Oliver Koch is Xavier Xonora's extremely efficient mech chief.
History[]
Hover Car Racer[]
During his teens, Oliver Koch proved to be a talented mechanic, being able to fix and maintain hover cars. His skills drew the attention of the Prince of Monsei, Xavier Xonora, who recruited him to be the mech chief on his hover car racing team. Oliver oversaw the maintenance for the Speed Razor during several races, and aided Xavier by keeping tabs on rival racers and reporting whether or not Xavier was gaining any ground on them.
Xavier later won a regional championship, and with it an invitation to study at the International Race School in Hobart, Australia, being the team's mech chief, the invitation was extended to Oliver as well.
At the end of the entrance assembly, Xavier and Oliver were informed that they would be undertaking classes under Zoroastro, a former world racing champion who also happened to be Xavier's uncle. After the first day's lessons, Xavier and his team joined Zoroastro for dinner, alongside his other students, Barnaby Becker and his team.
As the School's racing season began, Xavier dominated through most of the races, with Oliver's pit work being a contributing factor in his performances; by the end of Race 15, their team was securely placed first on the school championship ladder. During this time, having learned of the shortcut mine that was occasionally used in the school's races, Xavier decided to have it mapped out so that he could use it if necessary. As the mine was off-limits to students, Xavier and Oliver decided to pay Wernold Smythe of the school's parts and equipment department to do so on their behalf.
Oliver was seen leaving the student entrance of the parts and equipment department after paying Smythe by Team Argonaut, with Sally McDuff pointing him out to Jason Chaser. During their meeting with Smythe regarding their team's spate of faulty parts, Bug Chaser noticed Smythe's pocket-full of cash, and after pointing out to Jason, they came to believe that Oliver - owing to having been in to see Smythe before them - was paying him to provide faulty parts to other teams.
Xavier only narrowly won Race 22 by a single point, as the Bug's plan for the gate race's course proved superior, and Xavier's talent being his only saving grace. Instigated by Zoroastro, Oliver and Xavier joined Barnaby and his navigator Guido Moralez as they set out to beat the Bug to shatter his confidence, with Oliver covering the bottom of the stairs to prevent the brothers from escaping. As Jason ended up taking Guido's blows to protect the Bug, Xavier ordered Guido to stop, and so Oliver and the other boys left.
During Race 25, Xavier was in the lead, but on Lap 11, a near-collision afforded Varishna Krishna and Isaiah Washington the opportunity to race ahead of Xavier. Having finished mapping the Dunalley Coalmine the night before, Smythe visited Oliver in Team Xonora's pit bay to relay the path through to him. On the next pit stop, Oliver passed this info on to Xavier, who used it to catch up to the race's leaders. However, having seen Smythe in their pit bay, Jason had realised the truth of what Oliver and Xavier had been paying Smythe for, and so followed Xavier through the mine, later narrowly beating Xavier to the finish line as the race's winner.
During the Sponsors' Tournament, Oliver didn't need to provide pit aid during the match against Horatio Wong, as the Chinese racer pitted too early and was quickl lapped. Before the semi-finals against Krishna, Team Xonora seemed to take advice from Zoroastro to tip the odds in their favour by sabotaging his opponent's magneto drives. Before the first pit stop, either Oliver or Xavier's navigator snuck into Krishna's pit bay and planted a portable microwave transmitter near their fresh stack of mags so that their magnetic power would be drained; thus, after Krishna pitted on Lap 10, his car experienced problems that forced him to try to take a second pit stop, allowing Xavier to lap Krishna soon after, winning the match. Though Barnaby and Guido were caught after doing the same to Jason, none of the officials seemed to consider that Xavier's team may have sabotaged Krishna in their match. In the final match against Jason, Oliver proved superior to Sally in performing pit stops, aiding Xavier in achieving his narrow victory.
As Xavier was invited to race with the Lockheed-Martin Factory Team in the Italian Run, Oliver likely went along with him to Italy to perform their pit stops during the race, and later continued to aid Xavier during the final races of the School championship.
At the subsequent end-of-year presentation dinner, Oliver received an award from the school for being the best mech chief of the year, though he only narrowly beat Sally by two votes.
Oliver joined Xavier in heading to New York to participate in the Challenger Race, victory of which would grant the winner the opportunity to participate in the New York Masters. Once the Challenger began, Xavier and Jason quickly took to the front of the field, and as the race wore on, Jason lost some ground to Xavier, which Oliver reported to Xavier. Once they hit the home straight, the narrowly-leading Xavier prematurely celebrated his victory by pumping his fist in the air; this was a fatal mistake, however, as Jason had been intentionally losing ground, knowing that Oliver would be reporting it to Xavier, having planned to use Xavier's overconfidence to catch him off-guard with a sudden charge, and thus Team Argonaut won the race.
Skills[]
- Expert Mechanic: As the mech chief for Team Xonora, Oliver is an extremely competent mechanic, being able to perform rapid pit stops during races to help keep the Speed Razor in optimum condition, and the speed of Oliver's pit stops helped to provide Xavier with precious seconds to maintain his position over other racers. Oliver's skills and level of expertise were notable enough to earn him the Race School's award for Best Mech Chief of his year.
- Expert Tactician: Oliver is capable of observing any race that Xavier is participating in and accurately report the advantage his team's driver has over their opponents, and is able to warn Xavier when an opponent is gaining or losing ground.
Equipment[]
Vehicles[]
- Speed Razor: Xavier's personal hover car, which Oliver oversees the basic maintenance and performance-enhancements for during pit stops.
- Lockheed-Martin Factory Team Car: A racing-class hover car belonging to the Lockheed Martin Factory Team, which was loaned to Xavier while he was participating in the Italian Run as their apprentice, and which Oliver performed the maintenance for before and during the race.
Other Equipment[]
- Team Xonora Racing Uniform: As Team Xonora's mech chief, Oliver wears a team uniform to protect himself from grime and spills during races, all pieces of which are coloured in Xavier's colour of choice, charcoal-black.
- Pit Tarantula: As the mech chief for Team Xonora, Oliver manages the machine which aids in pit bay maintenance during races, in order to to keep their team's car in top working order by replacing worn or damaged parts, as well as refilling coolant.
Trivia[]
- Oliver has a bristly shaven head, and is described as being "bull-necked".