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- "The Boonta is far more dangerous than any amateur race I've flown!"
- ―Ben Quadinaros
The Boonta Eve Classic was the largest annual podrace in the galaxy. Held on the planet of Tatooine, it was hosted by the Hutts to commemorate the Boonta's Eve holiday. Located just outside Mos Espa, the Boonta race course started in the Mos Espa Grand Arena. There, thousands of spectators would congregate, hoping to see their favored racer win, to catch a glimpse of a spectacular collision, or to win a fortune gambling on the race's outcome.
The Ceremony
The formal race ceremony started with a parade of flag-bearers; each carried a racer's distinctive emblem, and lined up before the starting grid. Once the bearers cleared the grid, the Podracers' massive engines would roar to life, seemingly anxious at the chance to soar at speeds exceeding 700 kilometers-per-hour.
The Mos Espa circuit
The Mos Espa course mostly turned around Ben's Mesa. It blazed out of the arena onto the Starlite Flats, an easy stretch of desert where aggressive Podracers jockeyed for strong starting positions. The racers had to line up in single file to enter the curving canyon that cuts through the Waldo Flats. This opened up into Mushroom Mesa, a rocky expanse dominated by immense bulbous rock formations. Metta Drop, a sudden escarpment, dropped the racers onto Ebe Crater Valley, where they again had to navigate a narrow opening (the Notch) to enter Beggar's Canyon.[1]
The race then continued onto a length of desert plains abutting the Dune Sea. One of the most hazardous areas—Arch Canyon—forced pilots to maneuver through stone wickets before entering another series of canyons, including The Whip, Jag Crag Gorge, and the subterranean Laguna Cave. Emerging from the caves, the pilots careened through the tight Canyon Dune Turn, known to be a campsite for vengeful Sand People.[1]
Podracers that survived potshots from the Sand People then had to dodge the rocky obstacles in Bindy Bend before entering the last stretch of canyon, which included the Coil, Jett's Chute, and the Corkscrew.[1]
Exiting the Corkscrew via the Devil's Doorknob, the pilots emerged onto the Hutt Flats, a broad featureless expanse that led back to the arena. This entire circuit represented one lap, and the Boonta Eve Classic required three laps for completion,[1] with an average time of 5 minutes, 20 seconds for each lap.
Commentaries were made by Fodesinbeed, a popular commentator in the sport.
History
Renaissance under Gardulla
The Boonta Eve Classic circuit was an ancient course that had fallen on hard times by 67 BBY. With the financial support of Hego Damask, however, Gardulla the Hutt restored the course as part of an effort to seize control of Tatooine, creating a new Podracing circuit that would rival those of Muunilinst and Malastare.[2]
The race of 32 BBY
- "It's Skywalker!"
- ―Fodesinbeed as Anakin crosses the finishing line.
During the events precipitating the Battle of Naboo, young Anakin Skywalker participated in a fateful Boonta Eve Classic race. Sponsored by Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, Anakin entered his custom-built podracer into the cutthroat competition. Even though the odds favored the scheming Sebulba as a victor, the Force was with Anakin, and he came in first. It was a stunning upset to the longstanding Dug champion. He became the first human to win the race. Anakin won more than the race; the young slave also won his freedom.
Race results of 32 BBY
- 1st place: Anakin Skywalker
( 15.42:655 ; 858 km/h) - 2nd place: Gasgano[3]
(15.48:557 ; 850 km/h) - 3rd place: Aldar Beedo[4]
(15.52:108 ; 845 km/h) [4] - 4th place: Ebe Endocott[5]
(16.04:994 ; 827 km/h) - 5th place: Elan Mak[6]
(16.10:737 ; 819 km/h) - 6th place: Boles Roor[7]
(16.42:473 ; 781 km/h)
Casualties
Boonta Eve Classic (1 BBY)
Despite the Empire's ban on Podracing, the Boonta Eve Classic continued to be an ongoing tradition on Tatooine. During one race taking place during 1 BBY, a Star Tours-owned StarSpeeder 1000, the Star Tours Flight 1401, accidentally participated in the race shortly after escaping from the Star Tours space station due to an Imperial raid. Several podracers ended up destroyed in the hectic events before it left. The Boonta Eve Classic was popular enough that the Star Tours agency had a lot of passengers leaving for Tatooine for that very reason.
Legacy
Many years later, Han Solo and Leia Organa Solo visited the site of the race while on a mission on Tatooine and even purchased a holocube of Anakin Skywalker from his friend, Kitster Banai, photographed shortly after his victory. The Boonta Eve Classic was also featured in one of Shmi Skywalker Lars's diary entries that Leia found on the old Skywalker homestead.
Behind the scenes
In the audio commentary on the Episode I DVD, visual effects supervisor John Knoll points out that in a shot of the scene of Sebulba riding just behind Anakin, with Anakin's head nearly in the connecting current between the pod engines, it is possible to see that Sebulba is not present in his pod.
Appearances
- Darth Plagueis (Mentioned only)
- Episode I Adventures 6: The Hunt for Anakin Skywalker (Mentioned only)
- Star Wars: Episode I Racer
- Racer Rush
- Podracing Tales
- Episode I: Anakin Skywalker (Picture only)
- Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace novel (First appearance)
- Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace
- Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace comic
- Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace junior novel
- Episode I: Qui-Gon Jinn
- Dear Anakin
- Episode I: The Phantom Menace ½ (In flashback(s))
- Star Wars: Bounty Hunter (Mentioned only)
- Star Wars 12: Outlander, Part 6 (Mentioned only)
- Star Wars 14: Emissaries to Malastare, Part 2 (Mentioned only)
- Star Wars 15: Emissaries to Malastare, Part 3 (Mentioned only)
- Rogue Planet (Mentioned only)
- Jedi Quest: The Dangerous Games (Mentioned only)
- Star Wars: Racer Revenge
- Podracing Faces Uncertain Future — HoloNet News Vol. 531 #49 (content now obsolete; backup link) (Mentioned only)
- The Clone Wars: Crash Course (Mentioned only)
- Labyrinth of Evil (Mentioned only)
- Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith novel (Mentioned only)
- Star Tours: The Adventures Continue
- Rebel Force: Target (Indirect mention only)
- Rebel Force: Renegade (Mentioned only)
- Template:SWG (Mentioned only)
- The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader
- Tatooine Ghost (Mentioned only)
- Legacy of the Force: Tempest (Mentioned only)
- Legacy of the Force: Exile (Indirect mention only)
Non-canon appearances
- LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
- LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
- LEGO Star Wars: Anakin: Space Pilot
- LEGO Star Wars: Microfighters — "Episode 1: Bantha Shakes"
Sources
- "In the Star Wars Universe" — Star Wars Insider 47 (Indirect mention only)
- The Official Star Wars Fact File 2 (POD1–2, Anakin Skywalker's Podracer)
- The Official Star Wars Fact File 13 (JIN5–6, Qui-Gon Jinn)
- Star Wars: Attack of the Clones: The Illustrated Companion
- Old Swoop Tracks on the official Star Wars Galaxies website (content now obsolete; backup link (players/content.vm?page=Old%20Swoop%20Tracks&resource=features) not verified!)
- Star Wars: Complete Locations
- The New Essential Chronology
- "Snow Job" — Star Wars Gamer 2
- "Star Wars Q&A" — Star Wars Insider 67
- The New Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
- Thorn Drumheller in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link (character/thorndrumheller/index.html) not verified!) (Non-canonical appearance)
- Boonta Eve Classic Podracers in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link)
- "Rogues Gallery: An Audience of Aliens" — Star Wars Insider 131
- Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide: Updated and Expanded
- Movie Heroes (Pack: Podracer Pilots) (backup link (MH-Podracer_pilots.asp) not verified!) (Packaging)
- The Essential Reader's Companion
- Star Wars: Force Collection (Card: Ark Roose)
- Star Wars: Force Collection (Card: Ben Quadinaros)
- Star Wars: Force Collection (Card: Boles Roor)
- Star Wars: Force Collection (Card: Clegg Holdfast)
- Star Wars: Force Collection (Card: Dud Bolt)
- Star Wars: Force Collection (Card: Gasgano)
- Star Wars: Force Collection (Card: Mars Guo)
- Star Wars: Force Collection (Card: Mawhonic)
- Star Wars: Force Collection (Card: Neva Kee)
- Star Wars: Force Collection (Card: Ratts Tyerell)
- Star Wars: Force Collection (Card: Teemto Pagalies)
- Star Wars: Force Collection (Card: Sebulba (★★★★))
- "Not-So Magnificent Seven {{{3}}}" — {{{4}}} — [[{{{5}}}|{{{5}}}'s]] StarWars.com Blog (Not-So Magnificent Seven backup link (/2013/09/04/the-not-so-magnificent-seven//The Not-So Magnificent Seven) not verified!)
- So Uncivilized: Great Gunslingers in Star Wars, Part 1 on StarWars.com (article) (backup link)
- Slugthrowers: An Overview of Popular Music and Musicians in a Galaxy Far, Far Away, Part 1 on StarWars.com (article) (backup link)
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars Magazine 22
- This Is Podracing: Sports in the Star Wars Galaxy, Part 1 on StarWars.com (article) (backup link)
- Anakin Skywalker's Podracer in the Encyclopedia (content now obsolete; backup link)
- Boonta Eve Classic Podracer Pilots in the Encyclopedia (content now obsolete; backup link)
- Sebulba's Podracer in the Encyclopedia (content now obsolete; backup link)
- "Podracing 101!" — Star Wars Magazine 2
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Inside the Worlds of Star Wars: Episode I
- ↑ Darth Plagueis
- ↑ Gasgano in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Aldar Beedo in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link)
- ↑ Ebe Endocott in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link)
- ↑ Elan Mak in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link)
- ↑ Boles Roor in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link)