Federal European Industrial Science and Research, better known as FEISAR (pronounced: Fai-sar), are an Anti-Gravity racing team representing the European Federation. They are best known for their craft having excellent turning capabilities. They are also one of the only two teams to have featured in every game in the series so far, 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), one-time 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 In November 2024, the World Technology Symposium rescinded its support of the Congress.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 many conflicts of interest, not to mention the chronic disunity among its own board members. But in 2042, the Foundation for European Anti-Gravity Research shut down, while its commercial arm, Anti-Gravity Systems, relocated to Japan. Europe was then left without an anti-gravity research agency.
To fill this gap, the European Federation hastily designated FEISAR as Europe's primary anti-gravity research agency. Using funds from the European Federation, FEISAR were able to employ several former AG Systems staff members to form a new AG racing team and develop a race craft, but still could not convince Pierre Belmondo to join them. From the F3600 League on, the team would focus on improving their craft's manoeuvrability and acceleration at the expense of top speed, hoping to catch up with the other teams on the more technical circuits.
Unfortunately, the FEISAR team's progress in AG racing was hindered by the inability of the FEISAR organization's board members to decide on a single, permanent base of operations, 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 overshadowed by all other teams, not to mention Piranha, who unexpectedly joined the F5000 League. All of this misfortune led FEISAR to specifically target Qirex and AG Systems as a personal matter of principle.
Then came the F7200 League, and it all kept going downhill for FEISAR as they were still struggling to keep up with the competition, even newcomers Goteki 45 and Assegai had consistently fared much better than FEISAR ever did. And this made the FEISAR team arguably the least successful team in the early times of AG racing. Granted, the team had almost always finished last in every season, often with not a single podium finish within a single season, and in turn no medals whatsoever in most seasons.
Despite all that dubious honour, FEISAR had 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, as seen clearly when these pilots later moved to other teams. The team also showed such determination to keep competing in the sport, not wanting to let their bureaucratic problems and their sorely poor performances stand in the way. But most importantly, the FEISAR team would certainly have quit AG racing altogether if not for the cult following they had enjoyed.
All of this came to fruition as FEISAR managed to improve their performances during the closing years of the F7200 League. The new resources and assets they seized from a little-known team that went defunct in the early 2140's, coupled with the downfall of Qirex and AG Systems and, subsequently, their sudden disappearances, allowed the FEISAR team to rise up the ranks, potentially becoming among the top contenders of the League. And yet, that first race win still eluded them. Not that it was impossible, as the F9000 League was approaching, the team had not reached their all-time high yet.
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, FEISAR were able to win several races throughout the F9000 League, enabling them to compete against Piranha and Xios for the number of race wins. The F9000 League had thus become the single most successful period of the team's history. And this was indeed the only time the FEISAR team had ever truly been successful, especially after over a century of failure and humiliation dating back to the F3600 League.
However, this success was not without controversy – FEISAR found themselves under fire in the wake of the 2164 Temtesh Bay Disaster, which was allegedly caused by the explosion on the mine section resulting from the impact of the "Super Missiles" during the very first lap of the race. Said missiles were indeed developed by FEISAR, with the missiles themselves having a far greater explosive power than a normal missile. The explosion was such that the mine collapsed, killing six pilots and entombing many more for several days. Later on, three pilots withdrew from the F9000 League, while FEISAR were indicted with deception, manslaughter, and conspiracy for failing to disclose any information about their "Super Missiles" in a subsequent lawsuit against them.
Nonetheless, FEISAR went on to win the 2164 AG Racing League championship title, the biggest highlight of their success in the F9000 era in spite of all controversy. As for that year's pilots' championship, the team also won it thanks to Daniel Johnson, who had been in the lead in the standings for the whole season. But Johnson himself was not present to receive the award as he had already retired from AG racing following the Temtesh Bay disaster, citing the debilitating injuries he had sustained from the incident. Ever since then, the FEISAR team would not win another AG racing championship title of any kind ever again, though their dominance at the F9000 League continued anyway.
Eventually, the F9000 League came to an abrupt end – the F9000 International Federation of Anti-Gravity Racing, under the 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, all the while conducting top secret development projects 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 an impressive manoeuvrability as usual, which would greatly benefit by the large number of technical tracks in the League. Things were looking good for the FEISAR team, especially with the high expectations for the team in the upcoming league.
Unfortunately, things didn't really turn out the way the FEISAR team had hoped as they would subsequently revert to their pre-F9000 selves, once again finding themselves in the shadows of all other teams, especially their very sworn enemies that are AG Systems and Qirex. Worse yet, their craft's low top speed had consistently prevented FEISAR from ever making it onto the podium throughout the League, leaving them with a last-place finish in each and every single FX300 season. Needless to say, it was a far cry from their strong success in the F9000 era.
To add insult to injury, the FEISAR team would also face 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, get 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. With all of this, the team were hoping to make up for their disastrous FX300 outing and get their very first podium finish, preferably an actual race win, in decades. Last but not least, they had vowed to not let AG Systems, or Qirex, or even Icaras, stand in the way 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 and 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 has appeared in.
Their ship in Wipeout Fusion is a minor exception, as it has a significantly higher speed stat than usual. Nonetheless, this is still very easy to control and very robust. Unfortunately, such an unusually high top speed comes at the expense of thrust force and weapons power.
In Wipeout Pure, the ship stats have been reverted to their usual form, trading speed for better acceleration, while retaining the high-end manoeuvrability 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, the 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, with their year of establishment now listed as 2036.
- The intro cinematic for Wipeout 2048 depicts a variety of race cars in history with color schemes similar to FEISAR. Variations of the FEISAR logo can even be briefly observed on some of the cars in focus, despite the fact that FEISAR would not exist until 2036.
- 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.
- Lore-wise, the fact that FEISAR have been present in every single season of Anti-Gravity Racing since 2048 alludes to Formula One team Scuderia Ferrari, notable for being the only team to have appeared in every Formula One season since its inception in 1950.
- Despite representing an equivalent of the European Union and lacking a central base of operations, if the overall lore of the team is any indication, it is heavily theorized that FEISAR is predominantly Italian.
- The basic design for FEISAR's ships, and indeed that of most single-hull-type ships in the original games, derives from an earlier Psygnosis game titled Matrix Marauders, released on the Commodore Amiga in 1990.
- Additionally, the same ship design found in both series bear a strong resemblance to the near-lightspeed spacecraft Exelion from the Gunbuster series.
- FEISAR is referenced in the PlayStation 5 game Astro Bot with one of its many VIP Bots, "Future Racer", with the tagline in particular referring to the team's Super Weapon in Wipeout Fusion and, to some extent, the team's role in the 2164 Temtesh Bay Disaster.
Anti-Gravity Racing Teams in Wipeout |
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AG Systems • Assegai • Auricom • EG-X • FEISAR • Goteki 45 • Harimau • Icaras • Mirage • Piranha • Qirex • Triakis • Van-Über |
Defunct/Former Teams: EG-R • G-Tech • Tigron • Xios |