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Devil Rider was a robot built by Team Death to compete in Series 6 of Robot Wars. Despite immobilising Ming 3 in its qualifier, Devil Rider proved to be the only Team Death entry which did not qualify for the televised series.

Design[]

"Team Death was on a high from series 5. Immortalis had 3 outings, the most we had ever done, but with that one wheel drive, same wheel steer it was unreliable and a dog to drive so it was time for a new robot. My teammate had sourced some motors on dodgem cars located in Skegness, so we took a trip over and negotiated 6 dodgem cars for £100. Sounds a bargain, but if you consider the cars fell apart when you picked them up and only the motors when useable, it was a fair price."
— Colin Scott on building a new robot for Series 6[1] (edited)
DevilRider

Top view of Devil Rider in Techno Games 2003

Devil Rider was a two-wheel driven robot driven by secondhand dodgem car motors, and built around an internal combustion engine. It boasted reasonable speeds, at the cost of a high ground clearance, particularly at the rear. Devil Rider's weapon was a 12" bar spinner, two inches in thickness, powered by the internal combustion engine and braked by a solenoid rubber plunger against the flywheel. This was the most effective weapon built by Team Death to date, capable of immobilising Ming 3, although it was easily pushed around. As with all Team Death machines, its armour was largely decorative, proving easy to damage, but gave the robot a unique aesthetic.

"So the new robot Devil rider was 2 wheel drive with an angular body shape built around a Briggs and Stratton IC engine. The weapon was a 2 inch thick steel bar about 12 inches long with a cutter in the middle, all driven by the engine and braked by a solenoid rubber plunger against a flywheel."
— Colin Scott describes Devil Rider in 2016[2] (edited)

Etymology[]

Colin Scott has remarked that although Devil Rider was the name of the machine for Techno Games 2003, it likely used a different name for Robot Wars, although Scott cannot remember what this name may have been. After fighting it in the qualifiers, The Hassocks Hog team simply referred to the robot as "Immortalis"[3], the name of its predecessor.

The Team[]

Main article: Team Death
Devil Rider team

Devil Rider with its team in Techno Games 2003

Devil Rider was the fourth machine built by Team Death, a group from Ossett in West Yorkshire led by team captain Colin Scott, a market salesman. He was joined by his friend Stephen Keating and son Jordan Keating. In Techno Games 2003, Stephen Keating was the driver of Devil Rider. Team Death had previously competed with Piece de Resistance, Death Warmed Up and Immortalis before building Devil Rider.

Qualification[]

"Four robots went into the arena and we shared a control cubicle with Ming 3 team. Stupidly we didn't make a pact to take out the other two robots before going one on one, but I'm sure the other teams did do this."
— Colin Scott in 2016 on preparing for Devil Rider's qualifier battle[4] (edited)

In its qualifier battle for the Sixth Wars, Devil Rider took on the experienced Ming 3 as well as newcomers Revolution 2 and The Hassocks Hog. At the very start of the battle, Devil Rider targeted Ming 3 and used its bar spinner to knock out Ming 3's removable link for an instant knockout. However, soon after this Devil Rider became stuck on the uneven floor, and after thirty seconds it was counted out. After it had been eliminated from the fight, Revolution 2 and The Hassocks Hog collided with Devil Rider and freed it, allowing all three robots to fight on, although only Revolution 2 or The Hassocks Hog could now win the fight. On a Judges' decision, The Hassocks Hog won the battle and automatic entry into the Sixth Wars, while Ming 3 and Revolution 2 were also selected to compete - Devil Rider, however, was not chosen to compete in the series.

"I drove straight at Ming 3 and took out his removable link within seconds and he was immobilised. Our robot had very low ground clearance and got stuck on the uneven floor within 30 seconds. The other two robots clashed and became locked together and they waited until Devil Rider was counted out and then freed themselves on our spinning bar. This had the effect of freeing our robot and we had two more minutes of battling on. Ming 3 and the other two robots were invited to the show (Series 6) but we were not, which I thought was unfair - Still we went on to take part in the Techno Games Sumo."
— Colin Scott in 2016 on Devil Rider not being selected for the Sixth Wars[5] (edited)

Series Record[]

Devil Rider side

Side view of Devil Rider in Techno Games 2003

Series Devil Rider Series Record
The First Wars Did not enter
The Second Wars Entered with Piece de Resistance
The Third Wars Entered with Death Warmed Up
The Fourth Wars Did not enter
The Fifth Wars Entered with Immortalis
The Sixth Wars Failed to qualify
The Seventh Wars Entered with Metalis
Series 8 Did not enter
Series 9 Did not enter
Series 10 Did not enter

Although Team Death did not enter Series 8, Colin Scott's creation, Chimera, competed under ownership of a new team, who also entered Chimera2 into Series 9.

Outside Robot Wars[]

Hellbent vs Devil Rider

Devil Rider against Hellbent in the Techno Games 2003 Sumo

Devil Rider beaten

Devil Rider is eventually pushed off the ring

After Devil Rider had attempted to qualify for Series 6, it competed in Techno Games 2003 without the use of its bar spinner. This caused the machine to rear up on a drive more often. Devil Rider fought Hellbent in the Sumo event where it was pushed off the ring after 50.40 seconds, eliminating Devil Rider in the first round of the competition.

References[]

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