The Hub Nuts

The Hub Nuts (commonly called the Class Act) were a team that fought in Series 3 to 6 of Robot Wars, also competing in both series of Robot Wars Extreme. The team were excellent sports and comedians, always guaranteed to get a laugh. On many occasions the team, in particular the captain Steve Merrill, would make a joke out of the competition and fuss over things such as outfits.

Despite their seemingly over-inflated egos, the team was very helpful in the pits, and was nominated for the Sportsmanship Award in Series 3 and 4. However, on both occasions they lost to Diotoir.

Team Members
The team originally consisted of Steve Merrill, Steve Smith and David Whitehead. Smith left after Series 3, and Whitehead left after Series 4.

It was at this point that Ray Tait, captain of the recently retired Centurion robot, joined Merrill on Sir Chromalot and completely redid the robot, replacing the previously impotent spike with an effective flipping arm.

After Extreme 2, Ray Tait left the team. Steve Merrill, along with several engineers from Alchrist Engineering, constructed a new generation Sir Chromalot - a precision box equipped with two saw discs, tipped with tungsten carbide. However, this new version of Sir Chromalot was torn apart by Scorpion in its qualifier, and thus failed to qualify.

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The Class Act considered attire very important. As a trademark, members of the Hub Nuts always dressed in tuxedos.One particular exchange in Series 6 showed Steve Merrill more interested in the jacket he would wear than who he was fighting, having brought a whole rack of jackets into the pits. The exchange resulted in Philippa stating that she believed that some of Steve Merrill's jackets were "illegal". "...most teams did not like us, but we didn't care...we used the same game plan as boxers use before going into the ring"

- Steve Merrill

Grand Entrances
Always interested in making a big show of the competition and entertaining the audiences, The Hub Nuts often arrived in style.

The Hub Nuts also arrived at Series 6 in a limousine, but this was not shown on the televised show.
 * In Series 3, the team arrived in a limousine, and before their first battle, warmed up the audience by dancing around the arena to the theme tune they had recorded.
 * In Series 4, The Hub Nuts arrived on the back of a truck with a group of cheerleaders, who chanted to announce their arrival. Before Sir Chromalot’s battle with The Steel Avenger, the cheerleaders, known as the Chromettes, also performed a dance routine to a track produced and recorded by Steve and David.
 * In the build-up to their Vengeance battle in Extreme 1, The Class Act arrived in an Arctic Truck, supported by a group of bouncers, and followed by a squad of majorettes and cheerleaders, who sang a song praising Sir Chromalot. The bouncers also stood by the Judges table during the battle, to “intimidate” the Judges.

Rivalries
The team shared a long-standing rivalry with Jonathan Pearce. Pearce originally made a comment about Merrill's weight, which led to hatred between the two. Pearce frequently made jokes about Sir Chromalot, and in turn, Sir Chromalot frequently insulted Pearce, stating at one point that he had a "grease nipple on his chin to keep his mouth moving". Sir Chromalot's weakness was often listed as "Jonathan Pearce".

The Hub Nuts also had a particular enmity with the International Wreck Crew, with hostilities leading to a Vengeance battle in Extreme 1. Steve and Ray called the opposing team "Plundergirls" repeatedly, and accused them of having no style or skill. The two teams regularly fought grudge matches outside of Robot Wars, and the rivalry was also shown in the Robot Wars Magazine, as one of the Comic Strip fights was between Sir Chromalot and Plunderbird 4, with Sir Chromalot coming out on top.

The Robot Zone
Outside of Robot Wars, Steve Merrill also hosted a live show called “The Robot Zone”. These events were displays of robots including Sir Chromalot, Centurion, Skeletron, Tornado, Chaos 2 and the House Robots. Steve Merrill would set competitions for the visitors, offering Robot Wars Merchandise as prizes. All the money raised The Robot Zone events was donated to charity.

Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 6
 * Losses: 7

Series Record

 * Series 1-2: Did not enter
 * Series 3: Heat, Round 2
 * Series 4: Heat, Round 2
 * Series 5: Heat, Round 2
 * Series 6: Heat, Round 2
 * Series 7: Failed to qualify

Outside Robot Wars
Ray Tait has built three other robots that have appeared on various television shows;


 * Skeletron, (often called Skelly) which entered in the rope climbing competition of Techno Games, where it won gold. Skelly still works to this day and appears at shows.
 * Mechatron for Mechanoids.
 * David Wreckem that appeared on Blue Peter, where it acted as a waiter, and also appeared on the show Innovation Nation.