GPE-3130 Podracer

The GPE-3130 Podracer, also known as the 3130-series factory custom, was a model of podracer that was powered by a pair of ThrustMaster 9000 aerospike rocket engines that provided its primary thrust. It was also equipped with a pair of smaller ramjet engines on nacelle-mounted outriggers that augmented the larger engines and provided short bursts of boost. A multitude of attitude jets that were scatter over the vehicle's hull were also powered by the ramjet engines, although the jets did little more than make noise.

Designed for straight-line speed and little else, the GPE-3130 was a terror on high-speed racetracks that consisted of long straightaways and broad, gentle curves; however, its raw speed and the power control curve of the aerospike engines meant that it was incredibly hard to control, particularly when it came to sharp turns or tight spaces. Despite this, the vehicle had above average handling and average turbo, although it had very low resistance. The vehicles engines required large amounts of maintenance and used a volatile fuel that would detonate at even the slightest provocation.

Due to its flat-nosed, wedge-shaped primary engines and the much smaller ramjet engines, which were considered almost comical, the GPE-3130 was considered an awkward looking vehicle, although this was deceptive given its speed. The repulsorpod's cockpit—attached by cables to the two engines as standard for a podracer—was also uncomfortable, with an unintuitive control layout that made it hard for the lone pilot to view various essential information including the podracer's altitude or airspeed when flying. The GPE-3130 had no armaments or passenger capacity, with only a close sensor range. It had a maximum altitude of fifty meters.

Despite its high speed and an aggressive marketing campaign by Galactic Power Engineering, the manufacturer of the GPE-3130 Podracer and its engine, the vehicle was relatively unpopular. In 32 BBY, the Gran podracer Mawhonic flew a green GPE-3130 Podracer during the Boonta Eve Classic race on the desert planet Tatooine. Prior to the race, his vehicle was stored in the left wing of the of the Mos Espa Grand Arena, then moved to the pole-position in the front row of the arena's starting grid, where he stood by his vehicle as two Gran mechanics worked on it.

Once the race began, Mawhonic initially managed to tail just behind the podracer of the Dug Sebulba, who was in the lead, but in the Mushroom Mesa portion of the circuit, Sebulba rammed the Gran's GPE-3130 with his engines. Taking his focus off the circuit, Mahwonic shook his fist at his competitor, but this gave Sebulba the opening he needed to ram the Gran's vehicle twice more, ultimately driving one of the aerojet engines into a cliff face and causing it to explode. Mahwonic's repulsorpod remained attached to the destroyed engine as it spiralled away, but the other engine continued on alone briefly before dropping to the floor and breaking apart as it tumbled through the sand. Sebulba was later knocked out of the race himself by the human Anakin Skywalker, who went on to win.

During the Galactic Civil War it was one of the stranger podracers on the market, but at 11,500 credits, it was also one of the most affordable. Because of this and its relatively high speed when compared to the other available podracers, some smaller racing teams chose to field it, although the vehicle was hard to find for purchase.

The GPE-3130 Podracer was created for the prequel trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, which was released on May 19, 1999. Concept art of the vehicle's pod and engines was drawn by Jay Shuster on November 18, 1996, and a one-eighth scale maquette of the entire vehicle was also made. Mawhonic's vehicle was one of the only full-scale racers built for the starting grid sequence so that Mark Coulier, the actor playing the Gran, could sit in the reclining seat on top.

The podracers were all constructed from surplus military airplane parts in England over a period of five months and then shipped to Tunisia on July 17, 1997 to be filmed. However, before they could be filmed, a severe storm hit the area on July 30, damaging all of the shipped podracers to some degree ranging from having parts ripped off to almost complete destruction. The international crew who had been about to return to England remained in Tunisia and were able to repair the damage so that the starting grid scene could be shot in Chott el Gharsa between August 5-6, 1997.

In the current Star Wars canon, the GPE-3130 Podracer was first identified in the mobile card game Star Wars: Force Collection, which initially launched in 2013. Although the launch of Force Collection predates the Star Wars canon reset of 2014, Lucasfilm Story Group member Leland Chee confirmed that the game was kept updated to fit with canon. The name originated in the Star Wars Legends continuity, where the name GPE-3130 was first used in the video game Star Wars: Episode I Racer, which was released on the same day as The Phantom Menace.

Mawhonic's GPE-3130 Podracer is shown in the non-canon LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures episode "Race on Tatooine," which aired on July 18, 2016. In the episode, Mawhonic uses it to participate in the 29th Annual Bricklayers' Classic podrace on Tatooine, but during the second lap of the race, the bounty hunter Dengar leaps aboard the GPE-3130's repulsorpod from the stolen IPG-X1131 LongTail of racer Teemto Pagalies. Dengar then leaps from the vehicle onto another pod while trying to reach the vehicle of the Freemakers, a family also competing in the race, and during his pursuit he later jumps on and off Mawhonic's vehicle again. Ultimately the Freemakers win the race after besting Dengar.

Mawhonic and his vehicle also appears in a non-canon retelling of The Phantom Menace depicted in "Exit from Endor," the first episode of LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales, which aired on July 6, 2015. In the episode, Mawhonic and the GPE-3130 Podracer make it as far as the second lap of the Boonta Eve Classic, where Mawhonic rams his engines into the vehicle of Skywalker. Skywalker then swings his engines back into the GPE-3130, which sends Mawhonic and the podracer spiralling into the sky where the GPE-3130 explodes, showering parts down into the sand near a the sun-bathing Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi.

In the 2022 video game LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, Mawhonic once again pilots the GPE-3130 during the Boonta Eve Classic depicted in The Phantom Menace, but crashes before even reaching Mushroom Mesa. Players can later encounter Mawhonic in the city of Mos Espa, where he complains that Sebulba always manages to destroy his pod. In the quest "Pod Parts Procurement" he then asks the player to bring him super tough bone from the planet Utapau so he can construct a new, more resilient pod.

• LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures — "Race on Tatooine"
• LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales — "Exit from Endor"
• LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

• Star Wars: The Complete Saga
• Star Wars: Force Collection
• Star Wars Character Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded
• Star Wars Helmet Collection 17
• Star Wars: Complete Locations
• Endless Vigil
• Star Wars: The Visual Encyclopedia
• Star Wars Super Graphic: A Visual Guide to a Galaxy Far, Far Away
• Star Wars: Geektionary: The Galaxy from A - Z
• Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary, New Edition
• Star Wars: Complete Vehicles
• Star Wars Complete Vehicles, New Edition
• The Star Wars Archives: Episodes I–III, 1999–2005
• "Jedi Master's Quiz" — Star Wars Insider 206