Marvin certainly hadn't forgot the first time he saw such a spectacle.

It had been with is dad, on his first visit to a live Luna race. He and his father had never really had much in common, having had a rather distant relationship when Marvin was growing up. So when from a young aged Marvin showed an interest in the Luna Motoring world (staying in the room when his father had it on TV) the estranged parent leapt at the opportunity to finally bond over something other than the fact they were both human.

So with quick succession, he booked two tickets for the next available race. It wasn't a crucial one, only being a time trial stage of a low ranking circuit it wasn't something his father got ecstatic about seeing live, but it was at least something they could both have in common.

That next morning they both caught a hover train to the London spaceport, a bustling hub of activity that could rival that of the infamous London tube system. After surviving the ordeal of wading their way through the thick crowd, and after making a quick toilet stop, they bordered their flight to Mare Crisium.

Mare Crisium or more commonly known as the Sea of Crisis, is one of those dark coloured plains (called mares) that make up The Moons face. You can see this one with the naked eye, being the most upper right dark circle if you were to look up at the moon on clear night. Upon landing they were transported to their seat though a collection of hover-trains and awaited for the spectacle to begin. They were sat with a simple jump facing them. Initially Marvin wasn't that impressed, having seen the various aerial sections where the bikes perform their most extreme stunts, a simple jump seemed bland in comparison. However the pure joy of being on the moon's surface for the first time was really something special. He could be looking at a couple of snails slithering along and he wouldn't have cared.

All his doubts of being underwhelmed were erased the second the first bike took to the air. The sight of the enormous machine, gliding ever so gracefully through the non-existent atmosphere completely blew his mind, burning the image onto his brain. He could still see that burnt-orange bike just as clear now, 20 years later.

A few more turns passed, some banked, some not. Either way, they passed by without event. Marvin had gained a lot of ground on the rider in front, overtaking him on an incredibly sharp left hand banked turn, passing with inches to spare. Even Marvin worried for a second. Once he was out of the corner he could see Lukaz ahead. The man that stood between him and the world championship.

Past his rival was another aerial section, once again surrounded by fans. This time it was a simple loop da loop, a towering structure was at least 150 metres high. The top of the loop lining up perfectly under the blue marble of Earth that hung silently in the sky. Once again Marvin was provided with a suggested route. Following the holographic line, he powered up the gradient allowing the centripetal force to keep him pinned to the curving arch. Gradually climbing higher and higher, the relatively slow speed of the assent gave Marvin time to glance at the crowd bellow. Watching as they went from the right way up, to vertical and then eventually upside down. It was an odd sensation as it could have easily been the crowd and The Moon moving, while Marin stayed put.

Reaching the top he was only upside down for a moment before curving back down again. The track cutting off just before it hit the floor, so once again he used a combination of the gyro and retros to make sure he landed in a way that wasn't going to end with an early grave. There was Lukaz. After another bank to the right, Marvin was met with another straight. The terrain of the moon spanning out alongside it. Accelerating as fast as he dared, he brought the bike up its max speed, trailing Lukaz. Despite his fast speed, he wasn't gaining, maintaining a solid 100 metre gap.

"Righty-lad you've got a jump coming up, you know the drill. Watch your speed! Too fast, or too slow and you're done for! I'm changing your display to fit." Jerry piped in, his voice once again echoing around the inside of Marvin's helmet like a lingering smell.

"Copy." Marvin simply replied, as his HUD changed as promised. As well as yet another colour change, the display had now been put into jump mode; a setting that the riders used to make sure they are going to right speed to make a jump. To slow and they wouldn't have enough forward momentum to make it to the other side, too fast and they would overshoot. Glancing at the speedometer he could see that he was currently 100kmh over the suggested speed. This wasn't a panic situation however, as he has amble time to adjust before reaching the launch ramp.

Gently applying the breaks, he brought the hefty bikes substantial speed down with an amplified grumble; as the tyres resisted against the tarmac. His speed now matching that of the suggested span. He approached the launch ramp. Suddenly Marvin was surrounded by silence once again, the booming vibrations of the wheels on tarmac disappeared in an instant, as the rear wheel lost contact with the ground. Looking like a giants spear, the bike arched up into the black sky. Lukaz was just ahead, gliding in unison with Marvin. Using his side mirrors, Marvin could see the other riders fall in behind him one by one; each leaving the end of the launch ramp like a shell from a cannon.

Returning his gaze to Lukaz, the bike began to level out, no longer gaining altitude but maintaining a seemingly straight line. Marvin took his hands of the handlebars and settled in for the wait, his HUD was telling him this jump was going to be a long one, and he could see why.

Not sending the riders very high but instead very far, the bikes where gliding in unison across one of the moon's many craters. Just like the jump he had seen with his father, the dark-grey landscape stretching out over the horizon bellow them. Allowing his arms to relax beside him, he enjoyed the break. Despite having done this sport for many years it was till a considerable strain on the body to hold the riding position for so long. Once again the view was staggering, the vast crater bellow slowly rolling though his vision as the bike arched over the top. Eventually deciding he should probably use this time more constructively, making a note of how jaw-droopingly beautiful the view was wasn't going to help him win. Better to take a look at the condition of his bike instead.

"Jerry, how's she looking? All tickety boo?"

After a slight pause and a few background muffles, Jerry responded. "Take a look yourself, engineering says it will do you good to actually take an interest in the mechanics for once." He laughed. Along with a chuckle from Marvin, the HUD display was suddenly flooded with the bikes statistics just as before.

It was a good thing a turn wasn't coming up, as his view was completely filled with lists, diagrams, scales, counters and readings. Filtering through the vast overload of information, Marvin picked out the key points. The gyros revelations were good, retro fuel levels were green and the battery was charged enough to finish. The only cause for concern was the bikes overall temperature. The Moons lack of atmosphere was causing some problems.

Having no wind is great if you want to put up an umbrella, or play a game of table tennis, but it's not so good when it comes to controlling temperature. Without the presence of air to convect the heat away, objects in a non-atmospheric environment only have two remaining methods to cool down.

Conduction and radiation - neither being that useful for a Luna bike.

Conduction is the most efficient method of heat loss, when two items that are physically touching transfer their heat to one another through vibrations. However, since the only points of contact a Luna bike has with the world around it are its two wheels, which are themselves generating a lot of heat through friction with the road. This makes conduction essentially useless.

That leaves radiation, which the bikes could do readily, since every surface panel of the body work was radiating heat constantly. However, as a rule of thumb this isn't the most efficient method of heat loss; taking a lot of time to lose a substantial amount. Adding in the high levels of unfiltered solar radiation hitting the bike every second and the high power electric motor that was its own little heat source, you end up with a machine that's built to overheat.

Looking down to his left, Marvin pressed on of the many control switches that peppered his control panel. Flicking the clunky switch that activated the extra radiators that were placed around the bikes surface, designed to help along the radiation process. Expelling the invisible heat from the bike at a much higher rate. This seemed to do the trick as the temperature gauge began to fall to a more acceptable level. Taking one last glance over the readings and deciding his maintenance session was over, Marvin swiped his hand across his view, wiping the excessive information from his display.

"Wait! This thing has wheels! I never realised." Marvin said in a sarcastic tone that even rivalled Jerrys.

"Engineering says well done." Jerry replied, putting Marvin's sarcasm to shame.

Another few minutes passed by, with nothing to report apart from once again that magnificent view. However the end of the jump was coming up and Marvin had to draw himself back into reality. The Landing ramp began accelerating towards him at an uncomfortable speed as the bike started its gradual decent. Taking hold of the handle bars once again, Marvin waited for the inevitable landing.

Finally touching down, the low rumble of wheel on tarmac returned to his suit, vibrating throughout the bike like a heartbeat. He was back in control.

Having matched the suggested speed exactly, the landing was incredibly smooth, not even having to use the retros in reaction to any landing bounces, Marvin opened up the throttle. It was time to overtake his rival.