The Great Broom Race

Kopparberg – Sweden – 1999 – The Annual Broom Race

Sweden. Home to the famous Annual Broom Race. A test of the fiercest nature, where the world's best riders attempt to tame a wild race course filled with dragons, towering mountains, bottomless ravines, and icy temperatures with nothing but their broomsticks. Race teams across the world see it as a proving ground for their newest models, and racers see it as their ultimate shot at glory. Perhaps the Dragons see it as an opportunity for a tasty treat, though few have gotten close enough to ask them and lived to tell the tale. We return to Sweden this year…

Gareth Walker sat at his hotel desk typing out the first draft of a Daily Prophet special report on the Annual Broom race. He had been in Kopparberg since testing had begun last weekend, and now Sunday's race was only two days away. A former winner of the race, Gareth had started reporting two years ago, after the pain in his legs from a bad crash in the 1990 race finally forced him to retire. Despite this, Gareth still managed to enjoy his time at the race, getting access to each teams' pit boxes, conducting interviews, reporting on testing, qualifying, and race day. Still, sitting up until three o'clock in the morning writing reports didn't carry the same adrenaline rush as pushing a high-spec racing broom around a race-course. Regardless, Gareth pushed on.

We return to Sweden this year with fans in mixed states of anticipation, excitement, or in some cases, sorrow. With Firebolt Racing's last-minute decision to pull out of the race, a gaping hole is left on the grid, with many hoping to see the reigning champions return to defend their crown. Randolph Spudmore, the owner of the Firebolt brand, said in a statement to the Daily Prophet; 'it is with deep sadness that we have decided to withdraw from the race this year. We have been facing some technical challenges with our newest model, the Firebolt Hurricane, and have been forced to concede that it will not be ready in time for the race. We are very disappointed to miss the race, but we don't want to disappoint our fans with a broom that is only half finished. We are confident that the Hurricane will be ready in time for the Quidditch World Cup.' New restrictions on broomsticks brought into force by the I.Q.A, the governing body of International Quidditch, has caused much uproar with manufacturers, and Firebolt are not the only manufacturer having difficulty creating a broom that meets these regulations, with Comet's new 320 racing broom breaking twice during testing.

But as the door on Firebolt's time as champions begins to firmly close, the door of opportunity opens for a host of other teams, chiefly the Annual Broom Race's most successful entrant. The Nimbus Factory Racing Team has been the most dominant force in the broom race since the new course was opened in 1970. Winning at least one race with every model the company has ever built, from the Nimbus 1000 to the Nimbus 2001, Devlin Whitehorn looks to add to his company's impressive trophy cabinet with the new Nimbus 2500. Meanwhile, new entrants Siberian Arrow Racing were very impressive in testing, reaching a top speed of 170mph with their first production broom. So, with the Firebolt out of contention, and Nimbus looking to keep their win record with their new broom, how does the grid stack up this year? Well, yours truly has been present at every testing session this year, and this is my opinion on how the grid will look on Sunday morning.

Nimbus Factory Racing Team

Without a shadow of a doubt Nimbus are this year's clear favourite. Their new 2500 is by far the fastest broom that you can buy today, and with a little bit of wizardry (pun intended), Nimbus have been able to squeeze out even more speed for their race broom, with Petra Ivanova hitting an astounding 192mph during the final day of testing. Ivanova, who jumped ship after winning last year's race on the Firebolt, is a firm favourite to win the race, although she will face stiff competition from her teammate Stanislav Dvorak, who is a four-time winner with Nimbus, and is on the hunt for a fifth trophy before he retires from racing this year.

Also riding for Nimbus is Juliette DuPont, the youngest entrant in the race at only 16. Juliette plays Quidditch for the Quiberon Quafflepunchers, and normally rides a 2500, but for this race she will be riding the new and improved Nimbus 2001. Whilst it's not as fast as the new flagship model, expect Juliette to cause problems in the mid pack as Nimbus looks to advertise the re-vamped 2001.

Siberian Arrow Racing

Two weeks ago, had you told any self-respecting sports journalist that an unknown team who had just built their first ever broom and had no racing experience whatsoever were in with a chance of winning the Annual Broom Race then you probably would have been referred to St. Mungo's to get your head checked. But with Qualifying taking place tomorrow, the Siberian Arrow looks poised to nab third place on the starting grid. Nimbus do have the quicker broom, but the Siberian Arrow is quick out of the corners, and the teams' single rider, Karina Erikson, came second place in the 1996 broom race aboard a Nimbus 2001. If Nimbus make any mistakes on Sunday, Siberian Arrow will be poised to shoot off into the lead.

Butterbeer Racing

As a privateer team, sponsored by the biggest drinks manufacturer in the Wizarding World, Butterbeer Racing can choose to use whatever brooms they can afford to buy and modify them as they see fit. Butterbeer Racing won their first ever race in 1997, and came in third place in 1998. For this year, they are sticking with the modified Firebolt brooms that have brought them their previous success. 1997 winner Emily Walker has been the face of Butterbeer Racing, and looks to bring them further success alongside new teammate Jack Thompson who enters his first race with the team after leaving the Gringotts Bank team last year.

Cleansweep Racing

The oldest, and one of the most successful entrants in the Annual Broom Race, Cleansweep commands the respect of their rivals. Having won the race nine times, Cleansweep are forever in pursuit of the tenth trophy for their cabinet. Whilst it has been some time since Cleansweep were looked upon as serious contenders for the win, they do have a most important rivalry with Comet Factory Racing to contend, a rivalry which has been as bitter as a sherbet lemon, and has stretched on for decades.

Comet Factory Racing

Whilst Comet are often found on the losing side of the aforementioned rivalry with Cleansweep, Comet have nevertheless been a successful team at the broom race, claiming five victories, and a shock second place at last year's race. Could their new Comet 290 propel them ahead of their old enemy?

Gringotts Bank Racing

An oddity in the racing world; despite being sponsored by a large bank, Gringotts Bank Racing has never finished higher than sixth, never spending any significant money on their brooms. They enter this year's race on a stock Nimbus 2001.

Broomstix Race Team

An eccentric team adored by many fans for their unwavering optimism and foolhardiness, Broomstix are a team sponsored and run by the popular second-hand broom shop in Diagon Alley. Each year the team enters the race with a broom that has been restored and modified in their shop. Their greatest achievement came in last year's race, when they secured a fourth-place finish to the delight of the waiting crowd. They enter the race this year on a silver Nimbus 2000 once flown by a member of the England Quidditch team.

These seven teams have been testing and tinkering their broomsticks since last weekend, but tomorrows qualifier will be the first chance for fans to see the brooms, and the racers, showing their true pace. Tomorrow afternoon, the qualifying course, a technical, twisty maze with a couple of long straights at each end will be opened for thirty minutes, during which each rider will pelt around the course as fast as they possibly can. The fastest rider will start Sundays race in pole position, and so on, and so on. Will Nimbus get their 2500 off to a perfect start? Or has Siberian Arrow been saving a little extra speed for tomorrow? Find out by picking up tomorrows copy of the Daily Prophet!

Author's Notes

Hi there,

This is a new idea I've been playing around with whilst practicing some newspaper-esque writing. I thought reporting on the Annual Broom Race would be a fun, in-universe little story. I created the teams, and race format etc based on Formula One and Indycar etc. Let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading,

IronManRidingaNimbus.