Racers

Overview

Racing was in the past a widely popular sport, but the outbreak of the Thargoid war severely crippled the supporter following and racing industry for years to come. With younger generations however, their lack of memory of the time when Thargoids were more than legend has faded, and subsequently a more blasé and bravado attitude among youth has blossomed. This has lead to a revival of a new, yet bolder, thrill-seeking culture. Sun-diving and Hognose pilot harrassment are fairly 'tame' activities typical of pubescent BoyRacer snob punks, compared to the feats of a true daredevil racer. To earn star cred, the limits constantly have to be pushed further.

When the drafting ceased, and corporate sponsors again dared to invest in the sport, scores of young fearless heroes stood ready to again make racing big-business, which was finally symbolized by the rebirth of the Galactic Racing Federation (GRF).

Team Zorg announces its arrival

Racing comes in a wide range of classes and levels of profit and exposure. It's not every racer that have the choice or funds to compete with the shiny latest racing models, but must start at the grassroots level of the Minor League "farmer circuits" by no-budget tinkering in local ship-workshops, predominantly on old decrepit corpses of Adders, Mambas and Sidewinders, looking to turn them into homemade LM-devouring deathtraps.

At the highest level, League One, manufacturers and corporate sponsored teams frequently turn out new racer model prototypes, and constantly seek to improve the established class ships, by unscrupulously exploiting any clause in the laws as arbitrated by the GRF.

Fans of the sport predominantly follow their heroes through magazines like What Spaceship? and LightSpeed! keeping them abreast of the most recent custom modifications and bestbuy comparisons of all the racing models, as well as via the GRF controlled SimulCast events. Considerable gambling interest is also generated down to the lowest level, both officially organized and illegal.

Racing competitions

Racing competitions are divided into several general categories.

• Chicane time trials: Clinical racing where a single ship races against the clock on ringpod courses of various levels of difficulty.

• Dodge derbies: High-risk close-quarter maneuvering and high-G turns in a packed heat with "relaxed rules", often arranged in asteroid belts. It is not uncommon that only one third of the starting lineup survive the race.

• Drag races: Long stretch raw speed racing, often circumventing a large planetary body on a course of minimal turns. These ships are usually fitted with monstrous engines and fuel scoop to replenish their tanks if the course should have a midway bend around the sun.

• Marathons: Often an open class affair, marathons are interstallar affairs. It's not uncommon racers are allowed to freely plot their own desired route, though usually they are obliged to visit certain waypoint-stations, making it a bit more exiting for the fans.

Listing of common racer-conversions

• Adder racer - light racer [1]
• Mamba racer - light racer [2]
• Sidewinder racer - light racer [3]
• Newt racer (custom adder hull) - light racer
• Krait XR1 Dragstar - dragster [4]
• Ophidian Yacht - medium racer
• Bandy-Bandy - marathon racer
• Cobra Mk.III - marathon racer

Purpose built racers

• Cribo chicaneer MkII - medium racer [5]
• Cribo chicaneer MkIV - medium racer [6]
• Kukri MkI dragster - dragster [7]
• Kukri MkII dragster - dragster [8]
• Slug - light racer
• BoyRacer - light racer
• Hood - dodge derby racer
• Vampire - light racer
• Dodger - dodge derby racer
• Tokay Speedstar - light class marathon racer
• Slider Clipper - heavy class marathon racer

See also the Coluber Blue Racer and note the Red, Yellowbelly & Black variants.

Listing of sponsored teams

• Al-Hamdurillah
• Ayr Thistle
• Cosmorossi
• CR Leboeuf
• Dynamo Renko
• Festus Flyers
• Hatchling Racing
• Ichihara S-Pulse
• Kalamafoo Wings
• Magma Racing
• Merthyr Tydfil
• Necaxa
• Quasar Sports
• RC DeZeeuw
• Schlierenzauer
• Slough Swifts
• Singh Speed
• Team Sissu
• Team Teitur
• Team Vurt
• Xaosaspor
• Zenit Arcadia
• Zorg Racing

Work in progress

Races is as of yet (2006) at the flight-training ring stage. Giles has implemented the timekeeping routine and checks into the code, and also created a beautiful waypoint ring.

Teams and some new ships are slowly forming to hopefully coincide with the TADA listed GP.oxp

Links

OXPs

• Ring Racer OXP for Corporate States in Galaxy 1 only: by Thargoid (2009-14): downloadable through the in-game Expansions Manager
• Ringpod racing rings in Lave & Zaonce only: by Aegidian (2006-11)

Fiction

• Try Snakecharming by Daddyhoggy in the Alien Items anthology here.
• Dicky-Bow Run

Discussions

• More material Unfinished project (2007)
• Ideas for a mission .oxp (2007)
• Update on racing .oxp's (2008)
• Ring Racer OXP (2009-15)

Oolite Ships