The Popularity of Privateer Ships in the FX300

Here is a backstory regarding the popularity of privateer teams (actually bonus and promotional teams) from the FX300 era.

This story is derived from a Youtube video showcasing the "Special Edition" mod of WipEout Pure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Vek...ature=emb_logo

Rise of Privateer Ships

The FX300 (Formula Extreme 300) League was not only known as the renaissance of anti-gravity motorsport, but also one of the most extravagant and glamorous Leagues in its long, storied history, as the sovereign Makana Island, an artificial archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, was known for its highly technical circuits, giving a mix of entertainment and competition value not seen since the F3600, F5000 and F7200 leagues.

As soon as the FX300 League began, Natasha Belmondo was open to the idea of individual pilots and privateer teams competing in the FX300 Leagues, so that anyone could have a shot at the competition. During one press conference in 2198, which marked 150 years since the AGRC, shortly after Natasha Belmondo announced that privateers could enter the League, she was quoted as saying: Anyone can race, but at the end of the day, only one can win. And this is coming from a championship-winning pilot herself.

This level of prestige saw the attraction of many individual pilots and teams also wanting in on the action, notably German sportswear company Puma, under contract by Emirati-based manufacturer Al-Vaskei (their craft was also used for the mysterious WIRE05 team as well) and former Qirex fabrication specialists Quantax Dynamics to field two craft.

Other teams that created privateer craft were the SOCOM team from the United States, having designed two identical craft codenamed "Guardian" and "Patriot". Given the team's roots in military application, similar to that of Xios and Triakis, the former was designed around durability and the other for agility and stealth (no pun intended, as a craft called "Stealth", run by professional air force pilot Ben Gannon entered in 2200).

The first privateer ship that entered the FX300 was in 2199 when undead pilot Sir Daniel Fortesque from the Underworld entered a craft that was both so powerful and agile, but had a major flaw regarding its shielding. Unafraid of the possible risks, he was able to secure at least a reasonable sixth place in the championship standings, which proved that craft from unusual realms were definitely capable of racing with moderate success. The following year, mysterious privateers known as "Cardracer", "Klor", "Turboweevel" and "Haironaut" emerged in preparation for the "Omega League" circuits being added to the calendar for 2200 and beyond.

However, rumor had it that a mysterious silver ship owned by the Belmondo Foundation was seen entering races from out of nowhere and attempting to keep up with the others. This ship was not registered in any race standings, but only very few have been able to tell the tale about its sightings.

But the most famous of them all would have to be Coca-Cola, with their experimental "Coke Style" craft that was notable for its Coke bottle-styling and its ingenious lack of airbrakes, although special steering and thrust vectoring technologies gave it similar functionality.

It was also that in 2201, Japanese pilot Hajime Hisanaga, a former rookie pilot for AG Systems, became World Champion flying the Coke Style (being the only privateer team and pilot to do so), taking a high win percentage of seven out of eight races.

As for the rest of the grid, the pilots all came from privateer teams, with the exception of major pilots such as Jonathan Lidgren from Goteki 45 and Ryllana Perez from AG Systems, who were fortunately lucky enough to qualify for that season's "Ascension" tournament which consisted of eight races, but unfortunately, fell to the lower spots of the grid when the season ended, as they finished sixth and seventh, respectively, which showed that the privateers had the might to even the playing field.

Below were the final results of the 2201 FX300 season:
1. H. HISANAGA (JPN) - 61pts. | Coke Style
2. D. FORTESQUE (Underworld) - 43pts. | MediEvil
3. DAXTER (???) - 32pts. | Daxtinator
4. SPECTER (USA) - 25pts. | SOCOM - Guardian
5. B. GANNON (USA) - 23pts. | Stealth
6. J. LIDGREN (SWE) - 18pts. | Goteki 45
7. R. PEREZ (PHL) - 17pts. | AG Systems
8. M. TSEYZYREV (RUS) - 13pts. | Puma 2 - Quantax

However, thanks to their competition with these privateers and the major sponsors they acquired, this increased Goteki 45's popularity as the host team of the League, and eventually, Perez, highly loyal to AG Systems, would win her maiden championship in 2206 following the disqualification of Triakis.

And because of this, ever since 2202, major privateers such as Puma, Coca-Cola and WIRE05 made huge contributions to the FX300, that they were bound by contract and licensing to advertise their brands in the newly-developed Delta League circuits that were introduced in the FX300 calendar. Rumor had it that science fiction TV channel Syfy were originally going to build a privateer craft, but plans were shelved in favor of them performing major advertising instead.

Then in 2203, it was revealed that two mysterious individuals, codenamed "Jak" (Havenzoomer) and "Daxter" (Daxtinator) entered the League, but not with much success. Eventually, the strength of the privateers dwindled towards the FX300's final years, and rumor had it that the costs to allow privateers to the League in future seasons were actually higher than funding factory ships and developing new tracks. From that year onward, it was said that there were up to 26 team entries, and 28 FX300 Grands Prix in a single season, including those in the newly-introduced Omega region in Makana, known for hosting surreal racetracks.

Rumor had it that one such track featured the likeness of a controversial K-pop girl group from two centuries ago.

Eventually, Makana was becoming congested with no more room for new circuits, and thus, plans to create race tracks in various countries all over the world were already in place. Thus, these privateers were no longer seen later on in the FX350 and 400 Leagues, as they were all fielded by purely factory-only entries. This was met with major backlash, but in 2207, this backlash died down, as the reintroduction of global racing was equally as impactful as the entertainment and competition value that the FX300 could ever provide, and race fans have been more than thankful for the rebirth of anti-gravity motorsports ever since.