It's no surprise since the dawn of AG Racing in 2052, that they had been rivals in the long history of the sport itself. The most famous rivalry was that of Qirex vs. Auricom in the early days of the F3600 League. However, there's another team rivalry that, is now forgotten and was only talked about in the F7200 League - The 2130-2138 Assegai-Goteki 45 rivalry. In the years 2130 and 2137 in the F7200 League, Assegai and Goteki 45, two teams that were the total opposite of each other, engaged in a back-and-fourth brutal rivalry, that many AG fans believed that it would be the next Qirex-Auricom rivalry of the F3600-F5000 days. But before that happens, let's first dive deeper to know the teams, that started it.
Assegai Developments was founded in 2113 after the United African Nations took an interest in AG Racing. The team was originally going to sign up for the 2114 F5000 closing season but was unable to do so because of pushback from the F5000 Race Commission. This, however, didn't hinder Assegai, as the team decided to sign up for the newly announced F7200 League in 2116. The team began to be a fan-favorite amongst the AG fans after they won the 2118 season on Mega Mall with the team's lead pilot Adeola Khumalo. Another notable reason why Assegai was so beloved by fans is that the team's craft had excellent handling that would rival that of FEISAR and that it had mediocre thrust. But with excellent handling comes a big weakness: Assegai's shields were paper-thin, and some speculated that the team was just Icaras in disguise, due to how terrible both team's shield were. This didn't stop Assegai, as the team's president Amara Beshir said to Gravity Magazine:
"Who said we're [Assegai] a glass-cannon like Icaras? Yes, us and Icaras has sacrificed something to make our different craft. For Icaras, it's top-speed for thrust and handling. For us, it's handling for shield. Whoever said that will have trouble firing even a long-ranged Plasma Bolt at Khumalo in last years season. Here at Assegai we don't stop at nothing, we only stop when the race is over"
Goteki 45 was founded in 2095 on the island Makana, which is located in the Pacific Islands. The team signed up for the F7200 in 2119 and officially entered one year later. When the team entered the League, they quickly became infamous for their aggression to racing, and their infamous genocidal method to eliminate anyone who stand in the team's way by blowing up their opponement's craft. This resulted in Goteki being the most hated team in the League, and that it didn't help that all the other teams were uneasy with them, most notable AG-Systems and Icaras. As for Goteki's lead pilot, Kaimana Paoa he were known to be self-ish and rude to everyone that disagreed with him. Many AG fans believed that Goteki's aggressive racing where to destroy the worldwide popularity of the sport, but Paoa simply denied the alligations in an interview to AG Today:
"Here at our headquarter in Makana, I heard a rumor that my team were only founded to destroy the F7200 League, which is not true. Whoever idiot started that alligation will be next on my target list at Manor Top. Here at Goteki we're violent because we can be. And if you disagree, then I'll happily scream "Contender Eliminanted" at you!"
The Assegai-Goteki 45 rivalry began in the year 2130 on P-Mar Project. Khumalo were already fed up with Goteki's violent nature in the League, and that he wanted to win that race, as he was really good at the circuit due him racing on the circuit pre-2130 season. The race started as Sophia Velasquez from Piranha took the Pole Position, but it was short-lived as Paoa fired back with a Missile that destroy the Piranha craft's left wing. Meanwhile, in the middle of the pack there was a struggle between Auricom's Noah O’Donnell and AG-Systems' Daichi Kuroda. Icaras' Mika Hartikainen is not in the race, as her craft's thrusters did not start. This resulted in her being left on the starting grid, and that FEISAR's Sophie Leclerc had already overtaken her. As Paoa where at lap 2, Khumalo were already on his trail, as the young man could easily catch up to Paoa, due to the Assegai craft having an excellent turning along with agility. However, Paoa knew Khumalo's plan and jumped out of his craft via the cockpit, as the craft self-destructed right infront of Kuhmalo. Thankfully, Kuhmalo survived the destruction.
After the incident, Kuhmalo and the rest of the Assegai team had enough of Goteki's actions, and wanted revenge. In the meantime, many famous Anti-Gravity newspapers caught on-board of what happened at P-Mar Project later that day, and many of the newspaper title were:
"Destruction at P-Mar Project: Kaimana Paoa Strikes Again!" - Hoover Boover
"Goteki 45's Self-Destruct: Planned or Revenge?" - Gravity Magazine
"Assegai vs. Goteki 45: The New Qirex-Auricom Rivalry?" - AG Today
From 2131, Assegai and Goteki were officially rivals, as Khumalo and Paoa accused each other of lying about what happed at P-Mar Project. Their rivalry was so heated, that Goteki fans started fist-fights against Assegai fans at the start of every other circuits in Mega City, and that many Assegai fans appeared with t-shirt which said "Go Home Goteki!" in response to Goteki's behavior. Meanwhile, the other teams began to distance themselves from both Assegai and Goteki in favor of winning some gold medals for their country. However, the Assegai-Goteki 45 rivalry came to an end in 2137 as Goteki's headquarter on Makana were bombed, and as a result the team withdrawed from the 2138 season. In 2140, Goteki blamed Assegai on the bombing.