Apparently if you never unequipped that broom that a certain bot "lost" a while back, it just disappears from your inventory with no sparrow to replace it. The game then decides to spawn the default sparrow in it's place.
Wasn't trying too hard, wasn't expecting to win with it and the other racers weren't making the best times, but I was still proud of my victory.
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https://youtu.be/4feUSTS21-8