Boonta Eve Classic / Legends The Boonta Eve Classic was the largest annual podrace in the galaxy . Held on the planet of Tatooine , it was hosted by the Hutts to commemorate the Boonta ' s Eve holiday . Located just outside Mos Espa , the Boonta race course started in the Mos Espa Grand Arena . There , thousands of spectators would congregate , hoping to see their favored racer win , to catch a glimpse of a spectacular collision , or to win a fortune gambling on the race ' s outcome . The Ceremony . The formal race ceremony started with a parade of flag - bearers ; each carried a racer ' s distinctive emblem , and lined up before the starting grid . Once the bearers cleared the grid , the Podracers ' massive engines would roar to life , seemingly anxious at the chance to soar at speeds exceeding 700 kilometers - per - hour . The Mos Espa circuit . The Mos Espa course mostly turned around Ben ' s Mesa . It blazed out of the arena onto the Starlite Flats , an easy stretch of desert where aggressive Podracers jockeyed for strong starting positions . The racers had to line up in single file to enter the curving canyon that cuts through the Waldo Flats . This opened up into Mushroom Mesa , a rocky expanse dominated by immense bulbous rock formations . Metta Drop , a sudden escarpment , dropped the racers onto Ebe Crater Valley , where they again had to navigate a narrow opening ( the Notch ) to enter Beggar ' s Canyon . The race then continued onto a length of desert plains abutting the Dune Sea . One of the most hazardous areas — Arch Canyon — forced pilots to maneuver through stone wickets before entering another series of canyons , including The Whip , Jag Crag Gorge , and the subterranean Laguna Cave . Emerging from the caves , the pilots careened through the tight Canyon Dune Turn , known to be a campsite for vengeful Sand People . Podracers that survived potshots from the Sand People then had to dodge the rocky obstacles in Bindy Bend before entering the last stretch of canyon , which included the Coil , Jett ' s Chute , and the Corkscrew . Exiting the Corkscrew via the Devil ' s Doorknob , the pilots emerged onto the Hutt Flats , a broad featureless expanse that led back to the arena . This entire circuit represented one lap , and the Boonta Eve Classic required three laps for completion , with an average time of 5 minutes , 20 seconds for each lap . Commentaries were made by Fodesinbeed , a popular commentator in the sport . History . Renaissance under Gardulla . The Boonta Eve Classic circuit was an ancient course that had fallen on hard times by 67 BBY . With the financial support of Hego Damask , however , Gardulla the Hutt restored the course as part of an effort to seize control of Tatooine , creating a new Podracing circuit that would rival those of Muunilinst and Malastare . The race of 32 BBY . During the events precipitating the Battle of Naboo , young Anakin Skywalker participated in a fateful Boonta Eve Classic race . Sponsored by Jedi Master Qui - Gon Jinn , Anakin entered his custom - built podracer into the cutthroat competition . Even though the odds favored the scheming Sebulba as a victor , the Force was with Anakin , and he came in first . It was a stunning upset to the longstanding Dug champion . He became the first human to win the race . Anakin won more than the race ; the young slave also won his freedom . Boonta Eve Classic ( 1 BBY ) . Despite the Empire ' s ban on Podracing , the Boonta Eve Classic continued to be an ongoing tradition on Tatooine . During one race taking place during 1 BBY , a Star Tours - owned " StarSpeeder 1000 " , the Star Tours Flight 1401 , accidentally participated in the race shortly after escaping from the Star Tours space station due to an Imperial raid . Several podracers ended up destroyed in the hectic events before it left . The Boonta Eve Classic was popular enough that the Star Tours agency had a lot of passengers leaving for Tatooine for that very reason . Legacy . Many years later , Han Solo and Leia Organa Solo visited the site of the race while on a mission on Tatooine and even purchased a holocube of Anakin Skywalker from his friend , Kitster Banai , photographed shortly after his victory . The Boonta Eve Classic was also featured in one of Shmi Skywalker Lars ' s diary entries that Leia found on the old Skywalker homestead . Behind the scenes . In the audio commentary on the Episode I DVD , visual effects supervisor John Knoll points out that in a shot of the scene of Sebulba riding just behind Anakin , with Anakin ' s head nearly in the connecting current between the pod engines , it is possible to see that Sebulba is not present in his pod .