Storm 2

"Storm {noun} pl Storms 1. a violent weather system 2. a metaphoric reference suggesting violence and destruction. 3. to storm {verb} to carry out an act with great speed 4. Your worst nightmare in the arena"

- Storm 2 website

Storm 2 (also styled as Storm II and Storm2) was a robot that competed in the British television game show Robot Wars. Making its debut in the New Blood Championship in the second series of Robot Wars Extreme, it went on to win that tournament and ultimately qualified for The Seventh Wars as the sixteenth seed. In Series 7, Storm 2 reached the Grand Final by defeating the reigning champion Tornado and second seed Firestorm 5, before losing the title to Typhoon 2 on a contentious judges' decision. Storm 2 returned to Series 8 and reached the heat final (defeating Typhoon 2 driver Gary Cairns' new robot PP3D in the process), but was defeated and flipped out of the arena by eventual UK Champion Apollo.

Storm 2 also fought in The Third World Championship, representing England. It defeated Tornado in the qualifiers once more, and won the title by defeating Tough As Nails and Supernova.

Storm 2 was known (especially in Series 7) for its strong defensive capabilities and high speed. It memorably threw The Steel Avenger out of the arena in the heat final in Series 7 using nothing but a high speed impact with the arena wall.

Design
"Your robot is so pristine...most beautiful robot I've ever seen..."

- Jayne Middlemiss

Storm 2 was a small invertible box-shaped robot with a front wedge, six-wheel drive and removable spring-loaded side skirts to prevent it from being flipped. It was designed to win in a simple and effective way, being reliable, strong and sturdy and initially being built without any weapons besides its wedge and a pair of small rear spikes. Instead, Storm 2 relied mainly on its huge top speed of 23mph and 18hp drive to ram robots and push them into walls and arena hazards, either causing major internal damage or flipping them over upon impact with the arena wall. This lead to the robot being frequently described as a 'full-body hammer' by the team, Jonathan Pearce and the robot's statistics boards, when referring to the damage potential offered by its drive system. For Series 7, Team Storm were asked to add an active weapon to Storm 2 in order for it to remain eligible to compete, with the team installing an electric four-bar lifting arm. The robot was also repainted from dark grey to black and grey with purple skirts, with its name written on the top, side and bottom panels. Storm 2's drive system was the most powerful featured on a competitor robot at the time of Extreme 2/Series 7, and its ground clearance was milled down to the extent that it can push a piece of paper along the floor- this was used to great effect against opponents such as Firestorm 5. Even with the lifting arm, Storm 2 still relied on its immense drive power and speed as its primary method of attack in Series 7, at one point proving powerful enough to throw The Steel Avenger out of the arena through brute force alone during their Heat Final battle. "After Series 7 Storm2 appeared as many robots do on the Live Events circuit in the UK, something in some ways more demanding than Robot Wars, as you find yourself doing 8 fights in a weekend. The high-power LEM motors that Storm2 ran were fine for running one event in a year (filming) but reliability issues crept up and the motors were expensive."

- Team Storm explains the speed differential between the Extreme 2/Series 7 and 2016 incarnations of Storm 2

Between the end of Series 7 and the announcement of Series 8, Storm 2 made frequent appearances at live events, with varying degrees of success. Following reliability and cost issues with its original LEM motors, Team Storm decided to swap these motors with less powerful ones to suit the more demanding schedules of these events, which considerably improved the robot's reliability and maintenance costs, but greatly reduced its top speed. Team captain Ed Hoppitt stated that Storm 2 would no longer be able to throw robots out of the arena, as it had done in Series 7, following this modification. Storm 2 later returned to compete in Series 8, with Team Storm performing many modifications to it while at the same time working on their BattleBots competitor, Photon Storm. It now sported revised armour plating, a new black, white, red and grey colour scheme and motors similar to those it used at live events, as well as a set of interchangeable weapons. These weapons include the four-bar lifting arm, a front-hinged flipping arm that allows the robot to self-right, and a vertical spinning disc, which was ultimately not used on the show. Changes to Storm 2's internals also included a unique telemetry system, sending important information such as the robot's temperature to Tim Bence in the control booth during battles, as well as the use of dry ice while being worked on in the pits to prevent its components from overheating. The team could then analyse the robot's performance after a fight on a PC that remains in the pits. As of 2016, Storm 2's chassis weighed 32kg and was plated in 3mm armour, contributing to its heavy weight in proportion to its compact size. By contrast, Tornado, despite being larger, was marginally lighter due to its 1mm thick armour plating. Team Storm's web address is also featured on Storm 2's sides, and at live events only, a statement proclaiming its status as the incumbent Robot Wars World Champion.

Controversy
Storm 2 was the subject of controversy throughout Series 7 of Robot Wars, after the producers felt disdain towards it after its appearance in Extreme 2.

Extreme 2
"Storm 2, we were laughing at its lack of weaponry, but I tell you what it’s shifting in that arena!"

- Jonathan Pearce comments on Storm 2’s impressive turn of speed Storm 2 made its first appearance in Heat C of the New Blood Championship, a tournament where newcomers would fight for automatic qualification into Series 7. In its first round battle, it faced Series 6 competitor Revolution 2 and fellow newcomer Direct Action. Storm 2 immediately charged into Direct Action, causing sparks to fly from its front wedge, before slamming it into the wall close to Mr. Psycho’s CPZ. The impact flipped Direct Action over and left it vulnerable to Mr. Psycho as it spun around and failed to escape the CPZ. It took a blow from Revolution 2’s blades and rammed into Direct Action again, before turning into the CPZ and sending Revolution 2 spinning after another high speed slam. Storm 2 continued to hit, deflect and push Direct Action into the walls and Sir Killalot, withstanding a hammer blow from Mr. Psycho in the process, before attempting to pit Direct Action. It nearly drove itself into the pit in doing so, before Direct Action spun around and toppled in itself. "There was one hairy moment where all the audience gasped as Storm II travelled a little too close to the pit, however everything was under control and soon Direct Action vanished into the pit and cease was called."

- Storm 2 website

In the second round, Storm 2 was drawn against Chopper. It lunged straight towards Chopper, getting underneath it and spinning around a few times, before pushing Chopper towards an empty CPZ and ramming it into the wall at high speed. The force of the impact threw Chopper over, leaving it unable to self-right. Storm 2 went through as Chopper was counted out and thrown twice by the Floor Flipper, before being left on the Flame Pit and pushed into the pit by Shunt. "Chopper, comes a cropper! Storm 2, they go storming on!"

- Craig Charles

In the Heat Final, Storm 2 faced former Series 6 competitor ICU. It approached ICU as the latter charged towards – and over – its front wedge, the impact causing ICU’s eyes and aerial to fall off as it bounced over Storm 2. Storm 2 pushed the now-immobile ICU towards the Floor Flipper, with Ed Hoppitt urging for ICU to be flipped over while it was counted out by Refbot. "Oh, stop it, Mr. Hoppitt!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Ed Hoppitt calls for ICU to be flipped by the Floor Flipper

ICU was hammered by Mr. Psycho and dragged by its axe by Growler, before finally being thrown across the arena by the Floor Flipper, having a load of balls dropped onto it, and dumped into the pit by Growler. This put Storm 2 through to the New Blood Grand Final after a very convincing run. "We described the robot originally as a "full body hammer" because literally the power of it, it is its own weapon, the same way that a full body spinner is its own weapon."

- Andrew Rayner explains Storm 2's lack of weapons after the Heat Final

In the New Blood Grand Final, Storm 2 was draw against Thor in its eliminator, another former Series 6 competitor. Both robots started by dodging each other’s initial attacks, with Storm 2 darting across the arena as Thor swung its hammer. Eventually, Storm 2 bashed Thor into a CPZ as Mr. Psycho approached, allowing him to hammer Thor’s top panel before it escaped. Storm 2 then got underneath Thor and rammed it into the pit release button, rupturing its CO2 system as it attempted to pit it. Thor backed away to escape, but its hammer was disabled following Storm 2’s shove, leaving it vulnerable as Storm 2 again slammed it into the wall and eased it towards the pit for the second time. After a few seconds where it left Thor half-suspended over the edge, Thor escaped again, before Storm 2 rammed it against the wall once more and continued to get under and push it around the arena. In the closing seconds, Storm 2 began smoking as its wheels slipped trying to push Thor again, and was pushed into Sergeant Bash’s CPZ by Thor as ‘cease’ was called. The judges were called to make a decision, which went unanimously in favour of Storm 2. In the final, Storm 2 faced the twin flippers of Mute. As before, both robots darted and circled around each other before Storm 2 pushed Mute against the wall and briefly got wedged under the Floor Spinner. This allowed Mute to briefly get under Storm 2’s sides, with both robots continuing to hit and circle round each other as they drove into Dead Metal’s CPZ. Storm 2 attempted to ram Mute from the front, but got itself wedged between Mute and the wall in doing so, though Mute pushed it away trying to flip it. More nudging and circling ensued, with Storm 2’s wheels beginning to smoke copiously again as it struggled to gain the traction needed to push Mute around from the front and sides. Storm 2 drove into an angle grinder before sliding into Dead Metal as it pushed Mute again, only to escape and keep pushing Mute, its wheels continuing to smoke as Mute’s front wedge breached its own. Eventually, Storm 2 drove into Dead Metal and backed onto Mute’s front flipper, and was thrown through the air before pushing Mute again a few more times. Another flip from Mute left Storm 2 on its back as the battle drew to a close, with Storm 2 ramming Mute with its rear spikes before driving into Dead Metal’s CPZ and an angle grinder as time ran out. The battle went to a close judges’ decision, which Storm 2 won by just one point. This victory earnt Storm 2 the New Blood Championship, and automatic entry into the Seventh Wars.

Series 7
"What a fairy story it would be, if these, the New Blood Champions could make it all the way..."

- Jonathan Pearce's prophecy

As the sixteenth seed, Storm 2 was placed in Heat I, and was set to face newcomers Rhino and Mayhem as well as Series 6 Heat Finalist Supernova in its first round battle. Having had little testing since the addition of its lifting arm, and placed within what was considered by roboteers to be the ‘Heat of Doom’, Team Storm expressed unease about how well Storm 2 would perform in the battle. "It was a very sombre car that returned from Nottingham back to Ipswich after qualifying, mulling over the news of who we were going to fight. Shredder we felt we could deal with, but Supernova was an unknown quantity - just how much damage could that disk dish out, and just how much could Storm II take ? We simply didn't know!"

- Ed Hoppitt on Storm 2's draw in Heat I

These concerns were immediately disproven in the opening seconds as Storm 2 dodged Supernova and pushed Rhino around, slamming it into the wall. The four robots came together as Supernova’s disc sent Mayhem spinning into Storm 2, before Storm 2 again attacked Rhino, nearly getting flipped over by its flipping snout before shoving it around again. It pushed Rhino into the wall and Matilda’s CPZ, where Rhino escaped after Matilda tore one of the wall panels off with her flywheel. Storm 2 and Supernova proceeded to gang up on Rhino, with Rhino lifting Storm 2 in retaliation, before Storm 2 rammed Supernova into Sir Killalot’s side, tearing one of his tracks apart. Another high-speed ram left Supernova pinned against the arena wall, leaving it with mobility problems as Matilda came to free it. Supernova was counted out by Refbot, allowing Storm 2 and a now barely-moving Rhino to progress to the second round. There, Storm 2 faced fellow series debutants Trax. It immediately drove around and rammed Trax around the arena, smashing it into an angle grinder and lifting it before sending it hurtling into an empty CPZ. Trax escaped, sliding across the arena on its tracks, before Storm 2 got underneath it again and lifted it against the wall. Both robots separated, before Storm 2 rammed Trax into the wall again and forcefully dislodged the pit release button from its mount while activating it. "You’re only supposed to touch it! Down goes the pit. They’ve destroyed our pit release mechanism!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Storm 2 dislodges the pit release tyre

Storm 2 continued to get under and push Trax around the arena, careering it onto the Flame Pit at one point and withdrawing as Trax reversed into Mr. Psycho’s CPZ. It capitalised on Trax’s mistake by shoving it back into Mr. Psycho, before attempting to push it into the pit as the battle reached its climax. Trax drove and slid around the pit to avoid Storm 2 as ‘cease’ was called. "We did have one moment to put Trax in the pit, but given the way they were sliding we decided they were being so unpredictable in the arena we would play safe - after all we believed that we'd done enough to get through."

- Ed Hoppitt explains the end of the battle on the Storm 2 website

With Trax surviving to the end, the battle went to a judges’ decision, which went in favour of Storm 2.

"We knew that this was going to be the robot's last Wars...we didn’t want it going home in too many pieces, we didn’t have the heart to, really..."

- Meral Kolac on Storm 2 facing The Steel Avenger

In the Heat Final, Storm 2 faced seasoned Robot Wars veteran The Steel Avenger. Both robots circled each other in the opening seconds, with The Steel Avenger briefly getting its axe stuck in the arena floor trying to strike Storm 2. This allowed Storm 2 to get under it and ram it against the wall as before, nearly toppling The Steel Avenger over, before Storm 2 drove away and pushed Refbot along the arena floor. Storm 2 continued dodging The Steel Avenger’s axe blows and getting underneath it, eventually pushing it into Growler, although The Steel Avenger escaped, crashing into the wall as it did so. More circling and ramming ensued, before Storm 2 steered The Steel Avenger around in circles and into Growler again, and caught it side-on as it pushed it towards an empty CPZ. It slammed The Steel Avenger against the wall at full speed, the impact throwing The Steel Avenger over and out of the arena. "We didn't know what to make of the situation... we jumped around in the box going wild, having accomplished something no-one else had ever done, delivered enough kinetic energy with our robot to another robot through speed alone to launch them out of the arena!"

- Ed Hoppitt on Team Storm's reaction to throwing The Steel Avenger over the wall

As a result of this extraordinary victory, Storm 2 advanced to the Semi Finals. In the first round of its Semi-Final, Storm 2 faced The Grim Reaper, now equipped with its side skirts to prevent it from being flipped. Repeating its earlier tactics, it slammed The Grim Reaper into an angle grinder before lifting it and pinning it there before The Grim Reaper escaped. The Grim Reaper attempted to flip Storm 2, but could not breach its ground clearance, and was repeatedly rammed into the walls by Storm 2, with Storm 2 lifting it again as both robots smashed into the pit release button. Again, Storm 2 continued to get under, push and lift The Grim Reaper as both robots were attacked by Shunt, before The Grim Reaper briefly flicked Storm 2 onto its side. Storm 2 backed into The Grim Reaper before ramming it into the same angle grinder as before, knocking the grinder’s top panel off on impact. It circled The Grim Reaper near Sergeant Bash’s CPZ before slamming it into the wall near the arena gates and nudging it into Sergeant Bash, who crushed through part of The Grim Reaper’s rear panel with his pincers. Storm 2 continued to push The Grim Reaper around the arena and slam it into the walls, before lifting it onto its back and leaving it vulnerable to axe attacks from Shunt. It pinned The Grim Reaper there before Shunt nudged the latter back onto its wheels, and slammed The Grim Reaper into the wall once more as the battle drew to a close. The judges were called to make a decision, and voted in Storm 2’s favour. In the second round, Storm 2 faced three-time Grand Finalist Firestorm 5. Both robots darted around and got underneath each other in the opening stages, before Storm 2 rammed Firestorm 5 against the wall. Storm 2 launched over the top of Firestorm 5’s wedge before both robots dodged each other’s charges once again, and Firestorm 5 steered Storm 2 close to the wall. Even so, Storm 2 retaliated by getting under Firestorm 5 and positioning itself to push it from the rear, inching the veterans towards Matilda’s CPZ. Firestorm 5 backed away, only for Storm 2 to catch and drive it into the pit release button and Growler with its rear spikes. Storm 2 lingered near Growler as Firestorm 5 charged in, only to pin Firestorm 5 against an angle grinder and push it across the arena as Firestorm 5 continued to ride up Storm 2’s front wedge. It eased Firestorm 5 towards the pit, and continued to ram, nudge and spin its opponent around as it struggled to drive under, its front blade having been bent following Storm 2's attacks. Storm 2 finished Firestorm 5 off by steering it side-on into the pit, eliminating the former three-time Grand Finalist. Despite some behind-the-scenes controversy involving the producers attempting to disqualify Storm 2 for not using its lifting arm, Storm 2 secured its place in the Grand Final with this commanding performance. "A turn up for the books, the sixteenth seed beats the second seed! Storm 2, through to the Grand Final!!!!"

- Craig Charles announces Storm 2's impressive victory

In its Grand Final Eliminator, Storm 2 faced the reigning champion – and fellow rambot – Tornado. It started by dodging Tornado’s initial attacks and getting underneath it, before steering it towards an angle grinder. The two robots rammed into each other scoop-to-scoop, with Tornado pushing Storm 2 back into the angle grinder before riding over Storm 2 and being lifted as Storm 2 escaped. They continued to nudge and circle round each other until Storm 2 lifted Tornado again, this time onto its back and leaving Tornado’s scoop inverted and unable to gain any purchase on Storm 2. This allowed Storm 2 to smash Tornado into Cassius Chrome’s CPZ and the wall in rapid succession, before momentarily launching Tornado into the air as both robots collided in the centre of the arena. Again, Storm 2 manoeuvred Tornado round and continued slamming it into the walls, angle grinders and CPZs, sending Tornado hurtling along the side of the arena on impact at various points. Somewhat inexplicably, Refbot pressed the pit release button just as Storm 2 pushed Tornado over the pit square, trapping Tornado in place as it began to descend. Seconds after it had fully lowered, the pit was raised to allow Tornado to continue fighting – although the full descent was not shown on TV – and Storm 2 continued to get under and push Tornado around the arena until ‘cease’ was called. In spite of the controversy surrounding the pit, the judges’ decision went in favour of Storm 2, enabling it to advance to the final. There, it faced the Edinburgh Air Cadets and their heavyweight, Typhoon 2. In the opening moments, Storm 2 chased Typhoon 2 around the arena as the latter got its full-body spinner up to speed, before slamming wedge-first into the spinner, causing sparks to fly and Typhoon 2 to launch into the air. It continued to follow Typhoon 2 as it got its weapon spinning again, but was deflected by Typhoon 2’s second hit, and continued to make chase as Typhoon 2 struck the arena wall and its wedge, sending more sparks flying. Another collision send Typhoon 2 recoiling into the wall, stopping its weapon, and allowing Storm 2 to get underneath Typhoon 2 and lift it close to a flame jet, but unable to topple it. Storm 2 continued to chase Typhoon 2 as the latter drove into Matilda’s CPZ, its spinner unable to spin up properly after the collision with the wall, before ramming and lifting it near the wall. Another chase ensued, before Typhoon 2 drove into the wall again, tearing apart one of the polycarbonate sheets with its spinner and causing the battle to be stopped immediately while repairs to the wall were carried out. "Storm 2, on top before the 'cease', according to the judges - and again, and pursuing Typhoon 2! Typhoon 2 take-off!"

- Jonathan Pearce as the Grand Final resumes

Once the repairs were completed, the battle was restarted, with Typhoon 2 being allowed to spin up again before ‘activate’ was called. Even so, Storm 2 immediately rammed the spinning Typhoon 2 several times, sending sparks flying and at one point launching Typhoon 2 airborne. It stopped Typhoon 2’s spinner and pushed it into Matilda, before ramming it at high speed towards an empty CPZ, with Typhoon 2 catching the edge of the pit square and rolling into the pit release button. A few more slams from Storm 2 saw Typhoon 2 nearly pitted and having its weapon seemingly disabled, before Storm 2 proceeded to push it into the CPZs. In the closing seconds, Storm 2 lost one of its wedge panels as it kept pushing and chasing Typhoon 2 around, but managed to force one of Typhoon 2's drive chains to come loose in doing so, which had been previously dislodged during the latter's battle against X-Terminator. 'Cease' was called, and the battle once again went to a judges' decision as the two battle-weary robots drove round and spun in victory. "Oh what's happened to Storm 2, they've taken some damage on the front! Where on earth did that happen? That is major damage, major damage to Storm 2! Has the Grand Final turned again?! What a twister this was!"

- Jonathan Pearce reacts as Storm 2's panel falls off in the closing stages

Despite Storm 2 being more aggressive and controlled throughout the battle, the decision ultimately went in favour of Typhoon 2 on account of its dislodged wedge panel, much to the dismay of Team Storm and the audience. The decision itself, as well as the attempt to restart the battle, attracted significant controversy, particularly surrounding allegations that the producers had attempted to manipulate the battle's outcome in Typhoon 2’s favour. Needless to say, Storm 2 was declared the runner-up of the Seventh Wars. Storm 2 was one of five robots to receive automatic qualification for The Third World Championship, as a result of its performance in Series 7. In its first round battle, it faced Tornado again as well as German shufflebot Ansgar 3. Both Storm 2 and Tornado began by ganging up on Ansgar 3, with Storm 2 pushing Refbot out of the way before slamming Ansgar 3 into a CPZ, where Growler came in and rammed Ansgar 3 as it struggled to escape. The two rambots pinned Ansgar 3 against the wall and steered it onto the Flame Pit, where it became immobilised and caught fire as Storm 2 pushed Tornado into Growler. Storm 2 pushed the smoking Ansgar 3 towards the pit, and shoved it fully in with Tornado’s assistance, before Tornado got under Storm 2 and proceeded to push it around the arena, pinning it against the wall and angle grinders in the process. Storm 2 responded by steering away and ramming Tornado close to a CPZ, only to be pushed into Dead Metal’s pincers by Tornado and having part of its top armour cut into by his saw. It recovered to lift Tornado as it rammed it against the wall, nearly sending Tornado out of the arena in the process and again leaving it inverted. Storm 2 continued to ram and lift Tornado around as ‘cease’ was called, and won the subsequent judges’ decision. In the second round, Storm 2 was drawn against Dutch representatives – and Series 7 Semi-Finalist – Tough as Nails. It immediately drove into Tough as Nails’ crushing jaws and rammed it into an empty CPZ, with Tough as Nails suffering a hammer blow from Mr. Psycho as it escaped. Storm 2 continued pushing and slamming Tough as Nails into the walls, dislodging one of its tyres in the process, before Tough as Nails pressed the pit release button and grabbed Storm 2 again. "The Storm is too strong… and they are blowing Tough as Nails across this arena floor. That is not Tough as Nails in reverse. That is Storm 2, with gale force power!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Storm 2 pushes and drags Tough as Nails around in the clutches of its crusher

Storm 2 took advantage of its drive power to drag Tough as Nails with it and slam it into Sir Killalot, continuing to push it and drag it around the arena until it inched the Dutch machine towards the pit. Tough as Nails crept sideways over the edge as Storm 2 pushed it half-way over, before being completely suspended as it attempted to reverse and drag Storm 2 over the edge. Ultimately, Storm 2 escaped as Tough as Nails let go of it and dropped into the pit, and celebrated its victory by nudging its opponent’s dislodged tyre in as well. In the World Championship final, Storm 2 faced Sri Lankan representative Supernova, in what Ed Hoppitt considered to be a rematch of their Series 7 encounter. It chased Supernova around the arena in the opening stages, before colliding with its disc and pushing it against the wall. Storm 2 dodged another charge from Supernova before slamming head-on into the disc a few more times and pushing it against the centre entry gate, where Supernova spun upon the recoil of its disc. It tipped Supernova onto its side, where the gyroscopic forces of Supernova’s disc carried it towards the gate and caused it to get itself stuck there. Supernova attempted to free itself using its disc, but ended up digging into the arena floor, and was left stranded. Shunt left his CPZ and lifted Storm 2 onto an angle grinder, presuming that Supernova was about to be eliminated. Instead of being counted out, however, Supernova was freed by Refbot and proceeded to dislodge Storm 2 from the angle grinder before the two robots resumed battle. Storm 2 continued to batter Supernova until the end, losing the panel for its lifting arm and getting pinned against the wall by Cassius Chrome as time ran out. The battle went to the judges, who ruled that Supernova should have been counted out after getting stuck on the wall, and therefore eliminated via knock-out. As a result, they gave victory – and the Third World Championship – to Storm 2 after a confusing and particularly controversial finish.

Series 8
Storm 2's participation in Series 8 was first confirmed through a teaser trailer released on June 25th, 2016. In it, Team Storm admire their machine to the theme of Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful", displaying the robot's new spinning disc, before playing clips of the robot in the arena. Storm 2 appeared in Episode 4, and was drawn against veterans Terror Turtle and Sabretooth, alongside newcomer Eruption, in its first round battle. For this battle, Storm 2 was equipped with its front-hinged flipping arm, to allow it to self-right in case it was flipped over by Eruption. This first battle was relatively quiet for Storm 2. It immediately targeted Terror Turtle and pushed it around the arena into various CPZs and the wall with relative ease, whilst Eruption flipped Sabretooth over. Off-screen, Storm 2 was flipped by Eruption, but self-righted, and helped Eruption to pin Terror Turtle in the arena corner. Eventually, Eruption pushed Terror Turtle towards one of the lowered wall sections and threw it out of the arena, allowing it and Storm 2 through to the next round. "You basically ran around a lot, and let [Eruption] do most of the damage!"

- Dara Ó Briain criticises Storm 2's involvement

In the second round, Storm 2 faced Eruption again in its first Head to Head battle. It quickly got underneath Eruption and pushed it, but was momentarily caught by Sir Killalot and steered onto the Flame Pit. Quickly recovering, Storm 2's ground clearance was too low for Eruption to breach, and it easily pushed Eruption around the arena, and over the Floor Flipper, which tossed Storm 2's opponent through the air. Storm 2 pushed Eruption towards Sir Killalot, and held it in place, but not without being flipped by Eruption. Storm 2 held Eruption against the arena wall, still winning the battle of ground clearances, but in the final twenty seconds of the fight, condensed on the TV edit, Storm 2 lost mobility near the pit release button, and was flipped twice by Eruption. "My aim was to try and get them towards one of the House Robot corners and then try and flip them, but most of the time, had them on top and just rode them into a corner, and it was to a House Robot when it got there!"

- Tim Bence on Storm 2's lack of weapon use

The resulting judges' decision was a split decision in favour of Storm 2, awarding it two points, based on its more dominant performance up until the end. "That was a battle that was hard to call, until about 20 seconds to go, Storm 2 was leading comfortably and then last minute, there was some action from Eruption's flippers and I think that made a huge difference, but in the end, we feel the right team won"

- Professor Sethu Vijayakumar

In its next Head to Head, Storm 2 fought another full-pressure flipper in Apollo, and as before kept its front-hinged flipping arm as a srimech. Storm 2's low ground clearance once again proved important, stopping Apollo from getting underneath, although when Apollo found an opportunity, Storm 2 was flipped by Apollo, and pushed onto the floor flipper, launching it further. Storm 2 could not self-right until Apollo eventually left it alone, but after doing so, Storm 2 became stuck on the raised pit due to its extremely low ground clearance, exposing it to another flip from Apollo. At this stage, Apollo lost a drive chain, so Storm 2 opened the pit, although it held back while Apollo flipped Dead Metal. Taking another flip, Storm 2 self-righted and pushed Apollo into Matilda's CPZ, but this just gave Apollo another chance to flip a House Robot. However, at this point Apollo lost drive on one side, giving Storm 2 the chance to spend a large portion of the fight pushing Apollo around. It nearly pushed Apollo into the pit in the closing stages, but Apollo spun away and survived to the judges' decision. Despite Storm 2's late onslaught, the judges' decision went unanimously in favour of Apollo. In order to qualify for the Heat Final, Storm 2 needed to defeat PP3D, built by Gary Cairns, driver of the robot that defeated Storm 2 in the Seventh Wars Grand Final. This time, it swapped its front-hinged arm for the four-bar lifter, intending to overturn PP3D and prevent its undercutter flywheel from reaching it. When the battle started, Storm 2 charged straight for PP3D, buffeting it into the air thrice, gradually bringing it towards Shunt, which landed an axe blow. However, PP3D also hit Storm 2 in the process, bending a Titanium side panel away from the main body. Both robots continued to clash with each other, damaging both machines, although one particularly strong attack knocked Storm 2 onto the arena spikes, which held it in place. However, an even contest had come to a sudden halt, as PP3D lost mobility on one of its wheels, directly on top of the pit. Storm 2 pressed the pit release button, and PP3D descended, awarding Storm 2 the necessary three points to put it in the Heat Final, on a total of five points - the same amount as Apollo. Storm 2 and Apollo faced off for a second time in the Heat Final. Once again, it was equipped with its front-hinged arm, though it did not operate during the fight. Starting tentatively, Storm 2 managed to slip under Apollo and push it towards Shunt, though as before, this provided Team MAD yet another chance to flip a House Robot. Storm 2 opened the pit, and pushed Apollo towards it, but was flipped over. Fleeing, Storm 2 was launched far across the arena, into the wall, although this righted Storm 2. Matilda nudged Storm 2 from behind, so it moved to the centre of the arena. At this stage, Apollo flipped Storm 2 against an arena trench, and a second flip threw Storm 2 out of the arena.

Although Storm 2 was defeated, it remained in contention for a wildcard, alongside Behemoth, Thor, Dantomkia & Gabriel, for a potential reinstatement and place in the Grand Final. However, Thor was chosen to be reinstated, and Storm 2 was fully eliminated from Series 8.

Results

 * }

Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 17
 * Losses: 3

Outside Robot Wars
The original Storm was a box-shaped robot with four wheels and a crusher/lifter in the front, similar in design to Extreme 1 Competitor Draven, but it was never seen in Robot Wars. Instead, it competed in various robot combat events across the UK and the Dutch Robot Games. Like its successor, it was a small robot, just 75cm long, 65cm wide and 20cm tall.

Storm 2 has since competed several times in the Roaming Robots circuit, notably coming second in the UK Championship to Turbulence in 2006. However, Storm 2 has had less fortune in recent years, most recently it has competed in the 2011 UK Championships where it lost in the first round, and competed in the 2011 Annihilator in which it finished sixth, and the International Championship where it lost to Tough as Nails. Team Storm also bought Tiberius 4, which they renamed simply to Tiberius, continuing to fight with it competitively, but with their main focus being the evolution of Storm 2. Its weapon can be switched from lifter mode to front hinged self righter mode.

Like many other robots, Storm 2 also competed in Techno Games 2003 as Ickle Toaster in the Football and Sumo events. It fought Storm Chaser in the Sumo and won but broke the wall off the dojo and sent itself off in the slam that won it the match, leading to Storm Chaser winning. It worked with Savage Toaster in the Football but its speed sent a ball into the audience and team withdrew. Both matches went unaired but Team Storm received and uploaded the video of Ickle Toaster beating Storm Chaser.

The team also had two featherweights, one being Storm Vortex, which withdrew from the Robot Wars Featherweight Championship, and Force 10, the first featherweight to use Bosch 35w motors and with a claw powered by the type of linear actuators that the likes of Suicidal Tendencies used, both of which competed outside of Robot Wars.

Storm 2 also competed at the 2008 Robogames event in San Fransisco, California. They managed to defeat Eugene by immobilisation in the first round but lost to Sewer Snake in the second and was forced to forfeit its next match due to a broken gearbox. The team are now due to compete in the 2016 Robogames event with Tiberius, as Storm 2 withdrew.

Team Storm, alongside Andrew Marchant and Alan Young, competed in the 2016 series of BattleBots, using a rebuilt version of Tiberius, now named Photon Storm. In the first round, it fought well against Brazilian entry Minotaur, crushing the top of the robot, but was eventually immobilised by a strong blow from the drum spinner. Photon Storm was damaged significantly, and was not given a wildcard, eliminating it from the tournament.

Storm 2 did not return for Series 9-- after listening to the feedback of fans who wanted the robot to regain its speed from the Seventh Wars, which would take extra time to complete, the team decided not to apply, so that they could focus on fully improving and testing Storm 2 for a theoretical third series without needing to rush to complete it within the short time limit provided for the second series.

Trivia

 * Storm 2 was the only robot in history to be seeded in its début UK Championship.
 * They were also one of only three teams to be seeded despite having never won a battle in the main series, the others being Killerhurtz and Stinger in Series 4.
 * Storm 2's combined attack with Supernova on Sir Killalot (Series 7, Heat I) led to the most expensive repairs for a House Robot ever.
 * Before entering with Storm 2, team captain Ed Hoppitt was a member of Team Thermonuclear Warfare in Series 5.
 * Storm 2 was actually built for Season 6.0 of Comedy Central's BattleBots but was entered into the New Blood Championship after BattleBots was cancelled.
 * The team planned to enter the Series 7 Featherweight Championship with Storm Vortex, but withdrew due to technical problems.
 * Ed Hoppitt and Tim Bence would alternate driving during the wars.
 * Storm 2's only losses on Robot Wars were against the eventual champion of the series.
 * In 2016, Storm 2 started styling its name as Storm2, because social media hashtags (which were not a factor during the show's original run) required the name to have no spaces.
 * Over the 16 years that the robot has existed, the total build costs were around £20,000 including the costs of Storm 2's previous versions and evolutions, an investment of around £500 per team member per year.
 * Along with Krab-Bot, Razer, 101, Tornado, Behemoth, and Manta, Storm 2 is one of only seven robots to finish in the top four of a World Championship and the top eight of a domestic championship.
 * In 2007, Storm 2 received an Honorable Mention in The Combat Robot Hall of Fame, in recognition of its 'unbeatable speed and ramming power' during its Series 7 run.