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Federal European Industrial Science and Research (commonly known as FEISAR) are an Anti-Gravity racing team representing the European Federation. They are one of only two teams to have featured in every game in the series, the other being Auricom.

History

Prior to its establishment in 2036, the Federal European Industrial Science and Research had a predecessor in the form of the Foundation for European Anti-Gravity Research (founded in 2017), member of the World Anti-Gravity Congress. In November 2024, the World Technology Symposium rescinded its support of the Congress. As a result, the European Federation ceased its funding of the Foundation, which was later reinstated as an independent research institute once the Congress eventually disbanded.

In April 2035, the director of the Foundation, Pierre Belmondo, succeeded in proving the world that anti-gravity travel was possible as he piloted the world's first anti-gravity prototype craft in the Nevada desert. This eventually led to the European Federation endorsing the anti-gravity technology once again, but not before the Federal European Industrial Science and Research was established the next year.

At this time, not much was known about FEISAR, probably because of the strict bureaucracy developing within the organization that often led to conflicts of interest. In 2042, the Foundation for European Anti-Gravity Research shut down, and its commercial arm, Anti-Gravity Systems, relocated to Japan. As a result, Europe was left without an anti-gravity research agency.

To fill this gap, the European Federation designated FEISAR as Europe's primary anti-gravity research agency. Using funds from the European Federation, FEISAR was able to employ several former AG Systems staff members to form a new AG racing team and develop a race craft. From the F3600 League and on, the team would focus on improving their craft's maneuverability and acceleration at the expense of top speed, hoping to catch up with the other teams on technical circuits.

Their progress in AG racing was hindered, however, by the inability of FEISAR board members to decide on a single operations base, leaving FEISAR bound by contract to move between all its 12 individual HQs within a single year. Time and time again, the team would always be left in the trails of the much more successful AG Systems and Qirex, and could not even keep up with the newcomers of the F7200 League, namely Goteki 45 and Assegai. And this made the FEISAR team arguably the least successful team in the early times of AG racing, as they almost always finished last in every season, often with no podium finishes whatsoever, and therefore no medals.

Despite all of this, FEISAR have earned an abundance of respect from racing communities for bringing through some of the most proficient pilots in AG racing thanks to their craft's ease of use. Besides, the FEISAR team appear to be immensely popular with the fans of the sport, allowing the team to keep competing in the sport, despite their usually poor performance there.

In 2160, FEISAR were able to construct a craft capable of keeping up with the majority of the competition while retaining the ease of control, and also signed Daniel Johnson as lead pilot for a record sum. As a result, they were able to win several races throughout the F9000 League, eventually allowing them to compete against Piranha and Xios for the number of race wins. The F9000 League thus became the single most successful period of the team's history. And this was indeed the only time the FEISAR team had ever been successful.

However, this success was short-lived – the F9000 International Federation of Anti-Gravity Racing (under jurisdiction of Overtel Corporation since the early 2130s) fell apart when its widespread corruption was exposed during the 2170 season. FEISAR quickly left the racing scene under the protection of its member states, and began working on other anti-gravity applications in the hopes that they would be able to race again.

In late 2194, FEISAR overheard the announcement of the FX300 League and proceeded to begin the development of their new craft as a preparation for their return to professional AG racing, which would see the League commence in 2197. This new craft showed such impressive maneuverability as usual, particularly with the large number of technical tracks in the League. Despite this, FEISAR were unable to repeat their strong success in the F9000 era. Their craft's low top speed would once again prevent the team from ever making it onto the podium throughout the League.

To add insult to injury, the FEISAR team would also encounter a new competition emerging from one of its own member states, which turned out to be the newly re-established Icaras team, now based in Great Britain. Even though it is still unknown whether or not Great Britain really had broken away as suspected, FEISAR decided to compete in the FX400 League from the front of the grid in an attempt to respond to this newfound rivalry, or rather, keep themselves ahead of this new bane of their existence.

To rush preparations for their FX400 campaign, FEISAR started creating a new craft in their development centre at Bologna. Although the campaign would have an Italian lead pilot, the components for the FX400 chassis had come from all member states of the European Federation. This would see the team fight for a front spot once again.

FX300 Background

Having left the racing scene after the collapse of the F9000, the FEISAR organisation enjoyed the financial shelter of its member states during the great depression that followed. Continuing its work in anti-gravity research, the racing team would be reformed after the announcement of the FX300 League in 2194.

Development of their FX300 League chassis began that year, with final testing taking place during late 2196. The result is an agile chassis with powerful thrust, ideal for the more technically challenging circuits of the League.

FX400 Background

Spurred on by independent competition from one of its member states (in the form of Britain, with Icaras), the Federal European Industrial Science And Research development team have produced what should be a legitimate championship contender in their FX350/FX400 race craft.

Their weakness, as has seemingly always been the case, is a lack of outright top speed, but that won't matter too much on the more technical tracks, where the excellent handling will allow the team to shine. Time will tell if FEISAR are the real deal – it could be said that the competition have made greater strides.

FX400 Message

Statement issued by FEISAR Delegate Pippo Ancelotti, Bologna, Italy

Fellow European citizens, here at FEISAR Operational Headquarters for 2207, it gives me great pleasure to reveal the fruits of our labour.

The new FEISAR ship that we have crafted at Bologna will, I am sure, prove to be the best handling race chassis in the FX350 and FX400 series events.

This project has been driven by Italian passion, yet the components for the new FX350/400 chassis have come from throughout the European member states. Indeed, the FEISAR racing project of 2207 is a clear endorsement of the E-Unity we all stand for.

The hard work has only just begun, however – now we must race with continued passion and commitment to win a championship for Europe.

Appearance, Evolution & Stats

FEISAR ships have consistently had exceptional turning capabilities, along with solid thrust and good durability. This allows for ease of use and makes them a perfect choice for beginners; even some of the veteran players still prefer this team. This is going to help a lot at even the most technical circuits and the tightest turns. However, the low top speed, which is the most notable weakness of their ships, makes them the slowest overall in most of the games the team appeared in.

Their ship in Wipeout Fusion is a minor exception, as it has slightly higher speed stats than usual. Nonetheless, this is still very easy to control and very robust. Unfortunately, such unusually high top speed comes at the expense of thrust and weapon power.

In Wipeout Pure, the ship stats have been brought back to its roots, trading speed for better acceleration, while retaining the high-end handling and strong shielding. This, along with the ship design, is retained in Pulse and HD, although its thrust is now a little less powerful. In these three games, FEISAR is one of the better ships for use because of its excellent handling and above average rating for the other stats. However, as usual, its speed is sub-par.

The FEISAR Fury ship has a significant improvement in speed, making it considerably faster and much more reliable. Besides, a small kick on thrust gives the pilots a little hope to be able to take the edge on the competition on open circuits.

Gallery

Trivia

  • The team's year of establishment was listed in Wipeout 3 as 2017, but this was later retconned, and their year of establishment is now listed as 2036.
    • In the intro cinematic for Wipeout 2048, there is a scene with cars closely resembling modern Formula One race cars with color schemes resembling various teams. Briefly, a FEISAR logo appears above the car in focus for a moment, implying the team's existence before the canonical date of 2036. However, this is the only piece of media in the game that suggests this.
  • FEISAR are the only team in the series to have appeared in the starting line-up of every game to date. This should be noted with the fact that Auricom appeared in Wipeout Pulse as a downloadable content.
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