Van-Über Racing Developments is an AG racing team based in Germany. They were introduced in WipEout Fusion, but they have had minor appearances within WipEout Pure and Omega Collection.
Van-Über Racing Developments emerged as a team defined by its commitment to traditional values of sportsmanship and racing purity. Founded by four-time Pilots’ World Champion Wolfgang Van-Über, the team cultivated a reputation for restraint in combat, and reverence for the discipline of anti-gravity racing. Van-Über’s belief in “The Divine Purity of the Race” became a guiding principle, setting the team apart in an era increasingly dominated by aggression and spectacle.
In the initial seasons of the F9000 League, Van-Über prioritised low-mass ships with quick acceleration and agility, ideal for technical circuits. However their shields were severely lacking compared to their competition, to which later improvements by their Director of Technical Services Dieter Schmidt helped to address these vulnerabilities. While their ship's design was admired by purists, it was seen as a competitive handicap in the explosive and opportunistic league. Surprising to their philosophy, they remained competitive due to their SiriusIV weapons which were among the most advanced in the league, though ensured to be used with discipline. Despite its pure principles, Van-Über was not immune to the dangers of the sports internal politics. The team repeatedly suffered mechanical failures to the ship of Second Pilot Nami Mishima consistent with sabotage attempts, and the pattern of interference raised safety and security concerns within the league, especially with suspicions regarding coinciding personal issues between Nami and the Xios Second Pilot Zala Wollf.
After the F9000 collapsed in 2170, the team seemingly entered a period of dormancy. They returned to the grid late into the FX300 with a chassis following very similar design principles to their 2156 ships, but updated to meet the demands of the modern league. The ship simultaneously rivalled FEISAR, AG Systems, Assegai and Harimau for performance and consistency, particularly showing its strengths on technical circuits once again. Through the transition into the FX350, Van-Über's presence was reasserted with greater clarity. Wolfgang Van-Über, now in his elder years though still commanding as Team Principle, publicly expressed hope that they would help the league rediscover “The Divine Purity of the Race”, as their enhanced ship was unveiled. This time it was a formidably strong contender, with finely tuned speed, acceleration and agility, a formula which was found to be in exchange for a fragility that seemed very exploitable with the return of Tigron's excessive aggression and Eliminator events. Not long before the beginning of the FX400 League, Van-Über dropped out of AG Racing for the foreseeable future.
This ship is largely considered to be the most unbalanced ship in the game, owing to its extreme stat array. With above average Speed, high Acceleration and higher Handling than even FEISAR, this is a core choice for technical circuits in most speed classes, rendering FEISAR and AG-Systems largely redundant in a few leaderboards. With its low Shield Capacity also offering quicker energy absorption efficiency and therefore more frequent Barrel Roll opportunities, this secures it as a pure racing ship with very few ships able to contend with it. The most damning issue is that it was a digital pre-order exclusive DLC, and now with limited availability, and therefore could have a “pay-to-win” kind of stigma behind it.