The Sponsors' Tournament is an event race sponsored by various racing teams and corporations to watch students of the International Race School compete.
History[]
Early History[]
After the establishment of the International Race School, a sponsors' event soon followed, so that students from the school who qualified could compete in a tournament race, in part so the school could show off to professional race team and corporations what the students were capable of, and to secure donations to the school itself.
The format of the Sponsors' Event would change every year to provide variety to the event, and the economy in Hobart would be bolstered because of the attention it drew from fans and the sponsors.
Hover Car Racer[]
As the School's racing season began, Xavier Xonora won Race 1, making him the first racer to qualify for the Sponsors' Tournament that year. Over the next several races, 12 more racers qualified for the Tournament, including Barnaby Becker, Isaiah Washington, Horatio Wong and Ariel Piper.
Following Race 22, Race Director Stanislaus Calder announced that that year's Sponsors' Tournament would follow a format of one-on-one knockout pursuit races. Furthermore, owing to weather conditions forcing the cancellations of Races 23 and 24, Race 25 would be the final opportunity for students to qualify. As such, during Race 25, those had had already earned to right to participate in the Sponsors' Tournament raced just as hard as those who hadn't in an effort to prevent anyone else from winning and creating another adversary for the tournament. Ultimately, though, Jason Chaser narrowly beat out Xavier and won the race, earning him entry into the Tournament.
Many sponsors, celebrities and spectators arrived in Hobart the day preceding the Tournament, with the sponsors intending to attend the Sponsors' gala that evening along with the qualified racers. By the afternoon, the match draw had been established and sent out, showing which racers were facing each other in the first round; since there were only 14 racers, the top two racers in the School tournament - Xavier and Barnaby - were given byes for Round 1, allowing them to move straight on to Round 2.
The order of the Round 1 matches was decided by a random draw not long before the races were due to begin, with Principal Jean-Pierre LeClerq drawing the Chaser x Piper match first. Jason and Ariel soon began their race, with both fighting hard to stay in the race over 100 laps, with Jason narrowly earning the win. None of the remaining five matches ran for as long as the first, with Wong, Joaquin Cortez, Varishna Krishna, Washington, and Schumacher defeating their opponents before even the 50th lap.
The quarter final matches began soon after, starting with the Xonora x Wong match, which the former won quickly when Wong foolishly pitted while he was in second place. Next, Krishna defeated Cortez following 6 chase phases, and Barnaby won against Schumacher when the latter's pit machine crashed during his pit stop and prevented him from continuing the race before being lapped. During the last match of the quarter finals, a couple of mishaps in the pit bay caused Jason's Argonaut to experience mechanical issues that barely kept him on Washington's tail. Jason struggled to keep up for the remaining laps while running low on coolant, but Washington, unaware of his opponent's problems, gave up his chase and pitted, affording Jason the chance to win and move on to the next round.
The semi finals began early in the afternoon, starting with Xavier and Krishna's match. After 10 laps, Krishna experienced problems with his magneto drives, quickly causing him to be lapped by Xavier and eliminated. After his match, Krishna found a portable microwave transmitter in his pit bay near his stock of magneto drives, and, suspecting sabotage, warned Jason to be wary since Xavier's stablemate Barnaby was his opponent in the next match against. Indeed, during the match, Jason experienced trouble with his magneto drives, and was forced to pit early, allowing Barnaby to lap him and win. Fortunately, thanks to Krishna's warning, Jason's mech chief Sally McDuff turned on the bay's camera, which caught Barnaby's mech chief Guido Moralez placing a microwave transmitter near their drives. This footage was presented to the Tournament officials, who disqualified Barnaby for cheating, allowing Jason to move on to the final.
In the final match against Xavier, and in spite of his exhaustion from racing more that day than Xavier had, Jason managed to keep up the longest against the black prince than anyone else had for 100 laps, though he narrowly lost in the end. At the of the Sponsors' Tournament, after Xavier was presented with the winner's trophy, Jason was surprised-yet-heartened as the crowd cheered for him with more enthusiasm than they did Xavier, as they had recognised that the younger racer had worked far harder that day than the prince had.
Tournament Details[]
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Matches[]
Round 1[]
- Xavier Xonora (Bye)
- L. Lucas vs Horatio Wong
- Joaquin Cortez vs A. Pharos
- R. Morialta vs Varishna Krishna
- Isaiah Washington vs T. Takeshi
- Jason Chaser vs Ariel Piper
- W. Dixon vs K. Schumacher
- Barnaby Becker (Bye)
Quarter Finals[]
- Xavier Xonora vs Horatio Wong
- Joaquin Cortez vs Varishna Krishna
- Isaiah Washington vs Jason Chaser
- Barnaby Becker vs K. Schumacher
Semi Finals[]
Final[]
Trivia[]
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