Robot Wars: The Sixth Wars/Grand Final

The Sixth Wars Grand Final was between the four robots that had progressed through their heats and won at least two battles in the Semi-Finals. There were two Grand Final Eliminators to decide which robots would make the Grand Final, followed by a play-off for third and fourth. Finally, the Grand Champion would be determined in the Grand Final. The episode featuring the Grand Final was broadcast in 2002 on BBC Choice and repeated on March 7, 2003 on BBC Two.


 * Tornado became the only robot ever to win the UK Championship while beating the previous winner en-route to the title, and in the process, Razer became the only UK Champion to obtain the runner-up position after being crowned champion.


 * Terrorhurtz became the third and last robot with an overhead axe weapon to reach a Grand Final.


 * The Sixth Wars Grand Final was the only Grand Final where neither of the robots in the final battle were armed with a Lifting Weapon, although Razer added a hook on the end of its claw to act as a lifting weapon somewhat.

Veterans

 * Firestorm 4 (seeded 3rd) - Qualified from Semi-Final 1
 * Razer (seeded 1st) - Qualified from Semi-Final 1
 * Terrorhurtz - Qualified from Semi-Final 2
 * Tornado (seeded 12th) - Qualified from Semi-Final 2

Razer (1) vs Terrorhurtz
Razer immediately grabbed hold of Terrorhurtz, pushed it into the arena wall and pierced through its outer shell, as Terrorhurtz cleaved thin air with its axe. Razer lifted its opponent, but Terrorhurtz escaped only for Razer to repeat the process and cause more damage. Razer then reversed into the pit release button and took Terrorhurtz over to the pit of oblivion. Terrorhurtz frantically tried to escape by swinging its axe, but Razer eventually dropped it into the open pit.

Winner: Razer

Firestorm 4 (3) vs Tornado (12)
Tornado started quickly, pushing Firestorm 4 around the arena and into Mr Psycho's CPZ, but it quickly escaped. Firestorm 4 came back strong, pushing Tornado into Shunt, who attacked with the axe. Firestorm 4 chased Tornado around, and the latter activated the pit release button. Tornado pushed Firestorm 4 into a CPZ, where Shunt attacked both robots, but Firestorm 4 came back and pushed Tornado into another CPZ. Then Firestorm 4 got underneath Tornado and flipped it over so that Tornado's front wedge became useless. However, Firestorm 4 flipped it back over and Tornado rammed Firestorm 4 into the arena wall again. ""Come into my parlour" said the spider to the fly, and Firestorm did just that."

- Jonathan Pearce as Firestorm 4 drives onto Tornado's wedge.

Tornado got underneath again and tried to push Firestorm 4 into the pit, but just missed, then reversed and pushed Firestorm 4 into the pit of oblivion on the second attempt.

Winner: Tornado

Firestorm 4 (3) vs Terrorhurtz
Firestorm 4 started quickly and attacked Terrorhurtz, but then it drove into the CPZ and was attacked by Shunt. Terrorhurtz came in and made a big hole in the armour of Firestorm 4 with the axe, but then it appeared to stop moving. Firestorm 4 was having mobility problems too, but Terrorhurtz was clearly immobilised and was counted out. Despite being counted out, Terrorhurtz was still able to swing its axe and jump around wildly on the arena floor. "That's going to be moving at Christmas in the Year 2050 that axe."

- Jonathan Pearce as Terrorhurtz wildly swings its axe.

Finally Terrorhurtz was thrown by the floor flipper and pitted by a combination of Shunt and Dead Metal, meaning that Firestorm claimed third place for the second year running.

Winner: Firestorm 4

Razer (1) vs Tornado (12)
This was the first (and last) series to feature the first and last seeds in the Grand Final together. In the pits before the battle it was revealed that Tornado had been fitted with a giant spinning blade supported by a massive frame, built especially for battles against Razer. The Razer team responded by fitting an upward-facing claw designed to grab hold of Tornado's massive frame.

Razer started quickly and went in on the attack, but the frame on Tornado meant that it was unable to grab hold of the main body of the robot, which meant that Tornado was in full control of the battle and repeatedly pushed Razer around the arena. Tornado pushed Razer into the arena wall a few times, and Razer eventually became wedged onto the arena wall and stuck on the side of the arena. Tornado took this opportunity to smash into Razer again and again, before Razer finally broke free. Tornado then pushed Razer into the CPZ, but it was able to escape before Dead Metal could attack. Tornado continued to push Razer around the arena and back into Dead Metal and then into Shunt, who attacked Razer with his axe. The pit release button was activated, and Razer finally managed to grab hold of Tornado's frame and lifted it into the air. Razer carried it toward the pit, but the massive frame of Tornado meant that it would not fit and was suspended above the pit, unable to drop down. "They can't get them down the pit! Look at that, it's an anti-pit device as well!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Razer desperately tries to pit Tornado.

Razer held Tornado there for the last ten seconds of the battle and cease was called. The judges inspected both robots for damage and finally decided, with one of the most controversial decisions in the history of Robot Wars, that Tornado (the last placed seed) was the new UK Champion.

Sixth Wars Grand Champion: Tornado

Aftermath
This result has spawned a war between fans of Razer and Tornado over who the rightful champion is, that continues to this day. Razer fans argue that Tornado's frame made it impossible for it to go down the pit, and so accuse the team of cheating to win. This may be because of Jonathan Pearce mistakenly labelling the frame as an "anti-pit device", which only intensified the debate. Technically speaking, Tornado could be pitted with the frame, if all the wheels were over the pit and it could not escape without interference. This was not the case, as Razer was holding onto Tornado, which does not count as an immobilisation, due to the long enforced rule that pinning or holding a robot for 30 seconds does not constitute immobilisation. Had Razer released Tornado while it was over the pit, Tornado would have been deemed immobilised/pitted, and Razer would have won. Due to this, as well as Tornado's dominance throughout the fight, Tornado was deemed the winner.

Another point raised in defence of the frame is that if Tornado were to be placed diagonally over the pit with the sides of its frame facing towards opposing corners of the gap (say for example, the bottom right corner of the pit and the top left corner) and then if Razer lifted it up, Tornado would fit between the corners of the hole and this would enable Razer to lower Tornado down into the bottom of the pit. In addition, the maximum size for robots in Robot Wars is 2 metres long by 1.4 metres wide, which is technically larger than the pit itself. Tornado's measurements, with the cage attached, were just under this maximum size.

Another argument raised is the question of the fairness and sportsmanship of Team Tornado being allowed to construct and use such a frame, with detractors stating that they feel it is unfair to extensively modify a robot between rounds in such a manner, and that it was too much of a defensive addition, a rule that Tornado had to abide by earlier in the series when it was banned from using its "anti-spinner weapon" against Hypno-Disc. Supporters have replied that is one of many oddities and questionable inclusions in the rules, such as the inclusion of clusterbots, and that the inclusion of the spinning disc meant it was enough of an offensive weapon to be allowed.