members and they were not happy with the vanishing of Great Britain, an industry leader in AG-technology concepts.

Icaras’ first ever ship, the Helios floated from its’ garage on the twenty-third of June 2111 and was loaded on to a transporter for its’ first ever attempted lift off, the location being the Atacama Desert. A purpose-built hundred mile runway had been built through it several years past by the AntiGravity Race Commission for straight-line speed tests and crash testing as well. The Helios took off at five minutes past two o’clock local time with pilot George Dravere at the helm. An hour later, the Englishman returned the ship to the start point with a gloomy face.

The height counter on his ship dashboard had maxed out at 4,743m before he began to fall and the Icaras Project hadn’t brought any more fuel for another go that day. But when he got out, there were broad smiles on all faces around him, and a man with greying hair wheeled his chair over to Dravere and offered his hand. “This is Pierre Belmondo,” Barnston Burns introduced the old man. “And he has offered us a place in his race series.” And so began Icaras’ involvement in the F7200 league.

Nobody blamed Icaras for a poor, almost farcial start to the leagues, as their first entry was basically the Helios with stronger air brakes and a crude weapon rack, but eventually Icaras had managed to put together a proper ship, albeit one that was incredibly light and flimsy, meaning that Dravere often had to leave the hyperthrust button well alone during races, especially as they caught up to their fellow newcomers Goteki 45. But unfortunately, with the great ship blocking their path, there was no further that Icaras could go.

The pink and brown craft never progressed higher up the grid than fifth, and that was after a double elimination of the AG-Systems and Assegai ships in a race of serious attrition. When they along with Goteki were outed after their best result of fourth due to the resultant fight in the pit lane, Icaras left the league as the worst performing team of any that had shown its’ face in AG-racing. The shame of it caused Barnston Burns’ son, Terence, to sell most of his father’s legacy and trade it in for a quiet house in the country for his father when he emerged from hospital with leg paralysis, a result of a thrown screwdriver during the Goteki-Icaras fight.

Icaras was to stay quiet for many years until Barnston’s great-great grandson Connor Burns, inspired by the new AG-racing leagues, brought together many dissatisfied backers of FEISAR around the United Kingdom, and bought the Dover-based factory from their European fellow racers for a not-inconsiderable sum of money that Connor’s family had left over in the bank from the support money they’d got from the original Icaras project. When the Burns family discovered there their money had gone in 2197 when Icaras made the announcement of their return, there was uproar both at home for the prodigal son and from FEISAR who hadn’t considered their own factory would be used to make the new Amun-Ra craft.

Wisely, for the start of FX300, Connor moved himself to a private resort in Modesto Heights on Makana Island where he lives to this day. Questions as to whether or not he has made peace with Keao Manumaleuna have been rebuked though as Burns has stated he will ‘never forgive’ what happened to his grandfather all those years ago. It seems though that Connor has fallen closer to the tree than most expected, and Icaras’ second place behind FEISAR in the FX350 league is solid proof of his pilot choice and how he runs his ship design.

Icaras and their pilots have been known as pleasant folk amongst the grid, making them welcome in the Harimau and Mirage camps in particular, though Burns has admitted that he is ‘incapable of resisting’ the good personality of Feliks Levovitch of Qirex. A few critics of the near constant supply of whisky and girls that find themselves in the private elevators at Modesto Heights have commented though if Burns is after no more than one of Feliks’ pilots and his many gifts of potent vodka.

Allies: Qirex, Mirage

Rivals: FEISAR, Piranha

Arch-Rival: Goteki 45

Ship Details:

Following the tradition of all Icaras craft, the Project’s ‘Fury’ ship is named after an ancient sun god, in this case ‘Alaunus’, an ancient Celtic deity half in respect and half as a joke to Connor’s mother, a practicing Druid. Burns apparently wanted the ship to be named after a Mayan god but after a leak in one of the press conferences the name has stuck and Connor is the only one who doesn’t refer to it by name, simply calling it the ‘Fury Ship’ when he can.

Much like the AG-Systems, FEISAR and to a certain extent the Piranha ships, the Alaunus is more evolution than revolution, mimicking the old ship closely in shape though scaled up a little due to the FX500 regulations demanding larger minimum ship size, more armour plating and the chance to add a few more additions to the ship. Icaras has chosen to work on their sometimes poor handling ability, working on an aero package to help improve responsiveness – hence the small two ‘winglets’ at the front of the ship. Despite the heavier armour that the rules specify though, there has been no major improvements to the famously sensitive shields of the British team and the pilots are once again going to have to take care on track.

Lead Pilot – Sibrand Van Saur

There are two good reasons that Van Saur is known as ‘The Scalpel’ amongst his fellow racers, despite what some say that it is no more than an attack on his nationality. The first is his incredible knowledge of the human body stemming from his father’s occupation as a Dusseldörf surgeon and the second being his completely uncompromising, razor-sharp racing lines.

Van Saur joined the University of Munich’s Anti-Gravity Research facility, one that many European colleges and universities had at the time, all with links to the well-known and respected Federal European Industrial Science And Research programmes. Van Saur quickly gained respect amongst his peers if he was not liked, for he became the team’s vice captain at the age of twenty while still achieving excellent results in his current course.

A colleague of his at the time noted that while Sibrand was ‘Fantastic and intelligent... quick witted and able to spot problems from a mile away’, it never truly reflected in how he was able to work as a team player. He would always strive to be the lead in every project and begin to direct everyone to their selected tasks with military precision without any regard for what the others might think. So when FEISAR’s recruitment men came knocking for potential pilots, they discarded Van Saur’s application with the reasoning that they didn’t need such a domineering force, especially not with their new rising star in Ezio Di’Rosso. What turned FEISAR away though drew Icaras like a moth to the flame.

With Icaras’ return in 2197, the team had limited testing facilities especially with FEISAR’s large presence at Talon’s Junction, the closest working track to home that was fully FX300 league licensed (this was before it was given the mag-lock loop) and had to do most of their tests on the ancient tarmac roads around the north of England and Scotland. They needed a fully competent pilot who would know precisely how to develop the ship, and Connor Burns found just his man.

Sibrand Van Saur has never truly integrated himself within the team as other charismatic lead pilots have, but nobody denies that he was Icaras’ saving grace. While their rivals Goteki 45 came to the FX300 league at about the same level, the lack of innate ability in Ferrai as a lead pilot meant that Icaras was able to take advantage of Triakis and AG-Systems’ fall from grace in FX350 and net the team second behind one of the many other pilots he has declared a private war on – Di’Rosso of FEISAR.

Other notable enemies of Sibrand have been Leona Silvaris of Piranha, of whom the two have a shouting match almost every press conference they are involved in; Buster Harding of Triakis, whom he accuses of being ‘as big a pig-headed idiot as the ship he flies’ and most recently Nyoko Kassan of Assegai after watching the young Kenyan barrel roll his ship in places he claims that have no right being shortcuts. And yet as unpopular as Sibrand makes himself, that didn’t hurt him becoming #6 in a recent ‘wierd crush’ competition held in a womens’ gossip magazine, his ‘tall, angular face’ and ‘elegantly combed blonde hair’ earning him the place. He has yet to comment on this.

Second Pilot – Gryffyth Dawod

Dawod began his AG-Racing career as a trainee pilot for FEISAR, but found himself at the Dover factory when Connor Burns came in with the proposal for James Paget-Newman, the owner of the plant and suggested it to his staff. The young pilot, who was eager for his chance to shine, came up to offer his services as a test or second pilot if need be. Surprised somewhat by Gryffyth’s forwardness, Connor allowed him to come and help Van Saur with the development of the ship. With no other takers for the role of second pilot, Gryffyth was given the place for FX300 and Burns has said retaining the Welshman is one of the best moves of his career.

Amongst the pilots of the FX leagues, many paint the man from Burry Port as the most well liked and personable. Always with a smile on his face, Wales’ most beloved son has never refused an interview and always approached them with a big smile on his face even after eliminations, laughing and insisting he’ll ‘get them next time’ or ‘just won’t let them catch him’. His cartwheels down the nose of his ship into the engineers after race wins cause a few snorts from the other teams but the crowds roar in approval and especially back home whenever Dawod has convinced the track marshals to put the Dragon on the podium instead of the Union Jack.

FEISAR have been asked a few times if they regret losing such a personable and quick pilot to Icaras to which Nicolo Testa has said many times that he’s glad he didn’t have to deal with the more tiresome parts of Dawod’s personality though, one of which is that of the track’s ladies’ man. Gryffyth never claims to be the most attractive man on the grid, and has noted with a grin several times that he’d be a father of hundreds now if it wasn’t for this ‘bloody ginger hair’, but he has had no qualms about openly flirting with as many pilots on the grid as can be. As it happens, the only injury from this has been a solid kick between the legs from Andrea Santiago which put the poor man out of action for a few races previous season. He holds no ill will against the Chilean and has written her a formal letter of apology, which was summarily fed to the air thrusters of the woman’s ‘Mauna Loa’ craft the next race.

Third Pilot – Alvaro Montera

Montera is a new permanent pilot to the FX500 season, however his experience of top-grade machinery is nothing to be sniffed at. Montera was at Vineta K, the finishing location of the ‘Poseidon Challenge’ underwater race from Stockholm to Makana to collect his trophy, which was to be presented at the podium ceremony in which the first race of the FX350 league would take place in order to garner the maximum amount of attention and publicity to the new series and take the sting of the Triakis-AG-Systems controversy of the previous season away from the mouth.

Disaster befell Icaras as they were drawn for the first race as Gryffyth Dawod’s remarks about Andrea Santiago’s race suit earned him a firm racing boot right in the family jewels. Still miles away due to a delayed flight in Germany, Van Saur couldn’t turn up for the race and Icaras had no backup pilots. The AG-League rules at the time forbade pilot swapping between different teams and Connor Burns had to look around for a replacement. Montera was willing and able, climbing into the cockpit of the ‘Amun Ra’ with a cry of ‘how hard can it be?’.

To the surprise of all, the pilot of submersibles took well to Venom-class speeds and finished a very respectable fourth for his first race, turning the opinions of most in the paddock on their heads. With third pilots being optional but advised for future races, Burns offered Montera a permanent seat during the submersible racing off-season. The Portuguese pilot took it without another thought and slipped right into the cockpit.

A good friend of most on the grid, Alvaro is personable and easy-going, more traits rarely found in AG-pilots. He lacked for allies on the grid initially, but he has good relationships going with Balawyn Samirsdøttir of Qirex and Malik Al-Tamassal of Mirage, the three of whom are often seen touring the streets of Makana together. His big failings though are in high speed events where he is un-used to the level of reflexes needed especially in weapons-on races. His submersible racing days have left him with good endurance skills though, and he can stay focussed for much longer than other pilots in long events, holding several records for 20-lap Venom and Flash races.

WipEout HD Fury - Qirex Team Profile

6 – Qirex Research and Development (Russian Federation)

Team Principal:

 Feliks Levovitch

Slogan:

"Prepare for a High Speed Revolution"

Backstory:

Whenever AG-Racing has gone, Qirex Research and Development has almost always been there, for better or for worse. Without question the most successful team in AG-Racing, Qirex was formed in 2021 by an amalgamation of five other Russian industrial companies in order to keep afloat during the global strikes sweeping the globe: Quantax CFD, Irkutsk Nuclear Developments, Rubik-Tech, Electrolux and X-Track Racing. The five initially began working on submarine and space ship technology for the Russian government, but it seemed to begin falling apart in 2035 after Pierre Belmondo demonstrated his first ever AG-ship in Nevada. Nobody wanted to go underwater anymore now that the sky was open to all, and the submarine division was forced to close its’ doors.

The head executives of Qirex began talk of trying to develop their own AG-crafts, but it was a long and arduous process to receive the patents from AG-Systems and develop their own thrusters. The first Qirex commercial craft were therefore known as unreliable beasts, but favoured for their cheapness compared to AG-Systems devices. Over the next nine years, Qirex slowly became better and better at making their craft, their nuclear facilities at Irkutsk providing them with efficient and powerful energy, giving them a lot of power when it was needed.

When the AntiGravity Race Commission was set up in 2044, Qirex decided to apply for a race entry, though they were initially unsure of how to go about making a race craft instead of the great lumbering transport behemoths they’d been making before. Salvation arrived in the form of Holst McQueen, one of Pierre Belmondo’s protégées from AG-Systems, who had been ousted from the Japanese company after arguments over money and the way the company should go with colleague Delia Flaubert, who later went on to run Auricom.

McQueen believed in fast, efficient business designed to make money and turn a profit, with no holds barred. The five men who ran Qirex together eagerly began to defer to the driven Canadian as he marshalled Qirex into making a race-winning team. McQueen encouraged Qirex to stop thinking of themselves as separate companies but all as a single team designed to make them all money and victory, and the Quantax-built LA-01 was Qirex’s first ever racing ship. When it hit the track in 2050, the Qirex with their favourite test pilot Kel Solaar at the helm dominated the long, sweeping curves of Altima VIII with a thrust level that belied belief.

AG-Systems reeled Qirex in soon in the later events on twisting tracks, but the constant changing of the craft instead of keeping it focussed on a winning design meant that AG-S kept losing points to Qirex and eventually Auricom as well, leaving the Russian team to charge home with the first ever AntiGravity World Championship. Over the years, Qirex netted another four F3200 trophies, and as the championship moved into F5000, it won another one, not to mention the two it achieved in F7200.

Qirex was always the victorious, powerful team but that impressiveness came at a price. Almost every single race, there was something raised against either the Qirex team or their pilots. Whether it was the accusations of Qirex having planted Cherovoski as a spy in the Auricom team, pilot Vladimir Tuchyon’s weaving to prevent an overtake from a faster FEISAR or even the team’s excessive amount of merchandise sales points at the entry to an event that resulted in almost half the audience wearing purple caps at the race. Despite all this, despite all the pursed lips and mutters amongst the racing fans, Qirex had never done anything actually wrong.

The same could not be said of Qirex’s iteration from 2156 to 2170, during the fated F9000. Overtel, one of the main datacast corporations that had sponsored and supported Qirex in its’ previous seasons left to run the F9000 league, leaving the Russian squad with a new owner necessary. Unfortunately, the Greek corporation Tigron Enterprises had taken some of Holst McQueen’s lessons far too much to heart, and promptly turned Qirex into its’ darkest iteration yet, the aggressive and corrupt Tigron.

When the F9000 fell, both Overtel and Tigron quickly took the easy way out, and their headquarters in Moscow and Athens were burnt to a crisp. Indeed, the fires that had destroyed Tigron’s HQ spread for miles about, leaving Greece nothing more than a barren, irradiated wasteland nowadays. 

The old Qirex factory in Irkutsk lay abandoned and dormant for some years after that, and the doors did not open until 2185, during the first race of the resurrected FX150 league in January. The one functioning video surveillance machine left in the building’s tape is retained, and it shows a man in a large overcoat with curly black hair walking alone through the desiccated factory. This man was Feliks Levovitch.

Feliks was the son of Sergei Levovitch, the chief Engineer at Qirex during the F7200 days, one of the several important figures of Qirex who was outed as soon as Tigron took control of the company. Feliks then had seen the damage that greed can do to a company, and had sworn to restore the Qirex name in the minds of people across the world. Feliks had bought the decaying factory for the sum of only ten thousand roubles and had every intention of returning to the fight. He called over a group of men on the streets who had returned from another unsuccessful day at the job centre, and asked if they’d help him clear out the factory. Before long, with the promise of regular food from Feliks (who was a good cook a the very least) meant that Qirex had a regular array of people willing to help install his new factory and clean it out. By September of that year, the factory was absolutely spotless.

Feliks then decided to go about searching for people to help him make a ship. Fortunately, there was no end of the number of people willing to help lend a hand even for little money. Russian Universities weren’t considered as powerful a force then as European and Japanese ones, so those who’d taken AG-studies often found themselves having to re-think their plans when the four teams in the FX150 turned them down. Despite his low funds saved up from his time working with a transport company during the lean years of F9000, Feliks could provide for everyone, and was soon known as ‘Хороший дед’, or ‘Good Grandfather’ to all at Qirex.

Feliks was firm in his job, and drove the workers hard, but he never treated them as anything less than human, and that is what a lot of people say got Qirex off the ground. The LR-01, the first ship flown since 2155 to bear the Qirex name, lifted off its’ mountings in April, 2188. With the news of a Russian AG-team, sponsors flooded in and soon Feliks found himself inundated with offers of money and images to stick on the sides. Knowing that he needed money, Levovitch did not turn down a single one, and hired the ace racing pilot Nadia Elenova to race for the team. Qirex took a few years to perfect the craft and train Nadia in Zone mode, with their first appearance halfway through the FX200. Unfortunately, as they found out in that first race, their old rivals hadn’t let up the bitter feelings and the LR-01 was destroyed within two laps by the Auricom team.

Undaunted, Feliks rallied his men and women and began to strike back, slowly clawing at the back of the field and sometimes coming within striking distance of FEISAR and Assegai. Nadia was proving to be an exceptionally popular pilot, though her skill compared to her teammate, Auricom refugee Rory Pinewood was always up for debate.

Qirex have shown again and again that they are more than capable of rising from the ashes of a team that had died so long ago, and now they are a force to be reckoned with. Feliks still lives in the same apartment as he has done for the past thirty years despite offers to live better, pouring as much money as he can into the team and his employees’ salary. No doubt Holst McQueen would tear his hair out if he saw Qirex’s turnover, but the fact remains is that people are buying purple hats and t-shirts willingly rather than it being forced down their throats.

Allies: Goteki 45, Icaras

Rival: Piranha

Arch-Rivals: Auricom

Searching AntiGravity Racing Archives for Subject ‘Qirex and Auricom’

1876 Matches Found...

Opening File...

The FX500 Race Commission has decided to decline Auricom's... *subject checks his data-slate* ...two hundredth and eighty-first attempt to ban a fellow competitor from the league on insufficient grounds. Auricom Originals claim to have the support of AG-Systems and Piranha Advancements on its' petition, however we see no evidence to that in the message.

Auricom have requested that the following teams are expelled from the AntiGravity Racing Leagues indefinitely: Qirex Research and Development, Goteki 45, EG-X Technologies and Triakis Industries. The letter has identified numerous minor faults with all teams that it claims are reasons for their disqualifications. It references amongst other things: Pilot N. Elenova's (of Qirex RD) jump-start at Tech De Ra in August 2212, for which the pilot served the appropriate time penalty; Pilot P. So-Gun's (of Goteki 45) forcing another competitor off the track at Ubermall in March 2210 for which the pilot apologised in the subsequent press conference; and Pilot V. Stephenson's elimination of a competitor with rockets after the end of the race, for which the pilot served the resultant eight-race ban.

*subject is interrupted as he begins another anecdote, whereby he clears his throat and nods* Ah, yes. My apologies. Auricom continues to declare these teams as 'rogue operatives' and decries their brutal tactics... which the Commission have deemed to be legal. All precautions have been taken to ensure the protection of the pilots these past few seasons, and as there has not been a serious injury since the FX150 leagues, we believe our precautions are working. If a team is afraid of being rammed or bumped, they should take precautions on track and in the garage, not in the courtrooms. 

-AntiGravity FX500 Race Commission Steward K. Atkinson, speaking at Pre-Season Party 2213, Tokyo

Ship Details:

Qirex seems to have blown almost all of its’ money on the LT-01 for this season, a ship that bears little to no similarities to its’ predecessor whatsoever. Whereas the LS series were flat and wide, the LT is thin and long. Ship specifications state that the long extrusions of the hull beyond the bodywork are an experimental kind of solar turbo generator, designed to fuel the (fairly) small reactor inside the Qirex with light energy from the track sides, advertising and weapons fire from competitors. The scrutineers have been humming and hawing about this technology for some time, but have decided to allow it for this season. Some teams (surprise surprise, including Auricom) have called foul on Qirex’s plan, but as Levovitch himself stated, the only reason that they decided to try these devices on the ship hulls is that Qirex couldn’t afford any more ship armour aside from what is already on the cockpit, leaving ICON as the only major sponsor this year with noticeable hull space.

A lot of weight reduction has gone on inside the craft, meaning that this is in fact the only FX500 ‘Fury’ craft to be lighter than its’ predecessor aside from the Harimau. When asked if Harimau had any input in the weight saving technology, chief engineer Jokai Temuge admitted that yes, the Harimau/FEISAR collaboration had been consulted for help on the business of handling, but in terms of secrets given back to the two teams?

“Well, FEISAR hasn’t asked for anything... assuming we don’t let Heather trouble them with legal proceedings, and Harimau has asked Levovitch to look after a snow leopard cub. He’s called it Kel.” 

Lead Pilot – Rory Pinewood

Initially a student at Auricom’s AG school, Rory was expelled for what his tutors called ‘an excessively dangerous and aggressive attitude towards racing’. Despite his speed, Rory preferred to eschew Auricom’s racing etiquette and forced his way to the front by trading a lot of paint. Not deterred from his love of the sport though, he searched around the other teams for a place and found an offer from Levovitch himself. Feliks offered Rory a place on the team for no pay but a chance to fly, and the man accepted gladly.

Pinewood faced down his long-time rival at the Auricom academy in his first race in the form of Platon Dhavoric, and the irony of a North American pilot in a Qirex racing against a Russian pilot in an Auricom was not lost on the commentators. Knowing that the world was watching, Rory slammed the LR-04 to its’ limits, determined not to slip up in front of the watching public and especially Levovitch. By the time the final lap came up, he had left Dhavoric behind and was coming up on the squabbling Caluroso and Stephenson, fighting for the lead. The commentator’s quotes from the race say it all.

“Stephenson takes the corner just a little too wide! That’s Caluroso through, but we’re opening onto a long straight, that Triakis is going to get right back up on the Frenchman’s backside!”

“Hold on, Stefan, something’s catching the Tri!”

“Blow me, you’re right! That’s Pinewood, Pinewood in the Qirex coming up on the lead... bet you didn’t think that was going to happen in the FX200 league, did you?”

“Absolutely not, and Qirex are going to be over the moon with Pinewood for this – first race out and he gets them a bronze. The man means business.”

“Stephenson has caught right up to Caluroso, and he’s slamming the AG-systems over to the side, neither pilot as any room and... oh, my god – is Pinewood trying to get through?”

“My god, he is – the man’s crazy, he’ll never get through that in a million... OH MY GOD! Pinewood is through! You couldn’t have squeezed a needle into that gap!”

“He very nearly didn’t, that’s ruined the paint on the right hand side! Pinewood, for Qirex in the lead on the final lap, three turns to go and... he’s just dropped a bomb, hasn’t he?”

“That’s a bomb right in the path of the two fighters and there’s nowhere to go... bam! Caluroso’s out! That AG-Systems had just taken too much punishment for its’ own good... Stephenson will be pleased with second, but I’m not quite believing it... on the top step we have a Qirex. A QIREX!”

Watching on the provided screens at the trackside, Feliks Levovitch smiled amidst the whooping Russian mechanics. Wherever Qirex has gone, Pinewood has gone with them, taking over First Pilot status from Elenova when she left at the end of the FX400 series. Quick to compliment good piloting and to criticise alike, Pinewood has been more than welcome at press conferences where his matter-of-fact manner, while sometimes controversial, is always welcome amidst the waves of publicity-friendly statements from some pilots. 

As well as Ferrai of Goteki 45, Pinewood has often been seen on race weekends with Kaet’yrun of Mirage and Harding of Triakis, the four of them colloquially calling themselves ‘The Bad Boys’ of the league and sometimes setting up private Zone Battle events, meaning that the four have extraordinary experience with the new and experimental simulated race series.

Second Pilot – Balawyn Samirsdøttir

When the final eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland threatened to shatter the entire island apart, Qirex was one of the many companies that went to the rescue, firing up every model they’d ever made and a few from their old days of F7200 as well with test pilots, engineers, Pinewood and Levovitch himself flying to the doomed island even as it began to splinter apart under the volcanic eruption. One pilot of a 2099-Spec LH-03 craft landed on the outskirts of Reykjavik, but as the engineer got out to help people clamber on to the sides of the ship, he was hit by a piece of volcanic rock and was knocked senseless.

One of the refugees clambered into the ship and fired it up herself, getting the engineer strapped onto the side as she pulled the race craft up and shuttled it to and from the waiting rescue ships out of range of volcanic activity. The LH-03 was reported to have saved the lives of nearly five hundred Icelandic civilians as well as the engineer, and the pilot was approached after the rescue operation by Levovitch, to thank her for her work. The woman, who had been a tour guide before the eruption and had been used to flying AG-craft, thanked Levovitch and took up on his offer to stay in Russia for a few months until she could be reassigned to a new home.

Balawyn Samirsdøttir proved to be difficult to move to her new home in Norway however, having more than adapted to life in the Qirex factory as a test pilot to earn her keep. After a suggestion from Pinewood, Balawyn was given the chance to fly Qirex’s race craft and she quickly became Qirex’s test pilot, followed by third pilot when the FX350 started allowing third pilots.

Known as the ‘last Icelander’, Samirsdøttir is famous for her teasing of anyone nearby, particularly male pilots who can’t keep up with her, once invoking the wrath of Vincent Stephenson by beating his record on Vineta K Reverse while singing a classic metal song the whole way through. She takes over as second pilot, and is a favourite to succeed Pinewood when he retires, which is looking closer and closer with his impending marriage.

Third Pilot – Heather McKellen

Heather has had the privilege (though she’d hardly call it that) of flying for three different teams in the AG leagues. She was initially enrolled with the Icaras Project, and made huge advancements through the training levels, particularly in Zone where she was said to have ‘outstanding ability’ by Connor Burns himself. But with Icaras still being slow to get set up, and unwilling to replace any of their existing pilots, she was snapped up be FEISAR, who needed a good pilot behind Di’Rosso and Ikrausus who was adept at Zone Mode.

However, FEISAR’s historical failures to look after some of its’ pilots occurred once again, and the nervous McKellen (who had been severely lacking in confidence throughout her childhood due to her diminutive size and glasses) had difficulty adapting to the serious work ethic and lack of internal leadership at the European team. It didn’t help that neither of her team-mates were particularly friendly people, and the Scotswoman found herself alone for the most part during the FX350 league. With a lack of support, she suffered in race events in particular, un-used to flying against other pilots and particularly not against a team with some top-class fliers such as EG-X.

McKellen left FEISAR shortly after the start of the FX400 league as a result of her own accord, and broke all contact with the AG-racing world as a result. It is believed that Elenova herself contacted McKellen and asked if she would like to join Qirex as her replacement, though the fact that this would have led to Qirex’s first ever lineup without a Russian in it makes this theory hard to swallow somewhat. However, what is known is that Heather turned up at the Qirex factory one day, and was greeted warmly by all when it was realised that she was there for a possible race seat next year.

In a more comfortable environment, it seems that McKellen is maturing a lot more, and having a pair of good-natured teammates seems to be improving her overall confidence in press conferences. That said though, despite her self-inflicted absence from the league, she remains one of the best forces in the Zone ship to this day and is a favourite to keep up the work in Zone Battle.