| Career | |
|---|---|
| Races competed | 120 |
| Drivers' Championships | 1 |
| Race victories | 12 |
Xibalbá Encarrerados is a motor racing team headquartered in Chichén Mixtup, Union of San Patricio, and Taguango, Oteagu (test facilities), that competes in the ICARA racing series, starting in 308 AP.
Xibalbá derived its name from the maternal last name of its owner, Conrado Susano Nunn Xibalbá (Tatic Conrado) and the Sanpatrician word "Encarrerados", meaning "blazingly fast" in Ingallish.
Contrary to any other racing team known in ICARA history, and also in other racing series, Xibalbá's owner made clear from the very beginning that the purpose of the team's involvement in ICARA was, in his words, "to have fun". The normal criteria regarding competitiveness, race preparation and team administration were set aside in favor of a clubbish, at times almost anarchic culture, which included elaborate and outlandish arrival and presentation spectacles at each racing venue, a totally idiosyncratic pits regime including the almost constant presence of alcoholic beverages, a "pits support team" of young female, and later in the team's history, also male members dedicated to providing other team members with food and drink and parading around the paddock and VIP public areas with Xibalbá promotional material, and a completely hedonistic lifestyle ranging from the aforementioned arrivals to the always-present and later legendary after-race parties, normally held in one of Tatic Conrado's many entertainment venues around the Vex.
Despite this unconventional approach, or probably because of it, Tatic Conrado managed to convince around half of the Satosan works team engineers and pit crew to join Xibalbá after Satosan's well-documented implosion following Korana Setusu's allegations against Bruno Maxim at the end of the 307 AP ICARA season, and the subsequent perentory dismissal for the latter driver. Along with the "Maxim faction" came the Zartanian driver, whose star status was already well established and who caused a stir by agreeing to take on an unknown car and a new team.
Another example of the Xibalbá racing philosophy was provided by the hiring of Edificio Novilla, a proven Moranian veteran who was freed by the collapse of the Daki effort, based on the following reasoning, expounded by Tatic Conrado at the presentation press conference: "El que haya un edificio que corre es demasiado bueno para que dejemos que no siga pasando" ("The fact that there is a building that runs races is too good for us to allow that to stop happening")... and so the second car's seat was filled on a whim, because the team owner loved puns.
Tatic Conrado found engines at Chungese mega-conglomerate Kunghai, who took a gamble in supporting the rookie team owner, betting that the experienced engineering team and Tatic's renowned logistics expertise would make a good fit, and provide decent exposure for the marque.
The team attracted attention form the beginning of the 308 AP season, not only because of the novelty of a privateer team with seemingly endless marketing money and a cheeky campaign centered on funny posters and, of all things, a plush toy rendering of the team mascot, a Melanian jungle cat, but also because of the wholly unexpected quality of their driving; Maxim started scoring points immediately, and the ex-Satosan engineers molded the Kunghai engines so well into the chassis that there were rumors linking their work to suspected industrial espionage by Satosan in previous years.
Melanian Explosion[]
The surprise was complete at the Datayield Melanian 300 in Ixihuepetl, Itiagu. Starting from 10th, Maxim clawed his way through a disputed race to shock the jaded ICARA racing world with a victory only 5 races into the season. Xibalbá had chaotically achieved what took "serious" teams years to plan for, and the combination of underdog status, in-your-face attitude and roots in the most exuberant fanbase on the Vex, centered on TDCorp territory and San Patricio, caused an unprecedented outpouring of support and celebrations that spread across borders, marking the start of what was to be known as the Xibalbá Phenomenon.