Robot Wars Extreme: Series 2/Challenge Belt

The Challenge Belt of Robot Wars Extreme: Series 2 was a competition held during Robot Wars Extreme: Series 2. It followed on from the previous Challenge Belt competition in which Tornado had won two of the three battles it needed to win in order to keep its second belt outright. In this series, eight robots fought it out in a knock-out competition to determine which one would get the chance to give Tornado its third and final challenge for the belt. The episode featuring the Challenge Belt was originally broadcast on January 28, 2003 on BBC Choice and was repeated on September 12, 2003 on BBC Two.


 * This episode contained four cases of a robot being Thrown Out of the Arena, the most in a single episode at that point.
 * Iron Awe 2 was thrown out for the second time in its existence, making it the only robot to appear more than once, but be thrown out on all appearances. However, if one counts Iron Awe 2.1, it was not flipped out of the arena in the Seventh Wars.
 * This episode marked the final appearance of Hypno-Disc, Sir Chromalot and Terrorhurtz, although the latter appeared briefly in Series 7, before withdrawing (being disqualified on the show).
 * The Challenge between Tornado and Terrorhurtz lasted nineteen seconds, making it equal 9th in the Shortest Battles in UK Robot Wars.
 * The Final between Dantomkia and Terrorhurtz was a grudge match from earlier in Extreme 2, with Terrorhurtz winning to tie the grudge at 1-1.
 * This was the only Extreme 2 event from which all the robots had competed in Series 6 (barring the All Stars which was inherently so.)
 * In this episode, announcer Stuart McDonald pronounced Dantomkia correctly, a break of tradition, but mispronounced Sir Chromalot as Sir Chom-a-lot, having correctly pronounced the name for over three years previously.

Hypno-Disc vs S.M.I.D.S.Y. vs Dantomkia vs Sir Chromalot
Dantomkia was by far the most potent machine in this battle, attacking S.M.I.D.S.Y. first, as Hypno-Disc attacked the side of the same machine, but merely bounced off. Dantomkia then turned on Hypno-Disc, one flip turning it onto its back, the second toppling it out of the arena. Mr Psycho then pinned Dantomkia in the CPZ for a while, but eventually freed it.

"Very good steering from Steve Merrill and Ray Tait, basically what they're doing, ladies and gentlemen, is running away, they're just running away from trouble"

- Jonathan Pearce spots an oppertunity to reignite his rivalry with the Sir Chromalot team

Meanwhile, S.M.I.D.S.Y. had pressed the pit release button, and, after a few seconds of dodging, Dantomkia flipped S.M.I.D.S.Y. and overturned it, whilst Sir Chromalot dodged trouble, but was eventually caught by Dantomkia and S.M.I.D.S.Y. and flipped, but not overturned. S.M.I.D.S.Y was flipped again, but Sir Chromalot was moving slowly temporarily. Dantomkia then flipped S.M.I.D.S.Y. again, beaching it on the arena wall, and turned on Sir Chromalot again, throwing it over in the CPZ. S.M.ID.S.Y. was picked up, but ultimately freed from the wall by Mr Psycho. Sir Chromalot on the other hand was not so lucky and was severely damaged by Matilda's flywheel, the second charge throwing it clean out of the arena. S.M.I.D.S.Y., after pressure from Mr Psycho, lost drive on one side, before breaking down altogether.

Before the fight ended, Dantomkia proceeded to flip S.M.I.D.S.Y. out of the arena, but this was not shown on the televised airing. "They do great dinners here"

- Steve Merrill discusses his motives post battle

Qualified: S.M.I.D.S.Y. & Dantomkia

Barber-Ous 2 vs Vader vs Terrorhurtz vs Iron Awe 2
Terrorhurtz was the first robot to show its hand, attacking Vader with its powerful axe. Iron Awe then attacked Terrorhurtz, flicking it into the air, but failing to overturn it. Barber-Ous 2 then threw Iron Awe 2 over with its spinning barber's pole weapon, however the yellow robot self-righted. Vader was then pinned by the two axes of Terrorhurtz and Shunt, also wedging Iron Awe 2 in, allowing Barber-Ous 2 to attack without retaliation. The attack of Shunt and Terrorhurtz appeared to be enough to immobilize Vader.

Meanwhile, Barber-Ous was also in trouble from Terrorhurtz and Iron Awe, who both attacked with their respective axes. Terrorhurtz then hit the pit release button, whilst Iron Awe then attacked the smoking Barber-Ous, whilst Vader was counted out. Iron Awe then flipped Barber-Ous, but was dragged over itself, as Barber-Ous was still attached to its axe. Vader, counted out, was then thrown from the arena by Matilda's flywheel, the second such time in two battles. Iron Awe appeared unable to self-right, whilst Barber-Ous lay immobile, Terrorhurtz pitting the barber's pole. Cease was called with Terrorhurtz the only mobile machine, and the judge's ruled the Barber-Ous had been immobilised first, allowing Iron Awe to progress. "Definetely through, Terrorhurtz, we know that, that's all we know!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Qualified: Terrorhurtz & Iron Awe 2

Dantomkia vs Iron Awe 2
The two robots met in the centre of the arena, Dantomkia got in underneath Iron Awe temporarily, but Robert Grimm spun his machine away. The two machines pushed against each other, Iron Awe just missing with its axe, who then avoided its opponent for a few seconds, but eventually came back, and again missed with an axe blow; however this time, Dantomkia was underneath, and managed to push Iron Awe to the side of the arena and eventually out. "Dantomkia, still in explosive form!"

- Craig Charles, post battle

Winner: Dantomkia

S.M.I.D.S.Y. vs Terrorhurtz
S.M.I.D.S.Y. took an axe blow from Terrorhurtz, and then darted away to the pit release button. S.M.I.D.S.Y. was caught, however, and battered by Terrorhurtz, causing perticular damage to the rear right tyre of S.M.I.D.S.Y. Neither of S.M.I.D.S.Y.'s weapons could be used to any effect, as the power of Terrorhurtz axe destroyed the rear right corner of S.M.I.D.S.Y., and stopping the drive on one side. Nevertheless, Terrorhurtz continued with its massacre of S.M.I.D.S.Y., until it broke down altogether. Refbot came in and counted S.M.I.D.S.Y. out, and Sir Killalot and Dead Metal came in, Killalot putting it onto the floor flipper, landing hard on the other side of the arena. Killalot then pushed S.M.I.D.S.Y. into the pit, leaving Terrorhurtz as the clear winner.

Winner: Terrorhurtz

Dantomkia vs Terrorhurtz
Terrorhurtz started the stronger, axing Dantomkia multiple times, Dantomkia appearing to struggle to get underneath Terrorhurtz. Eventually, Dantomkia did get underneath Terrorhurtz, but missed when firing the flipper. "Big thanks to Shunt for getting in the way there!"

- John Reid

The second time, however, was far more successful, but Terrorhurtz self-righted almost immediately. Once again flipped, this time into Shunt's CPZ, Terrorhurtz took longer to right itself, but eventually did so, and sped off. Dantomkia would later claim that they could have thrown Terrorhurtz out of the arena if Shunt had not been in the way. Terrorhurtz once again worked with the axe, causing damage to the top of Dantomkia, which ground to a halt. Terrorhurtz then nudged the pit release, and dumped the machine into the pit, taking it out of the running for the Challenge Belt.

Winner: Terrorhurtz

Tornado vs Terrorhurtz
Tornado immediately pushed Terrorhurtz against the arena wall, recieving a glancing axe blow from Terrorhurtz before rushing straight to the pit release and, with a powerful thrust, dumped Terrorhurtz in the pit, succeeding in getting underneath Terrorhurtz where Danotmkia had failed. This was one of the shortest battles in UK Robot Wars, ranking in at number 9. "You can chop all day, but you can't change your fate"

- Jonathan Pearce, as Terrorhurtz was pitted

Challenge Belt Holder: Tornado