TR2

Not to be confused with Series 3 competitor, T2

TR2 is a heavyweight robot that competed in the 2016 series of Robot Wars. Although the team did not participate in the original run of Robot Wars, TR2 enjoyed considerable success in its 2016 series debut, reaching the Head to Head stage of the Grand Final. Prior to this, TR2 has seen much success at Robot Wars Live Events, and other live robotic events, winning the 2015 FRA UK Heavyweight Championships after defeating Eruption in the final round.

TR2 is the successor to Toon Raider, which also participated in Robot Wars Live Events, though has had no involvement with the TV show. TR2 was originally built in John Findlay's workshop alongside Team Toon. Since then the team have made several upgrades and kept TR2 in a fighting state.

The name "Toon Raider" is a reference to the Tomb Raider series of video games. The name of the team and the majority of its robots is a reference to the "Toon Army", a name given to supporters of Newcastle United F.C., which includes team members Alex and Wendy.

Design
TR2 is armed with a full-pressure flipper. The flipper is highly powerful, capable of flipping a one tonne car, and also features a spiked axe on the rear, nicknamed the 'bum axe'. The axe works in tandem with the robot's flipper, like that of 8645T and Robochicken, allowing TR2 to attack from either side using the flipper. This weapon also acts as the robot's self-righting mechanism. Its armour consists of 3.2mm of HARDOX wear resistant steel, with 20mm of High Density Polyethylene panels.

2016 series
TR2 competed in Episode 3, filling in as a last-minute reserve. In their first Robot Wars battle, Team Toon fought Big Nipper, Or Te and Supernova. TR2 ran into immediate problems when the battle started, as its flipper and axe could not fire in the match, essentially rendering it a weaponless wedge. Therefore, TR2 played a passive role, while Or Te was immobilised, and Supernova lost one of its flywheel teeth. Seeing this as the opportunity to strike, TR2 wedged underneath Supernova, pushing it into the arena wall and pit release, ripping away Supernova's other flywheel tooth. This left TR2 free to push Supernova around without risk of taking damage, and brought it right to the edge of the pit, also attempting to push Big Nipper down when it drew near. TR2 altered the angle of the side-stranded Supernova, which was pulled into the pit by the force of its own flywheel, allowing TR2 to qualify with Big Nipper, despite not using an active weapon. TR2 met Big Nipper for the second time in a row in the head-to-head round, which had swapped its spinning disc for crushing claws. TR2 held no fear, and exposed the side of Big Nipper to throw it towards the arena wall. Another flip brought Big Nipper into the clutches of Dead Metal, which started using its saw, while TR2 attempted to lift both robots simultaneously. The two robots skirted around the arena, until the pit was opened, where Big Nipper drove right onto the edge. TR2 pitted its opponent and earned three points. "Flipper seemed to be lacking a bit in power, but that could be because it's so cold today, but it didn't work in the first fight, so anything's an improvement. We're happy!"

- Clive Brown

TR2 then fought new opposition, fellow flipper Dantomkia, which the on-screen statistics implied was a stronger machine. However, TR2 kept its flipper low to the ground, and Dantomkia could not help but show its high ground clearance, being thrown into the arena wall. TR2's next flip slammed Dantomkia into an entry gate, although TR2 was flipped in retaliation afterwards. TR2 overturned Dantomkia once again, but when it self-righted, Dantomkia's flipper did not close. TR2 landed the KO flip, launching Dantomkia over, from which it could not self-right. TR2 celebrated by using its rear axe to attack the immobile Dantomkia, as cease was called.

On six points, TR2 had ensured its place in the Heat Final, but regardless it faced King B Remix. "King B Remix, four wheel drive, not sure how much push he's got, so, don't open the pit until we know how much push he's got"

- Tactics from Clive Brown

TR2 was easily able to expose the ground clearance of King B Remix, and flipped it towards the arena wall, then launched some smaller flips, keeping King B within the CPZ. TR2 tried to throw King B Remix out of the arena, but did not have the strength, and threw it into the wall, then into Sir Killalot. TR2 pressed the pit release button, while King B was held over the flame pit, immobilising it. TR2 performed the coup de grâce, and flipped King B Remix directly into the pit. TR2 qualified for the Heat Final with the perfect nine points, where it faced Dantomkia for the second time. TR2 started the battle in much the same way, trying to expose Dantomkia's side ground clearance, but this drove TR2 right over the floor flipper, which tossed it over, and Dantomkia flipped it towards Matilda. When Dantomkia sustained damage from Matilda, TR2 flipped their opponent, and a second flip launched it across the arena. Dantomkia suffered damage from Matilda, losing the use of its flipper, allowing TR2 to throw it into the side wall, and drive it over the floor flipper, which immobilised Dantomkia by overturning it. Although TR2 could not throw Dantomkia into the trench at the end, they had completed their undefeated run through the heat, and qualified for the Grand Final, despite a late insult from Team S.Tek. "It's a boring doorstop, look at it, how did that win?"

- Shane Swan insults TR2

Team Toon were unfazed, and continued with their catchphrase "stay confident, not cocky", as they progressed to the Grand Final. In its group battle of the Grand Final, TR2 fought Pulsar, and wildcard Thor. TR2 did not use its rear axe throughout the Grand Final. Although TR2 took a blow from Pulsar, slightly bending its flipper, TR2 pushed back, causing Pulsar to lose drive on one side near immediately. TR2 instead focused on the mobile Thor, flipping it over after a missed flip overturned TR2, and then pressed the pit release button. After flipping Thor, TR2 snuck up behind Pulsar and tossed it over, also flipping Thor when it attacked Pulsar. Although TR2 tried to throw Thor out of the arena, Pulsar was counted out, and the flipper and axe progressed, despite TR2 flipping Thor once again. "Half an hour, we'll be ready to fight again!"

- Clive Brown

In the head-to-head stage, TR2's first opponent was Apollo. It entered the battle with a new wedge welded on the front, after the flipper was damaged by Pulsar. TR2's ground clearance quickly proved to be inferior to Apollo's, and TR2 was launched into the air twice, before being tossed right onto the arena wall, where TR2 barely managed to fall back in. TR2 landed on Dead Metal's saw when flipped again, but retaliated with a flip of its own, followed up by a second flip on Apollo while Team MAD were distracted trying to flip Dead Metal. The contest was now much more even, with Apollo and TR2 flipping each other repeatedly, but when TR2 missed one particular flip, Apollo capitalised and threw it over, against the wall. TR2 did not have enough power to self-right, and was left stranded on its back. "We just couldn't get underneath them very often, so, didn't have a chance when we got into it!"

- Alex Brown

TR2 had to defeat Thor in the next battle to stay in the competition, but it quickly got underneath and threw it over. When Thor fled, TR2 flipped it over multiple times in succession, throwing it into the trench wall. TR2 used the spike arch on top of its flipped to trap Thor in place, and drove it towards Dead Metal, throwing Thor onto the flame pit. TR2 continued to flip Thor, and punished it further in combination with Matilda. TR2 flipped Thor more times, and brought it into the flywheel of Matilda, which nearly immobilised it. TR2 flipped Thor over whenever it showed signs of life, and threw it towards Matilda, which flipped Thor out of the arena, awarding the full 3 points to TR2 for a knockout win. "TR2, in my opinion, so far, the best driver of the series!"

- Professor Sethu Vijayakumar

In the final head-to-head, TR2 fought Carbide. Although Carbide's initial impacts sent TR2 reeling, ripping a panel from the top of the robot, TR2 escaped the clutches of Sir Killalot, and stopped Carbide's spinning bar by sustaining a final blow. TR2 drove underneath Sir Killalot and opened the pit, then flipped Carbide over. TR2 threw Carbide into the arena wall, and brought it near to the pit. The audience cheered for TR2 as it lured Carbide over the floor flipper repeatedly, and flipped it into Shunt. After flipping Carbide again, TR2 parked near the pit to draw Carbide towards it, but was forced to flip it back into Shunt. TR2 had lost the use of its flipper, but it held Carbide in the CPZ until cease was called. "Best fight for me ever!"

- Alex Brown

The Judges' decision was unanimously called in favour of TR2, awarding it two points. This would only be enough points to qualify for the final if Thor defeated Apollo, so Team Toon watched the match alongside Dara and Angela, but were eliminated from the competition when Apollo surpassed TR2 in points. "We're going home, we're knocked out of the competition, but we only lost one fight, so we've done our best. Our best wasn't good enough this year, next year it will be!"

- Clive Brown

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 8
 * Losses: 1

Series Record

 * Series 1-7: Did not enter
 * 2016 Series: Grand Final, Third Place

Robot Wars Live Events
TR2 and Toon Raider have been regular competitors at Robot Wars live events, with their success improving each year. On June 19th 2010, Toon Raider first managed to truly make a name for itself by flipping Bigger Brother out of the arena. In 2015, TR2 effectively became a Robot Wars champion, after beating the two-time champion, Eruption, in the final of the 2015 UK Heavyweight Championships.

Team Toon also participate in Featherweight events with Tiny Toon, which first gained success by winning the 2010 Featherweight UK Championship.

Outside Robot Wars
Alex Brown is the youngest ever Featherweight and Heavyweight UK champion winner in live UK robot championships. In addition to Robot Wars, TR2 also makes regular appearances in other live robot combat shows such as Robots Live!, winning the 2015 FRA UK Heavyweight Championship at their Stevenage event and finishing third in the 2016 event.

Before TR2 was built, its predecessor Toon Raider was previously called And His Army which started off as John Bell's heavyweight Batterbot before being given to Team Toon where it was renamed and given a new paint job. The first incarnation of this machine fell in the group stages of the 2008 UK Championships after being damaged by Tiberius but for 2009 it was rebuilt again and it reached the 2009 UK Championship finals where it lost to Terrorhurtz on a judges decision. 2010 was the year when And His Army was rebuilt and renamed to Toon Raider. Toon Raider has done well in events reaching the semi-finals of the 2010 UK Championships before losing to Iron-Awe 5 and also competed in the 2010 Annihilator finishing 3rd. In 2014, the team were also given Hellbent 2 from its previous owner Robert Lewis with the hope of entering it in live events again.

Team Toon have also fought on the circuit with various featherweights which are listed below:


 * 44 Toon: A four-wheel driven double-scooped rambot designed to keep being able to ram its opponents no matter how many times it gets flipped over. This originally was built in 2005 by Team Lambsy for the Roaming Robots 2005 Winter Tour before being sold in 2007 to Team Shock, but after not much success, it was sold again to Team Toon in 2008.
 * Looney Toon: A pink wedge-shaped robot armed with a front-hinge flipper. Due to it sometimes being unreliable at events, it has frequently been nicknamed "Stagefright".
 * Stealth: A black octagonal wedge-shaped robot armed with a full-pressure flipper.
 * Tiny Toon: The team's first ever robot which was originally the featherweight version of Batterbot owned by John Bell from Team Scorpion. It was bought at the time of the Heavyweight 2007 UK Championships and had been renamed and repainted to its current form. Tiny Toon has won the 2009, 2011 & 2014 UK Annihilators, and the 2010 UK Championships.
 * Tiny Hurtz: A featherweight version of the previously successful heavyweight, Terrorhurtz. This featherweight is armed with a double-headed axe like the heavyweight counterpart. To also make the featherweight, John Reid helped by supplying the team with the blueprints of Terrorhurtz.
 * The Toonimator: A two-wheel driven featherweight armed with horizontal spinning disc.

The majority of the teams robots are painted in the same colour scheme of black and white horizontal stripes, which is the same colour of Newcastle United F.C., Alex and Wendy's supported football team. They have also fought on the live event circuit with two antweights called Ant & Dec.

Charity Auction
Team Toon organised a charity auction in 2016, to raise money for Cancer Research UK, as a tribute to Krissy Knee, Alan Gribble, and Steve Merrill. Across three waves, the auction is selling various parts from a large number of 2016 TV competitors, and a list of the current auctions can be found.

Trivia

 * The majority of the team are descended from George Stephenson, the inventor of the railway network of Britain that still exists to this day.
 * TR2 was the only robot in the 2016 series to qualify from its episode undefeated, not requiring a single Judges' decision.
 * TR2 is the only robot to score the full 9 points in the Head-to-Head stage, and was also the robot in the Grand Final with the fewest losses throughout the 2016 series.
 * TR2 is one of two FRA heavyweight champions to have qualified from a heat, the only other being Terrorhurtz.
 * TR2 is the one of the few newcomers to have won a heat and face a veteran in every single battle.
 * Apollo and TR2 are the only robots to have fought three robots on multiple occasions during a single UK Championship run (fighting Dantomkia, Big Nipper and Thor twice each), though Apollo is the only robot to fight one of those robots three times.