Phil Fritz

About

Birthday: February 14, 2001
Nationality: USA
Teams: AOI ZIP Formula (2020), AOI ZIP Formula (2022, as team staff)
Notable vehicles: Al-Zard NP-1 (2020)

An orphan from Bronx, he was a fairly unimpressive NASCAR racer before Kyoshiro Nagumo invited him to join Aoi ZIP Formula and drive a cyber machine.


Nagumo was a rather unscrupulous team president and forced Phil to cheat in the races, by "fixing" Phil's driving skills through an illegal bio-computer installed in the Al-Zard. The computer was designed to make the choices for the racer, essentially controlling the human like a puppet - consequently, the speed of the Al-Zard grew so great that Phil had to take drugs periodically to not pass out from the G-forces the car was putting out. Both the computer and the drug were illegal in racing.

Toward the end of the series, Phil eventually gives up on the bio-computer and tears the Al-Zard's system apart during a race, and finally takes control of the car and drives it by himself. Only a few moments later the Al-Zard's suspension fails and sends him crashing into a wall. He survives the crash with some injuries, however the incident exposed Nagumo's cheating and got Nagumo arrested and Phil disqualified as a cyber formula driver. He returns two years later as a mechanic for the same team.