As part of his cover as a spy for the Resistance, Kazuda Xiono had to participate in a race between himself and Torra Doza, a member of Ace Squadron.
Kazuda Xiono was a pilot for the New Republic Starfighter Corps, who along with Hugh Sion and Mia Gabon was sent on a mission to deliver intelligence to the Resistance. After an ambush by the First Order, Xiono ordered Sion and Gabon to flee, and consequently was the only pilot left present when Commander Poe Dameron arrived and drove off the enemy pilot, Major Elrik Vonreg. Onboard a Resistance ship, Xiono asked Dameron for the opportunity to join, and Dameron sent him on a spying mission on the Colossus refueling platform on Castilon.
After meeting Xiono, Neeku Vozo believed the young pilot was the best starfighter pilot around.
Shortly after arriving, Xiono and Dameron were met by Neeku Vozo, an employee of Dameron's old friend Jarek Yeager. The literal-minded Vozo misinterpreted a statement from Xiono about how he imagined himself as the greatest pilot in the galaxy as a claim that he already was, and quickly spread gossip about this across the platform. After Xiono got into a brawl at Aunt Z's Tavern, he attempted to clear the matter with Vozo by explaining that he was not actually the greatest pilot in the galaxy. Vozo felt hurt, believing that Xiono had intentionally deceived him, and Xiono further apologized, stating that he hoped to become the best pilot on the platform. This led Vozo to decide to help Xiono achieve his dream by announcing that Xiono would be racing the next day. Xiono was told he couldn't back out of it as he would be thrown off the platform if he did.
After that day's race, when announcer Jak Sivrak asked Xiono to choose which of the five Aces he would like to race solo the next day, he picked Torra Doza, daughter of the Colossus owner Captain Imanuel Doza, after being told she was the youngest and newest of them.
The only ship Yeager had available for Xiono to fly in the race was the Fireball, an old, ramshackle ship so named because of its tendency to burst into flames. As a result, Yeager and his team, including Tamara Ryvora, had to work quickly to get it into serviceable condition. When sent to obtain parts from the Office of Acquisitions, Xiono was taken aback to learn that as the pilot he was expected to pay for them. As he lacked enough credits to pay for the parts he was initially going to buy, he was forced to strike a deal with proprietors Flix and Orka to get them lunch in exchange for used parts, which Ryvora and Yeager pointed out weren't as good. During the repairs, Doza dropped by to wish Xiono good luck, and noted that no one had survived racing against her before.
Torra and Kaz race
The race got off to an inauspicious start for Xiono when the Fireballs engines initially refused to start, causing him to fall towards the ocean, and allowing Doza a head-start. Xiono pushed his ship hard as he pursued Doza through the sky rings, and at times the two were neck-and-neck. Eventually, Xiono managed to pull ahead of Doza, but was warned by Yeager that he was pushing the Fireball too hard. Xiono, feeling that victory was within his grasp, didn't listen. The engines shortly flamed out, and Xiono was unable to get them started again. He crashed into a sky ring and then into the ocean, giving Doza the victory.
Xiono and the Fireball were rescued from the ocean. Having been knocked unconscious, Xiono didn't come to until he was back in Yeager's repair shop, with Yeager, Vozo, Ryvora, Doza, and R1-J5 "Bucket" present. Doza congratulated him on surviving a race against her before she left.
When Jace Rucklin and his team approached Xiono and pretended to befriend him as part of a plan to steal Yeager's hyperfuel, they mentioned they had seen him race against Doza. Torra's father, Captain Doza, also mentioned the race the first time he met Xiono in person, when he had him escorted to his office to discuss two missing children Xiono had been looking for.
The first footage of the race between Kazuda Xiono and Torra Doza was shown in the Star Wars Resistance first look trailer on August 17, 2018. The race itself served as the climax of "The Recruit," the first episode of the show's first season, broadcast on October 7, 2018.