Rion Swoop

Soon after the Battle of Yavin that marked the start of 0 ABY, a swoop race was held on the Outer Rim planet Rion to determine the Rion Swoop Champion. The prize for the race was 1000 credits and a trophy. While on a mission to secure trade supplies for the Alliance to Restore the Republic, the smuggler Han Solo entered the race with the aim of using the prize money to increase the Alliance's resources. Prior to the race beginning, Solo encountered the bounty hunter Takvax and Kuru, another competitor in the race. The duo realized that there was a large Imperial bounty on Solo's head and so hatched a scheme to capture him during the race and claim it.

At least six participants took part in the race, including Solo, Kuru, and the Twi'lek Makta, who was also part of the plot to capture Solo. Once the race had begun, Kuru and Matka rammed their swoops into Solo's vehicle, trying to force him to crash; however, Solo managed to damage Matka's stabilizer, knocking her out of the race instead. Kuru then used a turbo-booster to move ahead of Solo and fired thermite micro-missiles back at him. Before the missiles could strike, Luke Skywalker—a companion of Solo—piloted another swoop into their path and jumped to Solo's vehicle. The missiles destroyed Skywalker's swoop, but he and Solo managed to overtake Kuru and win the race.

Text and facts from the “Rion Swoop” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.