Star Wars: Galactic Racer: How to Unlock Podracing in the Campaign

Podracers are the fastest vehicle class in Star Wars: Galactic Racer, and they work differently from the Land Speeder, Speeder Bike, and Skim Speeder. You cannot pick one as your main vehicle when the Campaign begins. Instead, podracing arrives in two separate stages as the story moves forward, first through Sebulba’s memories and later as a battered podracer that becomes yours to fix up.

Quick answer: Reach Act II and talk to Sebulba to play Tales of Podracing flashbacks, then beat Kestar Bool at the end of Act II, speak with Hibi and Sebulba in Act III, and finish the “Hunk of Junk” test flight on Tatooine to drive your own podracer.

Image credit: Secret Mode via YouTube/@Gaming with Griff Griffin

Where podracing sits in the Campaign

Act I has no podracing events. You first encounter Sebulba, who works for Kestar Bool; the act closes with a race against him for Galactic League qualification. Completing Act I is required to access everything that comes after.

From there, podracing splits into two parts. Act II lets you relive Sebulba’s old races as flashbacks. Act III hands you a real podracer of your own, which you slowly rebuild and then race at the very end of the Campaign.

If you only want to jump into a podrace right away, the Arcade has podracing available the moment you start the game, with no Campaign progress needed.

Act II: Unlock Tales of Podracing flashbacks

Once you reach Act II, Sebulba opens up a set of flashback races where you drive his younger self against famous rivals. These do not give you a podracer to keep, but they are the first time you actually pilot one.

Advance the Campaign into Act II. You will start interacting with Sebulba more as the story continues past the Act I qualifier.

Find Sebulba in the settlement. He sits at an outdoor table near the coffee shop in the main hub, and an icon above his head signals that a podracing flashback is ready.

Speak with him to open the Tales of Podracing menu. Your first race is “Memories of Mos Espa” on Tatooine, followed by tracks such as “Legends of Speed” on Lantaana.

Finish first in each flashback. Placing first unlocks more lore and the next event in the chain, and completing all of them is tied to Sebulba’s later rewards.

You can keep returning to Sebulba after arriving on each new planet to run more of these flashbacks. Whenever the icon appears over his head, he has another Tales of Podracing event waiting.

Act III: Unlock your own podracer

Getting a podracer to call your own waits until Act III, the final act of the Campaign. It kicks off after the Act II finale, where Kestar Bool takes Sebulba’s upgraded white-and-gold podracer for himself.

Win the final race of Act II against Kestar Bool. Beating him triggers the cutscene where he unveils Sebulba’s podracer and declares his new golden age of the Galactic League.

Enter Act III: Kestar’s Galactic League, then talk to Hibi and Sebulba back in the settlement camp. Hibi explains that no speeder can keep up with a podracer, so Shade needs one too.

Accept Sebulba’s offer of his spare podracer. Travel to Tatooine and open the hangar to reveal a rusted, abandoned podracer frame, the “blank canvas” Hibi wants to rebuild.

Complete the test flight race named “Hunk of Junk” on Tatooine, a single lap in the unstable podracer while it throws out system malfunctions. Finishing it puts the podracer in your hands for the rest of Act III.

You know it worked when podracing nodes appear across the Act III campaign map, including Field Tests and race events on planets such as Lantaana and Ando Prime. You race this podracer repeatedly through Act III and then pilot it in the Campaign’s closing race.

The podracer cannot be upgraded on its own. It uses the components and abilities unlocked for your chosen main vehicle, so upgrades to your Land Speeder, Speeder Bike, or Skim Speeder benefit it as well.

Podracer Challenges and League Tokens

Your podracer stays out of most standard Act III races. Instead, Sebulba sends you on frequent Podracer Challenges, private one-on-one matchups against his old rivals. Despite sounding casual, these carry a cost: losing one drains a League Token, so treat each as a real race rather than a warm-up.

You can also keep running Sebulba’s flashbacks during Act III by checking in with him in the hub after reaching a new planet, the same booth near the coffee shop. The icon over his head still marks when a fresh Tales of Podracing event is ready.

Podracing outside the Campaign

Podracing does not depend entirely on story progress. Several modes let you race pods without touching the Campaign at all.

Arcade: Available immediately from launch, with unique races and time trials. Earn at least a bronze medal (third place) on a track to open the next one.
Scenarios: Podracing shows up in various races here too, letting you earn rewards and practice.
Quick Podrace: An 8-player multiplayer race with no upgrades, so everyone starts even.
Podracing Tour: An 8-player, five-planet tour where you upgrade between races. It opens at Multiplayer Rank 5.

Playable podracer drivers

Across the flashbacks and multiplayer, a roster of classic podracing pilots is available to play as. Anakin Skywalker is not among them and does not appear in the game at all.

Playable podracer drivers
Dud Bolt
Gasgano
Teemto Pagalies
Sebulba
Ben Quadinaros
Ody Mandrell

Work through Act I, build up Sebulba’s trust in Act II, and then rebuild that scrap heap on Tatooine in Act III, and you will have podracing available both in the story and in every side mode the game offers.