Anakin Skywalker's Podracer

High-speed podracing harkens back to primitive eras with its traditional
podracer designs and the mortal dangre seen in racing spectacles. Pulled
on flexible control cables by fearsomely powerful independent engines, a
small open cockpit (the "pod) carries a daring pilot at speeds that can
exceed 800 kilometers per hour. Considered in its lightning-fast modern
form too much for humans to manage, podracing is almost exclusively carried
on by other species that sport more limbs, more durable bodies, a wider
range of sensory organs or other biological advantages.

Podracing has its origins in ancient contests of animal-drawn carts, of
the kind still seen in extremely primitive systems far from the space
lames. Long ago a daring mechanic called Phoebos recreated this concept
with repulsorlift pods and flaming jet engines for a whole new level of
competition and risk. The famous first experimental race ensured podracing's
reputation as an incredibly dangerous and popular sport.

Long ago banned from most civilized systems, podracing is still famous on
Malastare and in a few other locales. Real podracing aficionados, however,
look beyond the Republic to the rugged worlds of the Outer Rim, where
podraces still serve as a spectacle for hundreds of thousands and vast
gambling fortunes are made and lost. This naturally makes the Hutts an
accessory to most racing venues.

Anakin made his engines from salvaged Radon-Ulzer racing engines that
Watto regarded as too burnded-out to be worth keeping track of. Anakin
did a great deal of rewiring and re-routed the fuel distribution, adding
a whole new subsystem that injects much more fuel throughout the
combustion sequence to develop radically greater thrust.

One of Anakin's cleverest engine modifications is the set of triple air
scoops ranged around each primary turbine intake. These "air brakes"
provide additional control in cornering. Anakin had to wait a long time
before he found metal plates and a hydraulic system that would be strong
enough to make this idea work. The hydraulic struts are of Tyrian
manufacture and came from a military surplus lot that Watto bought from
Dreddon the Hutt, a crimelord known to make many arms deals in the star
systems of the Outer Rim.

- Taken from Star Wars Episode 1 Incredible Cross-Sections, pages 14-17)

Model: Heavily Modified Radon-Ulzer 620C Racing Engines
Type: Podracer
Scale: Speeder
Skill: Repulsorlift operation: Podracers
Length: 7 meters (engines) plus pod
Crew: 1
Crew Skill: See Anakin Skywalker as of The Phantom Menace
Cargo Capacity: 5 kilograms
Cover: 3/4
Altitude Range: Ground - 105 meters
Maneuverability: 3D+2
Move: 330; 950 kmh (estimated maximum velocity)
Body: 2D