Matthew Reilly Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Matthew Reilly Wiki


"Jason Chaser, hover car racer. It's got a nice ring to it."
Scott Syracuse after meeting Jason

Jason Chaser is a young hover car racer, the driver of the Argonaut, and the leader and driver of Team Argonaut.

He is the main protagonist of Hover Car Racer.

History[]

Early History[]

Under unknown circumstances, Jason's birth parents died or abandoned him when he was extremely young, resulting in him being sent to an orphanage in Halls Creek. By the time he was four-years old, Jason became the closest companion of the younger orphan known as the Bug, who only liked being around Jason and would thrown tantrums if anyone else tried to handle him. When Henry and Martha Chaser decided to adopt Jason, the four-year old refused to leave without the Bug, and with the pleading from the orphanage staff, the Chasers decided to adopt the Bug as well.

Jason and the Bug proceeded to grown up on the Chaser farmland, occasionally helping their father with the workload. At age five, Jason and the Bug were taught by Henry how to drive mini-carts.

Over the course of his life, Jason and the Bug were constantly mocked by Barnaby Becker, an older and richer boy, both for being adopted and being poorer than him.

During his childhood, Jason became enamoured in the sport of hover car racing, watching the races on tv with his father at every opportunity. While Jason wished to see the New York Masters in person, his family were unable to afford tickets, but on one occasion he did get to see the races from a distance while the Chasers were staying with relatives in New Jersey. In addition to watching races, Jason also collected merchandise related to some of his favourite racers, such as a bubble-gum collector's card of Scott Syracuse.

When Jason was 10, he found the remains of an old Ferrari Pro F1 hover car in a local junkyard, and over four years repaired it with old and low-quality parts, enough for it to be capable of racing. Christening it the Argonaut, Jason and the Bug, who became his navigator, proceeded to participate in local races. Because they had no mech chief, however, the brothers had to perform all the maintenance for the Argonaut themselves.

At age 14, Jason managed to come in the top three of his local division, allowing him to enter the Indo-Pacific Regional Championships.

Hover Car Racer[]

Within nine minutes of regional championships starting, the Argonaut had its tailfin heavily damaged by debris from another car after its driver failed to execute a 9-G turn. Rather than give up, Jason chose to keep on racing, using his thrusters to steer instead as the Bug came with an alternate course plan from his original to adapt. Despite their efforts, however, Jason ended up placing fifth in the Championship. In addition to feeling humiliated for losing in front of a pair of VIPs from the International Race School (including Scott Syracuse) scouting new students, Jason was devastated to learn that Barnaby had won an invitation to the International Race School. Upon returning to his pit bay, Jason was surprised to find Syracuse examining the Argonaut's damaged tailfin, and found himself being questioned on his use of the thrusters to steer and on their original course plan before the former racer departed.

Not long after Jason and the Bug returned home (and enduring a lecture from Henry), Syracuse appeared at the Chaser home. Having been impressed by Jason's ingenious use of thrusters to steer and the Bug's racing plan, Syracuse invited them to attend the Race School under his tutelage, which the boys eagerly accepted.

As their cruise liner docked at Hobart, Jason and the Bug were quickly accosted and taunted by Barnaby and Guido Moralez, before proceeding to the School. While in the Race Briefing room, Jason's curiosity was piqued by the reporters in the room taking an interest in the female racer Ariel Piper, to which the girl behind him, Sally McDuff, teased him for staring at her. Introducing himself and the Bug to the mech chief, Jason asked what she knew of Syracuse as a teacher before Principal Jean-Pierre LeClerq began speaking. Following a surprise appearance from the world racing champion, Alessandro Romba, Jason and the Bug were informed that they would be undertaking classes under Syracuse and have a mech chief assigned to their team.

During their first lesson, Jason and the Bug were told that Sally would be their team's mech chief, and were introduced to the other racers under Syracuse's tutelage, Isaiah Washington and Horatio Wong. Once they had gotten to know Sally more, Jason, Washington and Wong's teams were put through grueling hours of physics lessons and pit lane practice, with Jason being irked by Syracuse's criticisms and lack of encouraging feedback. When he headed to the dining hall, Jason was quickly excluded from his stablemates' conversation, and after making note of Xavier Xonora, a cool-and-confidant racer sitting with Barnaby, found that the only seat available was at Ariel's table. Asking if her could join her, Jason was surprised by her attitude until hearing the reason for the press's attention and her isolation; being the only female racer to have ever attended the school and being dismissed by those like LeClerq. When Ariel almost broke down in tears because of her worries, Jason was able to cheer her up, telling Ariel that crying would signify that everyone that they had won, and promised to be her friend.

When the first race of the school tournament began, Jason found himself facing difficulties immediately as the left-rear magneto drive lost all power without warning and later incurred a 15-second penalty for edging the Argonaut out of the pit bay, despite having already been warned against that by Syracuse in their previous lesson. Narrowly avoiding elimination for the next several laps, Jason eventually found himself in fifth place on the final lap, but after experiencing another mechanical failure as both rear magneto drives lost power, Jason saw Ariel lose control of the Pied Piper and drive off-course. Seeing that rescue crews wouldn't reach her in time, Jason chose to go after her rather than finish the race, using the Argonaut to lift the Pied Piper high enough to avoid colliding with the cliffs. Upon his return to the pit lane, Syracuse pointed out Jason had lost the points he would have earned for coming fifth, while Sally reported what she'd found regarding their depowered magneto drives and Ariel revealed that someone had put a time-bomb computer virus in her car.

As the school year continued, Jason and his team continued to experience mechanical difficulties, affecting their positioning on the race championship ladder. Eventually deciding to speak to the Parts and Equipment Department, Jason and Sally's complaints were dismissed by Wernold Smythe. When they left, the Bug pointed out that Smythe had had a pocket-full of hundred-dollar bills, and since Xavier's mech chief Oliver Koch had been in ahead of them, believed that he was being paid to supply teams with faulty parts. During a practice race the next day, Jason attempted skipping his last pit stop in a desperate bid to win, but lost power in his magneto drives short of the finish line, with Syracuse denouncing his foolish method.

As the opportunities to win a race by Race 25 and earn an entry into the Sponsors' Tournament dwindled, Jason and the Bug found themselves cornered by Xavier, Barnaby and their teammates one night after nearly winning a gate race. Morales attempted to beat up the Bug to undermine the better navigator's confidence, however Jason took all the blows Morales dished out by baiting him, until Xavier called him off. The next morning, LeClerq announced that the School had received four invitations to the New York Masters Challenger Race instead of the usual two, which would go to the top four racers at the end of the school championship. But as Jason and his team began wondering if they could finish in the top four, LeClerq also announced the cancellation of the next two races, meaning that their only chance of entering the Sponsors' Tournament now lay solely in winning Race 25.

The day before the race, Henry and Martha came to visit Jason and the Bug, and as Jason lamented about the lack positive feedback from Syracuse, Henry assured him that would change if he showed he was learning what Syracuse was teaching him. On the way back to the School, Jason noticed Smythe having trouble with his hovercycle, covered in grey powder.

During Race 25, following some trouble with their pit tarantula, Jason became desperate to consider using the shortcut mine, but as he took the next pit stop, he noticed Xonora talking with Smythe. Recalling seeing Smythe covered in powder the night before, Jason realised that Smythe had been paid to map the mine for Xonora, and as they set off, he followed the Speed Razor closely as Xonora headed into the mine. Successfully following the black prince through the shortcut, Team Argonaut was able to close the distance on the leading Varishna Krishna and Washington. Although Xonora was soon able to take the lead from Krishna, Jason couldn't advance any further, and as the other racers prepared to take their next pit stop on Lap 18, Jason decided to forgo Syracuse's other warning and chose to avoid his last pit stop, hurrying to reach the finish line first.

As Xonora began pursuing Jason, they both used the shortcut mine again, losing ground near the finish line, but ultimately Jason won the race with a photo finish, qualifying Team Argonaut for the Sponsor's Tournament. As Syracuse questioned why Jason had ignored his previous advice, Jason assured his teacher that he had learned from his mistakes and that a win was a win regardless of distance. This statement finally earned Jason Syracuse's respect, and so he then invited his teacher to join his family for a team celebration that night.

During another lesson involving manual pit stops, Jason, the Bug and Sally took Syracuse's offer of advice to ask for strategies for the Tournament, and learned that their first match race was against Ariel. Later, Team Argonaut attended the Sponsors' gala, where Jason was introduced to Umberto Lombardi of the Lombardi Racing Team by Syracuse, and though he enjoyed dining with the eccentric billionaire, Jason became disappointed when he saw that Ariel was about to agree to Fabian's offer of support if she slept with him.

As they were getting ready for the race against Ariel, Jason and the Bug were presented with proper racing uniforms and helmets by Martha and Henry, and then proceeded with the match, enduring several chase phases before Jason finally emerged victorious. Sadly remarking that there were no friends on the track after seeing Fabian dismiss Ariel for losing, Jason took on Washington in the next round, managing to endure long enough before Washington gave up the match. Before the third match against Barnaby, Karishna warned Jason and his team his suspicion that he had been sabotaged before his match against Xavier, a valid warning that prompted Sally to turn their pit's cameras on and catch Morales sabotaging their magneto drives, getting Barnaby disqualified. In the final match against Xavier, Jason managed to endure the longest against the black prince, and though he lost, Jason was heartened to hear the crowd cheer for him more than Xavier for his hard day's racing.

While celebrating with his family once again, Jason was stunned as Lombardi appeared and, having been impressed by his efforts, invited him to race with his team at the Italian Run. With the Bug and Sally in agreement, Jason accepted the offer. After making amends with Ariel, Jason began working his hardest over the next few weeks to raise his team's rank on the championship ladder to secure their position while they were gone, managing to reach fourth overall.

Upon arriving in Italy, Jason met his fellow teammate from the Lombardi Racing Team, Pablo Riviera, and began practicing in the Ferrari F-3000 Lombardi was loaning him, which he started calling the Argonaut II. At one point during Jason's stay in Lombardi's Venice II hotel, he was surprised to find himself approached by Fabian and the media, the former having wanted to garner attention by challenging Jason to an exhibition match. Though he accepted the challenge, Jason called Ariel to let her surreptitiously take his place in the match, both to allow her to get even with the French racer and to give himself a chance to practice in the Argonaut II in peace.

Jason next attended the opening ball before the Italian Run, where he had a coupe of interesting encounters; first meeting Ravi Gupta, who asked Jason odd questions before vanishing, and then Dido Emanuele, a pretty fan who caught him off-guard and barely able to utter a proper response. When he happened to meet her again the next night before the race, Jason managed to properly ask her to hang out with him, and they spent several hours together before Sally cam looking for him and reminded Jason of how late it was.

Once the Italian Run began, Jason quickly found himself surprised by the race's intensity and encountered trouble before the first pit stop as Etienne Trouveau cut him off and damaged the Argonaut II, leaving him in tailing in last place. Though he became desperate enough to consider a reckless run through the race's short cut, Jason was fortunate enough to have Syracuse share his knowledge of the shortcut mine, allowing him to move back up into fifth place. Despite some continued difficulty, Jason approached the finish line still in fifth, but before he could cross the finish line however, the Argonaut II's tailfin spontaneously exploded. Crashing into the Venice II canal, Jason saw that the Bug's seatbelt was jammed, and so had to launch his ejector seat down, narrowly escaping the doomed Argonaut-II as Kamiko Ideki's car crashed into the wreckage.

When Jason awoke after two day's unconsciousness, he found himself being regarded as a hero by his family, Sally, Lombardi, Dido and even the public, though no explanation for the tailfin's explosion was found. Jason started to experience nightmares, and he turned to Dido for support as he confessed his fears, and she assured him that she believed in him, started a tentative relationship together. But as he returned to Race School, Wong intentionally rammed the Argonaut's tailfin in Jason's first race back, shattering his still-fragile confidence. Believing that he was letting his team down, Jason took it upon himself to regain himself by training with drones, but when Sally and the Bug found out, they admonished Jason for taking on the responsibility alone, pledging that they are a team who'll follow him anywhere.

With Sally and the Bug's help, Jason started to rebuild his confidence and rapidly rises up the school championship ladder, so that by the end of Race 49, Team Argonaut was in a six-person contention for the final two places to the New York Challenger. Needing to beat Barnaby in Race 50 to ensure they succeeded, Jason began analysing his rival's racing patterns to determine his weak-point. The night before the race, Jason had another nightmare and went for a walk, and happened to overhear LeClerq and Smythe discuss sabotage plans for Ariel's pit machine, and so forewarned his friend.

During the race, Jason overtook several of his rivals despite Xavier's attempts to ensure Barnaby's victory, and narrowly passed Xavier through the use of a few risky shortcut options. As Jason, Ariel, Barnaby and Varishna began their final pit stop, the virus Smythe has sent to Ariel's pit machine disrupted the entire power grid, forcing a manual pit stop and giving Jason a chance to catch up to Barnaby. In spite of his plans to overtake Barnaby as well, Jason's rival was able to keep Jason from exploiting his weak-point, making Jason realise that Dido had betrayed him. Refusing to give up, Jason continued hounding Barnaby until he finally got an opening and passed Barnaby. After Barnaby performed a desperate kamikaze to keep from losing, Jason found himself pinned, and so had the Bug to run over the finish line to ensure their placing.

When the racers' results were tallied, Jason's placing earned his team fourth place on the School championship ladder, and getting them the final place to the New York Challenger. When Dido appeared to congratulate Jason, he called her out over her role as a spy for Xavier and Barnaby and telling them his insecurities, breaking things off with her and sending her away.

Once the School year was over, Jason, the Bug and Sally headed to New York to participate in the Challenger, but first examined all of their previous races against Xavier to see if they could find any weak points in order to beat him and enter the New York Masters proper. Though they couldn't find any chinks in his defenses, Jason realised that they could exploit Xavier's overconfidence with a surprise, last-second push. Excited as he was to participate in a Masters race, Jason kept his cool and refused to let Xavier's needling before the race get to him. Once the Challenger began, Jason and Xavier quickly took to the front of the field, and as the race wore on, Jason intentionally lost some ground to Xavier, knowing that Oliver would be reporting this to Xavier. Once they hit the home straight, Jason waited until Xavier prematurely celebrated his victory by pumping his fist in the air and caught him off-guard with a sudden charge, winning the race.

In the subsequent press conference, Jason was invited by both Lombardi and Antony Nelson of the Lockheed-Martin Factory Team to drive under their respective licenses for the rest of the New York Masters, with Jason choosing to go with Lombardi. Soon after, he went to see Xavier to congratulate him on a good race; though initially ignored, Xavier questioned how Jason had managed to beat him when he was the better driver, with Jason replying that it was because he actually put in the work that he would always beat him.

During the next few days of preparations, as Lombardi had his people work over the Argonaut, Jason was discussing tactics with his friends and family when he saw the betting odds on him for the Masters series and became curious by the odds on him back in Italy. As he tried to sleep the night before the Liberty Supersprint, Jason heard his father come in and - assuming they were asleep - told him and the Bug that he was proud of their achievements and that the most important thing for them was to enjoy the upcoming races.

During the Liberty Supersprint, Jason struggled with the G-forces on the Liberty's Elbow, putting him in last place, however he was fortunate enough to avoid elimination thanks to a crash that took out the preceding three racers. Before the Manhattan Gate Race began, Jason was surprised to be approached by Gupta again, and all the more suspicious when he disappeared abruptly. Jason's luck seemed set to change for the better as the Bug's race plan for the Manhattan Gate Race easily put them in the lead, however Fabian's sequencing of them put him on equal points. After Fabian and Trouveau made the Argonaut crash 500 meters short of the finish line, Jason and the Bug stunned the audience as they pushed their car to the finish line in order to earn their continued participation in the Masters.

Needing to win in order to ensure they could participate in the Quest Race, Jason put in his best efforts during the Pursuit Race, using a Meat Grinders shortcut to get into the lead, and though he lost consciousness on the final turn, the Bug steered them over the finish line before Trouveau can overtake them. As a result of the points they'd earned from the three races, Jason qualified to participate in the final race against Fabian, Trouvuea and Romba. The night before the race, while the weight of what Jason and his team had accomplished despite its rookie status set in, though Syracuse reassured them that they have proven themselves throughout the entire year as true racers.

Having come to suspect that Gupta was behind the tailfin's explosion back in Italy, Jason asked Ariel to have warn the authorities and keep an eye on the bookmaker during the race. Once Martha had completed the trophy Jason needed for the Quest Race, Jason had the 'golden fleece' given ton one of the race officials before heading to the Argonaut, and asked that his car make it through the next race.

Once the racers set off, Jason found himself harassed by the two French racers again, but managed to trick Trouveau into crashing into the tunnel wall. After collecting his trophy at Niagara Falls, Jason began the return journey, during which Fabian intercepted his radio signal and attempted to cow him into submitting. However, Jason outwitted the French racer by luring him into driving into the Vizir's wreckage to take him out of contention. On the last straight to the finish line, Jason managed to pass Romba, putting him in the lead until the Argonaut's tailfin exploded once again.

Refusing to give up so close to victory, Jason ejected from his car, and was propelled over the finish line just ahead of Romba, winning the New York Masters. After being congratulated by Romba, Ariel and a pair of New York police officers arrived with a handcuffed Gupta, confirming that he had sabotaged Jason's tailfins both times. Reveling in victory along with his team and family, Lombardi offered Team Argonaut a contract to race under him full-time, and as he accepted his winner's trophy before the cheering crowd, Jason reflected on everything he had gone through during the year.

Personality[]

Jason is a determined young man, always willing to push himself to win the race. Despite his youth, he has proven time and time again that age is far less of a barrier in the racing world than previously thought. His dedication and care for his family and friends makes him worthy of becoming a great man, and a better racer than some.

Skills[]

  • Expert Driver / Pilot: As seems to be standard practice for anyone wishing to learn how to drive a hover car, Jason is capable of piloting the aviation-type hover car. Despite his comparative youth to other racers-in-training, Jason is just as capable of performing aerial feats and maneuvers that in the present day are only known to pilots of fighter jets. Jason is also able to adapt to unconventional situations when driving, such as using thrusters for steering when his steering rudder was damaged.
  • Expert Tactician: During his time as the driver and leader of Team Argonaut, Jason has repeatedly shown his skills as a strategist, being able to adapt to unusual situations and come up with counter-strategies to ensure his team's continued running. Jason is able to analyse previous races and notice his rivals' weak-points, and then come up with a strategy to use that weakness against them to beat them in the next race.
  • Capable Mechanic: Jason has proven himself a competent mechanic, being able to build a fully-functioning hover car from a variety of spare parts. Before Sally joined his team, Jason was able to perform basic pitstops during races to maintain a standard performance, however his engineering knowledge is not extensive enough for him to recognise long-term wearing on certain parts. When they first began practicing manual pit stops, Jason proved knowledgeable enough to get out to help Sally in order to expedite the process.

Equipment[]

Vehicles[]

  • Argonaut: Jason's personal hover car, which he built from scratch after finding the external shell of an old Ferrari Pro F1 racer and repairing it with an assortment of used and low-quality parts, enough for it to be operational and capable of racing. After joining Team Argonaut, Sally was able to improve the Argonaut's basic maintenance and performance. When racing under the Lombardi Team in the New York Masters, Lombardi has his pit crew completely work over the inner mechanics of the Argonaut to bring it to peak performance.
  • Argonaut II: A Ferrari F-3000 belonging to the Lombardi Racing Team which Lombardi loaned to Jason in order to race in the Italian Run. As a brand new and state-of-the-art racing-class hover car, Jason had to practice for a few days before mastering it.

Other Equipment[]

  • Team Argonaut Racing Uniform: When Jason and the Bug started racing, they were forced to wear mismatched denim overalls and motorcycle helmets due to the fact that they could not afford new or matching gear. However, after their victory in Race 25, Martha made a custom-design uniform for both of her sons, made from standard racing uniform material primarily in white colours with some blue parts on the glove and boots, and lined with silver trim. Henry was also able to provide Jason and Bug with new Shoei helmets that matched their team's new uniform.
  • Pit Tarantula: To Be Added.
  • Lombardi Racing Team Uniform: The official racing uniform for the Lombardi Racing Team, which Jason wore during the Italian Run. It is comprised of a black flightsuit with yellow piping and embroidery, black boots, and a yellow helmet and gloves.

Trivia[]

  • Jason's first name, in conjunction with the name Argonaut, is a reference to the ancient Greek legend, Jason and the Argonauts.
  • Unlike most of the other leading characters of Reilly's novels, Jason lacks a defining feature.
  • Jason is the youngest male main protagonist of Reilly's, and the second-youngest after Elizabeth I of The Tournament.
    • Jason's birthday is mentioned to be on the 6th of August.
Advertisement