Morkt Drakt, Feral First Members of Lai Dai Team as COLOSSUS Qualifiers Open

Tonight saw the opening of the first round of qualifiers for the COLOSSUS race. 18 brave contestants attempted to qualify for the Lai Dai Corporation, with pilots Morkt Drakt of Lai Dai and Feral of Drink Starsi™ finishing first and second, respectively, to take their spots in the final ten-man Lai Dai team.

The race's route took contestants through the dangerous, lawless expanses of the Orpana constellation through to contested areas of the Venal region. Unsurprisingly, most of the pilots encountered some unfriendly fire along the way, though most appear to have survived the race.

After an exhilarating 20 jumps Morkt Drakt came in first, with Feral a very close second. Moments after they finished, Hitzu'Kai Brena, COLOSSUS correspondent, managed to track the two down for a brief word:

Hitzu'kai Brena: Good day, Citizen!
Feral: Good evening.

Hitzu'kai Brena: Good evening, Mr. Drakt.
Morkt Drakt: Hello. Nice event.

Hitzu'kai Brena: So, how does it feel to be winners?
Morkt Drakt: Quite surprised. In the heat of things, it's hard to keep track of who is in the lead.
Feral: Surprising... I saw a number of ships at the destination and initially thought I was 4th.

Hitzu'kai Brena: So, Morkt, you're the winner, Feral, you're in second place. How do you feel your ships behaved, and will you be making any alterations to them for the final?
Feral: My ship behaved admirably, although I feel there is room for improvement in the autopilot coding. As for alterations... we'll see.
Morkt Drakt: The agility implant payed off, I guess, and I am going to stick with my setup because I realised a key point with the route, and that won me first place.

Hitzu'kai Brena: What would you say was the key to your success? Was it a balanced ship setup, pure luck or something else?
Morkt Drakt: As I said, certain systems favoured my setup, and hopefully there will be more than a couple of systems like that in the final race.
Feral: I believe it was my knowledge of my ship's performance and abilities. At one point i was running at least 6th, and one of the people ahead of me had a virtually identical setup.

Hitzu'kai Brena: Excellent! Well done, gentlemen - a deserved victory.

Tomorrow's qualifier, for the Wiyrkomi Corporation's team, kicks off at 19:00 EVT.