Hutt Flats Hutt Flats was a region of desert located on the planet of Tatooine . It was once the bed of the prehistoric Lake Anre , which , via underground tributaries , ran to the Northern Dune Sea . During the final decades of the Galactic Republic , podracing circuits ran through the flats from the Mos Espa Grand Arena , which was built within the regions boundaries . The Boonta Eve Classic podrace included the Hutt Flats as its final segment , and it was here that the podracers Anakin Skywalker and Sebulba faced off in their vehicles during the the third lap of the race . After the two pilot ' s vehicles became entangled , Sebulba ' s engine became disconnected from his pod , causing his vehicle to crash and leaving Skywalker to claim victory . Description . Once the bed of the prehistoric Lake Anre , the Hutt Flats was a wide expanse of flat desert located beyond one end of the mountain known as Ben ' s Mesa and surrounded on several sides by high cliff walls on the planet Tatooine . One entry point into the flats was the canyon entrance known as the Devil ' s Doorknob , which connected the desert to the canyon known as the Corkscrew . A canyon which ran through the region known as the Waldo Flats also opened out into the Hutt Flats and connected them to the Mushroom Mesa . History . At some point after the Lake Anre dried out and left the flats , the Mos Espa Grand Arena was built in one corner of the flats , and a podracing circuit was established which passed through the flats as its final section . Because the Hutt Flats was the final portion of any race on the circuit , it often brought out the worst behavior in podracer s as they battled for final placements in race . The Dug podracer Sebulba , who raced on the circuit in the final decades of the Galactic Republic ' s reign , often used the size and weight of his large podracer to try and force other pilot s out of races while they flew through the flats , often pleasing the crowds viewing the race in the process . Thirty - two years before the Battle of Yavin , the Boonta Eve Classic podrace was hosted out of the Mos Espa Grand Arena , and included the Hutt Flats as the first and final portion of each of its three laps . Racers headed straight from the arena through a small portion of the flats and straight into the Waldo Flats canyon before making their way around the entirety of Ben ' s Mesa and back out into the flats through the Devil ' s Doorknob . During the second lap of the race Xamster pilot Neva Kee left the circuit while traveling through the Hutt Flats and disappeared completely , his where abouts after the race unknown . In the final lap of the race the two front runners , Sebulba and Anakin Skywalker entered the flats together , vying for first place . As he had done in the past Sebulba attempted to ram Skywalker ' s smaller vehicle . Piping from the Dug racer ' s pod became caught on the machinery of Skywalker ' s engine s and the entanglement trapped the two vehicles side by side . Attempting to pull away , Sebulba loosened a part of his podracer and seeing his chance Skywalker accelerated away , tearing parts from Sebublba ' s vehicle and causing the left engine to separate from the pod and the other engine . Both engines quickly plunged into the floor of the flats and exploded , while the pod containing Sebulba was hurled ahead , leaving the Dug alive , but very much out of the race . Skywalker went on to win the race , leaving the five other pilots who made it to the end of the third lap to pass through the flats and claim their rankings . Behind the scenes . The Hutt Flats first appeared in the 1999 film , in which the desert area was the setting for the finale of the podrace section of the film , but went unnamed . They were then identified on a map of the entire podracing circuit from the film included in the " Star Wars " Legends reference book " " , which was written by Kristin Lund and released in 2000 . The name was confirmed to be canon when it was used in the " " reference book released in 2016 .