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"A classic design, combined with superb engineering, power and immaculate driving skills: Firestorm! It's one of the greatest robots ever seen on the show ..."
Robot Wars: The Official Magazine on Firestorm[1]

Firestorm (styled as FireStorm on the robot's logo and website) was the name given to a series of heavyweight robots which competed in the British TV show Robot Wars. Firestorm fought in every series of the original run beginning with Series 3, as well as both series of Robot Wars Extreme.

One of the show's most famous and consistent individual robots, Firestorm reached the Semi-Finals or further in every one of its five appearances, and finished third on three occasions (Series 3, 5 and 6). During this time, it amassed 33 combat victories, the second highest of all UK Robot Wars competitors after Razer, and 23 in the main competition, making it the single most successful robot in terms of main competition battles, even without winning a main championship. Firestorm's only trophy in the history of the show was the Commonwealth Carnage tournament held in Extreme 2, towards the end of its career.

Firestorm was also the most successful front-hinged flipper in the show, and the only robot able to throw another robot out of the arena with such a weapon. Some of Firestorm's most famous moments include its rivalry with Panic Attack, its controversial Heat Final encounter with The Morgue in Series 4, its close encounter with Razer in the Grand Final of Series 5, being the only robot to flip Mr. Psycho during the Commonwealth Carnage, and being flipped out of the arena by Chaos 2 in Series 3 before going on to break Chaos 2's own record of out of the arena flips by Series 7.

Versions of Firestorm[]

"We realised that what a lot of the other bots didn't have was manoeuvrability, which is why we've put the active differential on the inside. The wedge shape was a good design that enabled us to get underneath an opponent and then flip them over with the flipper."
— Graham Bone, in a Robot Wars magazine article.[2]
Firestorm

The original Firestorm

TeamFSExtreme2

Team Firestorm with Firestorm 4

In total, there were five versions of Firestorm, each one an upgrade of each preceding machine. The basic design was a simple wedge driven by two go-kart wheels located at the rear, with a pneumatic front-hinged flipper that doubled as a self-righting mechanism. All versions of Firestorm had angled sides, so Firestorm could not get stuck on its side, either falling back to its wheels or onto its front where it could self right[3]. This design helped minimise Firestorm's front ground clearance, making it highly manoeuvrable and capable of getting underneath other robots with ease. Ironically, while Firestorm's comparatively high rear ground clearance made it vulnerable to being pushed around, it gave it an advantage over other wedges as it could have its front lifted up a considerable amount without having its wheels lifted off the ground.

"The reason for that was that when we went up a ramp we wouldn't be popped over. It's the same when you see a robot that doesn't have that wedge; if they go over an opponent that does have a raised back, because of the ground clearance, all their wheels will be lifted off the ground and that leaves them prone. With Firestorm, we can still have wheels in contact with the ground even on an angle. It gives us traction and allows us to reverse off if needed."
— Graham Bone, explaining the logic behind Firestorm's design in a Robot Wars magazine article
Firestorm diagram

Diagram of Firestorm’s drive setup

Firestorm drive

Firestorm’s unique drive system

Firestorm also had a top speed of 12mph and a set of active differentials that greatly helped its manoeuvrability - one 36V motor for forwards and backwards drive and a 24V motor for steering. These, combined with its signature tactic to drive and flip other robots against (and later over) the side walls, ensured Firestorm's high run of success in the original UK series. Out of the arena flips were also achieved with the help of a front castor, which allowed Firestorm to 'rear up' and 'shove' its opponent out of the arena.

"The main weapon of FireStorm is a 'Flipper'. The main difference between FireStorm's flipper and most of the robots' in Robot Wars is the way it is hinged. Ours is hinged at the front making it more of a 'Roller' than a 'Flipper' although it does provide more protection than the top-hinged type."
— The Firestorm website[4] (edited)

All Firestorm machines had the ability to shift their balance to the back and rear up to raise the front profile off the ground, which would later assist with Firestorm 4 and 5's ability to throw robots out of the arena, but was initially designed with running the Gauntlet in mind, all the way back in Series 3.[5]

Firestorm[]

"Two old school friends from the Groundhog team in the last series return with one motor from a lawnmower, another from a cordless drill, a flipping srimech arm, hardened aluminium shell, and Firestorm is smoking!"
— Jonathan Pearce introduces the original machine
Firestorm 3 arena

The original Firestorm in the arena

FirestormS3spike

The spike at the rear of Firestorm, extended

The original incarnation of Firestorm (introduced on the statistics board as Fire Storm, officially FireStorm according to the team) competed in Series 3 and weighed 67.9kg, fairly lightweight compared to its opponents. It introduced the standard Firestorm wedge design made of hardened aluminium and housed two separate motors; one from a lawnmower and one from a cordless drill, both running at 36V. It ran on two Go-Kart tyres. A third, undisclosed battery was also used. It had three weapons, two of which worked in synergy. A set of conveyor belts running up the front wedge would pull a robot up the wedge where the T-shaped flipping arm could push it over. A retracting spear, similar to that of Cassius 2 was housed at the rear of the machine. It took six months to design on a computer, and was initially designed to work well in the The Gauntlet, though it never had to run the Gauntlet, as it was dropped from the show after Series 2.[6]

Firestorm 2[]

"Bigger and better than the last wars. Bigger gas supply, bigger rams, bigger batteries, bigger motors. Bigger and better."
— Graham Bone on the improvements from the first Firestorm
Firestorm2

Firestorm 2, with its reversed paint job and improved flipper design

Firestorm s4 arena

Firestorm 2 in the arena

The original robot was updated over three months to become Firestorm 2, and gained 12kg to weigh in at 79.9kg. The colour scheme was inverted to red and yellow, with small squares instead of dots. Firestorm 2 also had a 3mm aluminium shell and retained the go-kart wheels. The robot cost £2,000 to build, and abandoned the conveyor belts and lifting bar in favour of a full front-hinged panel flipper. It was capable of a higher flip output than its predecessor and supposedly Chaos 2. The flipper was powered by fire extinguisher CO2 gas. Firestorm 2 would also use a jumping cylinder to push the robot's front wedge off the floor when attempting a flip, a future staple of the Firestorm machines.

Julia Reed: "I have heard that your pneumatic flipper has got more flips in it than Chaos 2!"
Graham Bone: "Yes. That's true."
Julia Reed: "So if you actually had to go head to head with them, you might be in with a chance!"
Graham Bone: "Could be. They're more powerful but we can flip more times, so possibly."
— Julia Reed discusses the more powerful flipper with the team before Round 2
Firestorm2 s4 mag

Firestorm 2 in the Robot Wars Magazine

Firestorm s4 wedge

Firestorm with a new front edge for the Tag Team Terror

As Firestorm 2 arrived at the Fourth Wars overweight, its larger batteries were swapped for smaller ones, and it had its metal castor wheels replaced with plastic ones. Before the Heat Final with The Morgue, the larger batteries were put back in place of the jumping cylinder, with Alex Mordue stating that the cylinder was not having much effect and the additional power was more desirable.

Graham Bone noted in 2024[7] that the square patterns on Firestorm 2 were implemented not by choice, but simply as a compromise due to a lack of time to work with their local painting firm responsible for past and future Firestorm paintwork.

Firestorm 3[]

"Electric power to ignite our Firestorm"
— Jonathan Pearce
Firestorm III crop

Firestorm 3 in Extreme 1

Firestorm III

Official profile for Series 5

Firestorm 3 weighed 100kg, with the increased weight limit allowing the team to add more armour to the robot. A new chassis was constructed for the wedge, resulting in slight dimensional increases across the board, and the robot reverted to the original colour scheme. Two more batteries were added.

"With the move from an 80kg to 100kg weight limit it was possible to add another 2 batteries in FireStorm 3. This means that there are now 3 batteries giving 36v and 2 batteries giving 24v. Having different packs for each of the voltages means that the batteries discharge at a more even rate."
— The Firestorm website[8]

However, Firestorm 3's transmitter was noted as being unreliable. It could reach a top speed of 12mph, the motors having been replaced to improve the robot's speed.

"One of the main failures of FireStorms 1 & 2 was its speed of turn. With the active differential, the robot was very controllable, however the diff motors were just not quick enough. In FireStorm 3, the old PM46 drive motors were replaced with PM47 motors, the gearbox's were also completely fabricated for the motors. These motors now give an output speed of around 2000 rpm - a large increase from the previous 1400 rpm. Another improvement for the motors is the voltage they are run at. The motors in FireStorm 3 are 18v motors overvolted to 24v."
— The Firestorm website[9]
Firestorm in polkadot fur

Firestorm 3 garbed in Diotoir fur

In some of its Extreme 1 battles, Firestorm 3 also sported the red and black polka dot fur of fellow competitor Diotoir around its sides and rear end.

Firestorm 3 was rebuilt between Extreme 1 and Series 5, with the armour being thickened from 3mm to 5mm, more batteries being added, and the motors being uprated.[10] Other noticeable differences included the reduction from two exposed aerials down to one, and the removal of the hoop on the back of the first Firestorm 3 build. The updated robot was finished at 8pm the night before the filming of Series 5.[11] Notably all merchandise of Firestorm 3 reflected the earlier model.

Firestorm 4[]

Philippa Forrester: "How long did it take you to completely rebuild this robot?"
Graham Bone: "It's taken the last four weeks."
Philippa Forrester: "Four weeks, and they've completely rebuilt it, I think that's a huge achievement!"
— The build time of Firestorm 4 is revealed
Firestorm

Official profile for Series 6

Again, Firestorm 4 was completely rebuilt over four weeks, using a new 5mm T6 aluminium body shell and featuring a slightly more powerful flipper. According to Robot Wars: The Official Magazine, the flipper fired at a pressure of 120psi (approximately 8 bar) and could lift up to 170kg.[12] Like its immediate predecessor, Firestorm 4 was also finished on the day before filming.[13]

"Just before we (me and Hazel) went on holiday Mentorn announced that the filming of Series 6 would be taking place on the 1st of July. "Oh dear" we thought, as we had done absolutely no work on the new robot. Oh well, the holiday was booked, and we needed a break so off we went. 1500 miles and a week later we returned and work started in ernest {sic}."
— Team Firestorm website
Firestorm 4 Arena

Firestorm 4 in the arena during Series 6

Firestorm IV

Firestorm 4 in Extreme 2 with its new front blade

Firestorm 4 was also the first to start deliberately rearing up onto its back end to assist with out of the arena flips, despite this functionality being available from the earliest Firestorm machine. In Extreme 2, a large steel strip was added to the tip of Firestorm 4's wedge, enabling it to withstand more damage and minimise the wear that Firestorm's front would receive over the course of each series, and potentially get underneath other robots more easily than before.

"Well, what it'll do, because the lid's aluminium, and it wasn't to a sharp edge, we always used to pick up damage, so we hope by adding this we should reduce the damage that we get, which will keep us nice and low to the ground, should be able to get under people easier"
— Graham Bone explains the steel strip

Firestorm 5[]

Firestorm V

Firestorm 5 in the series semi-finals

Firestorm 5 side view

A side view of Firestorm 5

"We've totally rebuilt the shell, and we've done a little bit of work on the inside and the plumbing, maybe get the arm a bit faster, but other than that it's basically the same machine as we had last year."
— Graham Bone lists the improvements to Firestorm 5

The pneumatics were once again revamped for Firestorm 5 in Series 7, allowing the flipper to fire even faster than before. The robot would now use its removable steel strip along the bottom of the wedge as part of the main competition, first used by Firestorm 4 during the second series of Extreme. At this stage, the only surviving component from the original Firestorm was the framework surrounding its differential drive system.

Etymology[]

Firestorm logo

The Firestorm logo

FireStorm Logo

The Firestorm logo on the robot, pictured in 2024

Firestorm is named after the natural phenomenon of the same name. Although the TV show and merchandise used the spelling "Firestorm", the team would consistently capitalise the name as "FireStorm" on the robot itself and on the team website, including the GroundHog website before Firestorm was built. The Firestorm series also alternated usage between standard numbers and Roman numerals, with one example being the TV show using "Firestorm IV" and the team website using "FireStorm 4".

The Team[]

Main article: Team Firestorm
TeamFirestorm

Team Firestorm in Series 5

Firestormext1aftermath

The team with Firestorm 3 in Extreme

Firestorm was entered into Robot Wars by a team from Durham, making it one of the few "all-star" robots to come from the north. Graham Bone was the team captain and was the only member present for all of Firestorm's appearances. Graham was joined by Alex Mordue beginning from Firestorm's debut in Series 3. Graham and Alex were both mechanical engineering students and had previously entered Series 2 with GroundHog.

Team Firestorm S6

Team Firestorm in Series 6

In Extreme, Graham's girlfriend and later fiancée, Hazel Heslop, became a member and remained a part of the team until Series 7. After Series 5, Alex Mordue left the team after relocating to Scotland, leaving Graham and Hazel as the only members of Team Firestorm until the end of their campaign.

Another member, Jenny Parsons, was also part of the team during the side events that Firestorm competed in during Series 4. However, she was not credited on the statistics board and did not appear in any other series afterwards.

Rivalries[]

Panic Attack[]

"Firestorm 5, I think may've beaten us five times before now!"
— Kevin Pritchard of the Panic Attack team, in Series 7
Firestorm vs panic attack

Firestorm demonstrates its best tactic against an old rival

Firestorm and Panic Attack had a long-standing rivalry throughout Robot Wars, fighting on five separate occasions, more than any other pair of robots. During the first semi-final of Series 3, the two robots met for the first time, and Firestorm dominated the battle, repeatedly pushing Panic Attack around and flipping it up a few times, winning the resulting judges' decision and ending Panic Attack's long-standing run of victories.

There was no vengeance gained for Panic Attack when the two met again during the All-Star championship during Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1. Panic Attack exposed its sides to Firestorm 3, who pushed it up against the sidewall again, but this time Panic Attack couldn't get down and was eliminated.

During the losers' melee of Series 5, the two once again battled, although this was a far quieter affair, as Panic Attack broke down early on, and Firestorm 3 spent most of the battle taking on Wheely Big Cheese. After Panic Attack came back to life, Firestorm 3 pushed it around and Panic Attack retaliated by lifting Firestorm 3 up in the final ten seconds, but despite this late aggression, Firestorm 3 was given the victory again after a judges decision.

FIrestormPAteams

The two teams before their battle in Extreme 2

In the second series of Extreme, the two met again in the second round of the Commonwealth Carnage.

Philippa Forrester: "This is it: Wales against England, Panic Attack versus Firestorm. They're evenly matched."
Graham Bone: "I wouldn't say that!"
Philippa Forrester: "Why?"
Graham Bone: "We've beaten them three times already!"
— Boasts from Team Firestorm

The battle was dominated by Firestorm 4, who once again pinned Panic Attack onto the side wall after shoving Panic Attack around the arena, putting the grudge at 4-0.

The last conflict between the two was during the Series 7 All-Stars competition. Before the battle, both Kevin Pritchard of Team Panic Attack and Hazel Heslop of Team Firestorm stated their intentions for Panic Attack and Firestorm to go after each other in their pre-battle interviews.

Jayne Middlemiss: "What are you gonna do in the All-Stars battle for us?"
Hazel Heslop: "What are we gonna do? Ooh, we're gonna have to go against Panic Attack, won't we?"
— Pre-battle interview

All of the robots in this battle took the House Robots on instead of each other, and amidst the chaos, Firestorm 5 drove into the pit, so the fact that Panic Attack technically defeated Firestorm is not an accurate description, but this was the only battle between the two where Panic Attack came out on top.

Qualification[]

Firestorm first qualified for Series 3 by attending the live auditions and running the obstacle course. For every subsequent series of the classic run, Firestorm automatically qualified as a seeded machine and was not required to take part in the live qualifiers.

Ahead of the reboot in 2016, Graham Bone was contacted by Mentorn and invited to compete in Series 8. However, with respect to the time commitment required to update Firestorm 5 to use modern internals such as lithium polymer batteries, the team declined[14].

Robot History[]

Series 3[]

"Hardly a minnow, Firestorm, but you wouldn't expect this kind of damage against a shark!"
— Jonathan Pearce during Firestorm's debut battle
Crasha Gnasha flipped

Firestorm disappears in a cloud of smoke as it rams Crasha Gnasha

In its first appearance, Firestorm was placed against newcomer Crasha Gnasha in its first-round battle. Firestorm immediately charged straight at Crasha Gnasha, whilst Crasha Gnasha drove forward a little and turned so its hammer tail was facing Firestorm. When Firestorm reached Crasha Gnasha, it slammed it into the wall and threw it onto its back. As Crasha Gnasha fell, smoke poured out of its saw. With no self-righting mechanism, Crasha Gnasha was immobilised and attacked by the House Robots.

"A quick one this one. Straight out and into the side of Crasha Gnasha, flipping it in the process. That was it - all over in the blink of an eye. Glad to get the first fight over and done with (its always the most nerve wracking)"
— Firestorm website[15]

Firestorm progressed to the second round, where it faced fellow flipper-wielding robot Facet. Team Joint Effort's new robot.

Philippa Forrester: "Tell me your weak points and strong points."
Graham Bone: "Strong points; we can turn people over and turn ourselves back over. Weak points; don't really know!"
— Pre-battle interview.
Firestorm vs facet

Facet flips Firestorm over

Facet vs firestorm

Firestorm skims over the wedge of Facet

In this battle, Firestorm immediately rammed up onto Facet's side, lifting both robots up a little, then tried to attack the other side, but drove over the flipper. Firestorm reversed, and turned to get away from its opponent. Facet closed in and tried to flip, but Firestorm drove off just before the flipper fired. Firestorm rammed Facet, but did not get underneath, so drove behind Facet. Facet tried to get away, but Firestorm was too fast and drove under it. However, it failed to slow down and fire the flipper, so Facet went over the top. Firestorm drove around Facet, driving through Matilda's CPZ, and driving away before she could attack. Matilda came out briefly to bump Facet, which was nearby, so Facet turned away. Facet drove at Firstorm and Firestorm made the mistake of driving up the wedge, allowing Facet to flip it.

"The first real test for the self righting mechanism. And it worked beautifully (although the gas strut was bent requiring another to be flown down as a repair)."
— Firestorm website[16]
Facet vs firestorm

Firestorm strands Facet on its side

Firestorm quickly self-righted, and charged at Facet, but drove over the wedge. Facet drove down towards the bottom of the arena, and Firestorm charged at it, but Facet turned away from it when it got close. Firestorm got under Facet and tried to flip, but it didn't have the flipper under Facet properly, so only lifted its opponent up slightly. Facet reversed away, bumping into Matilda again as it did, but escaping before she could do any damage. Firestorm drove under Facet and tried to flip again, but for the second time, its flipper was not under Facet properly, so Firestorm failed to flip its opponent over. Firestorm got under Facet, pushed it against the arena wall, and fired the flipper. This time, the flipper was fully underneath Facet, so Facet was turned on its side against the wall. Facet fired the flipper, but the robot was at such an angle that the flipper could not push the robot away from the wall, or back onto its wheels. As Facet was stuck, Firestorm drove into Matilda's CPZ, and was lifted by the House Robot's forks, but it escaped. Facet was immobilised, and was attacked by Sir Killalot before "Cease" was called.

"This one could have gone either way - FireStorm and Facet were quite equally matched with similar designs - Both with flippers - Facet's more powerful, but its what you do with the power you have that matters :)"
— Firestorm website[17]

In the Heat Final, Firestorm was drawn against the Irish robot Diotoir, the successor to Nemesis

Philippa Forrester: "How do you battle madness, I mean, where do you know where to start?"
Alex Mordue: "With madness, obviously!"
— Prior to the Heat Final
Diotoir vs Firestorm

Firestorm flips Diotoir

Diotoir flame pit vs firestorm

Firestorm pushes Diotoir onto the Flame Pit

Firestorm charged into Diotoir in the opening seconds, pushing it back to the arena wall, then trying to push it towards the flame pit. Diotoir turned to get off Firestorm's front, then turned and got the flipping arm under Firestorm, so Firestorm backed off for another attack. Diotoir meanwhile had been immobilised after its batteries had disconnected, so Firestorm drove back at Diotoir. After driving up the wedge on the first attempt, Firestorm got under Diotoir and turned it over. With Diotoir already defeated, Firestorm pushed it over the Flame Pit, setting fire to Diotoir's fur as Dead Metal came in to attack the defeated machine. Diotoir was left to burn and was flipped by the Floor Flipper.

"After much pre-battle banter (along the lines of "which flame pit would you like to be pushed over") the fight starts. This lasted slightly longer than the first round although as promised, we flipped Diotoir (their batteries disconnected themselves) and pushed them over the flame pit. The end!"
— The Firestorm website sums up the battle[18]

Firestorm progressed to the Semi-Finals. In the first Semi-Final, Firestorm was placed against newcomer Pitbull in the first round. Before the battle, Graham and Alex wore codpieces made from Diotoir fur.

Philippa Forrester: "What on earth is the story?"
Graham Bone: "Well, it was our last match with Diotoir, and they said that if they were going to win, they were going to wear them, but they lost, so we're wearing them!"
Philippa Forrester: "Hmm, I wonder why they lost [She laughs] Yes, you look stupid!"
— Pre-battle interview about the codpieces.
Fire Storm vs Pitbull

Pitbull is bounced by the spikes whilst holding Firestorm

Pitbull darted straight at Firestorm, but Firestorm dodged it. Firestorm turned around and drove at Pitbull, but drove straight into its jaw, so Pitbull clamped the wedge between its jaws and pushed it around the arena.

"And this could be the first surprise of the Semi-Finals! Firestorm regarded in the pits as a complete robot, with fine weaponry, good technical ability too."
— Jonathan Pearce
Firestorm vs Pitbull

Pitbull rolls over

It continued pushing around, but the pit was raised, and Firestorm pushed back, so Pitbull could not finish it off. Pitbull kept hold of FiresStorm regardless, but drove over an arena spike, which tossed it up and down. The spike did not flip it over, but Pitbull let Firestorm go. Pitbull pushed Firestorm into Sir Killalot's CPZ, but when it reversed away, it drove into Matilda's CPZ. Both robots escaped from the House Robots at the same time, before meeting again near the flame pit. Firestorm rammed Pitbull, but hit the front of the robot, bouncing off the jaws. Pitbull drove away, but Firestorm quickly caught up, and pushed Pitbull back. Firestorm tried to get under Pitbull, but turned, which allowed Pitbull to get down. Pitbull drove over the arena spike and as it was flipped over, Firestorm nudged it, preventing it from rolling over. The four house robots closed in, and Firestorm was through.

"A slow battle this one. Pitbull got a grip and wouldn't let go. We pulled it about a bit - they pulled us too. One of our pulls got them over a spike and soon after they left go. They then proceeded to drive over a spike and were turned over. "
— Firestorm website on the Pitbull fight[19]

In the second round, Firestorm was pitted against the reigning champion Panic Attack, in the first of many battles representing a long-lasting rivalry between the two machines.

"Panic Attack 2. Not a match we were looking forward to as they were the reigning champions. Another good fight, lasting the full five minutes. We flipped Panic Attack, they managed to self right (their first test of the system)."
— Firestorm website on fighting Panic Attack[20]
Bash panic attack firestorm

Sgt. Bash seizes Panic Attack whilst Firestorm flips

At the start, Firestorm drove around Panic Attack, got under it and pushed towards Sgt. Bash's CPZ. Panic Attack got off the wedge, and tried to escape, but Firestorm soon got under again and pushed it to Sergeant Bash. Panic Attack was seized by the House Robot's pincers. Firestorm lifted Panic Attack, causing Bash to release it, but Panic Attack was not flipped and managed to escape the CPZ.

"A flash of reds and yellows out there, splendidly coloured."
— Jonathan Pearce
Fire Storm vs Panic Attack

Firestorm pushes against Panic Attack

FirestormvsPA RWS3

Firestorm flips Panic Attack

Panic Attack reversed over Firestorm's wedge, dodging the flipper, but scraping the armour plate on the lifting arm, bending it out of place. Panic Attack mistakenly drove into Bash, but a distraction from Firestorm managed to allow Panic Attack to escape. Firestorm then wedged beneath Panic Attack, but failed to flip it, driving out instead. Panic Attack drove into Shunt's CPZ, but managed to dodge behind the House Robot and get out again. However, as Panic Attack drove out, an arena spike bounced it up onto one side. Firestorm immediately rushed around and caught enough of Panic Attack on its wedge to push it against the side wall and flip it against it. However, Panic Attack used its srimech to land back on its wheels. Panic Attack then drove into Sir Killalot's CPZ, harassed by Firestorm.

"Kim Davies is doing everything he possibly can to drive Panic Attack into the troubled zones here!"
— Jonathan Pearce
Firestorm panic attack

Panic Attack's last-minute attack

Panic Attack was pushed out by Sir Killalot, and after manoeuvring, reversed Firestorm into the CPZ. However, it turned side on in the process, and exposed itself to Sir Killalot's attack. After dodging out of Sir Killalot's way, the two briefly ran into Bash. Finally, Panic Attack got beneath Firestorm, but the wedge shape of Firestorm meant that there was nowhere for Panic Attack's claws to negotiate, and Firestorm merely slid off the reigning champion's forks. As the timer started counting down, both robots drove around clumsily, crashing into walls and House Robots. The judges were called on to make a decision, and Firestorm was chosen, eliminating the reigning champion.

"Chaos is quite a good machine, I think we'll be doing well to beat that."
— Alex Mordue, having been asked by Craig Charles if they can go all the way

In the Grand Final eliminator, Firestorm faced the potent flipper of Chaos 2.

Philippa Forrester: "When he says "3, 2, 1, activate!", what will be going through your head?"
Graham Bone: "Win!"
Alex Mordue: "Win!"
— Pre-battle interview.
Chaos 2 vs Fire Storm

Chaos 2 flips Firestorm over

Chaos2vsfirestorm RWS3

Firestorm becomes the first to be thrown out of the arena

Both machines charged into the centre of the arena, and spun around each other, trying to get their flippers under the opponent. However, a circuitry fault caused Firestorm to lose forward drive towards the very beginning of the match[21], allowing Chaos 2 to flip it over. Firestorm made no visible effort to self-right before Chaos 2 pushed Firestorm towards the arena wall, and for the first time in Robot Wars history, threw Firestorm out of the arena.

"This one didn't last long. A little bit of wiggling (our battery circuit for forwards had come loose) and Chaos tipped us over, another couple of seconds later, and they had flipped us out of the arena - another first."
— The Firestorm website sums up the battle[22]

Firestorm was eliminated, becoming the first of many robots to be flipped out of the arena.

"Chaos 2: Delightful. Firestorm: De-railed, and deranged"
— Jonathan Pearce, upon viewing the replay again

As a result of its defeat, Firestorm was due to fight Steg-O-Saw-Us in a play-off battle for third place. However, Steg-O-Saw-Us did not take part due to the damage it sustained in its battle with Hypno-Disc. Firestorm was intended to be awarded third place by default, but the two teams instead decided to share the position, meaning that Firestorm and Steg-O-Saw-Us finished joint third overall.

"It seemed unfair to them as obviously this was right at the end of filming and so they didn't have enough time to make repairs (no other bouts to film)"
— Alex Mordue[23]

Series 4[]

"We're here to win, we're here for our revenge on Chaos 2!"
— Graham Bone

Firestorm 2 returned for Heat C of the Fourth Wars, seeded fifth after its performance in the Third Wars. In its first-round eliminator, it was placed against newcomers Scar and The Morgue. Firestorm 2 had a problem before the battle, when it arrived at the studio overweight. The team were able to solve this problem by replacing the batteries with smaller batteries, and changing the metal caster balls with plastic ones.

Firestorm flips Scar

Firestorm 2 flips Scar.

Firestorm flips The Morgue

Firestorm 2 flips The Morgue onto the arena wall

Firestorm 2 immediately flipped Scar over, but it was invertible, so no harm was caused to the newcomers' machine. The Morgue drove at Firestorm 2, getting under it with the lifter and pushing it, but Firestorm 2 soon drove off the lifter. The Morgue tried to turn away, and as Firestorm 2 tried to get under The Morgue, Scar came back, attacking The Morgue with the spinning disc, but causing no damage. Scar backed away, and Firestorm 2 drove underneath Scar and flipped it over again. Firestorm 2 then circled Scar before getting wedged between both Scar and The Morgue. The Morgue pushed Firestorm 2 around before it broke free and drove into Shunt's CPZ. Firestorm 2 reversed out before the House Robot could attack, and flipped Scar again. Firestorm 2 then got underneath The Morgue and flipped it against the side wall.

"Look at this for power, from Firestorm 2. Using nearly 80 kilos of strength there."
— Jonathan Pearce

Firestorm 2 attacked Scar, but couldn't properly get it on the wedge, so just pushed it into The Morgue. Sir Killalot then closed in on The Morgue and held them over the flames. Firestorm 2 flipped Scar against the side wall as Sir Killalot righted The Morgue, which attacked Firestorm 2, pushing the Durham machine back a bit before cease was called. Firestorm 2 and Scar went through as The Morgue had been immobile long enough to be eliminated.

"It's the first time we've been in the arena fighting with more than one robot. Good fun, a chance to use the extra gas we can store in the fire extinguisher. Morgue flipped a couple of times, same with Scar. We won :)"
— Firestorm website[24]

In the second round, Firestorm 2 was placed up against another newcomer in Bolt from the Blue.

"Not a very exciting match this one. They were just too low for us to get under. Never mind, no damage, but we showed more aggression and so go through."
— Firestorm website[25]
Firestorm lifted up

Firestorm 2 is lifted up by Bolt from the Blue

Bolt from the Blue vs Firestorm

Bolt from the Blue pushes Firestorm 2

Firestorm 2 started off by circling Bolt from the Blue, making a few attacks at the side, but not getting under it due to its low ground clearance. Firestorm 2 then rammed Bolt from the Blue, with the latter firing its flipper at thin air. Bolt from the Blue managed to get underneath Firestorm 2, but Firestorm 2 escaped before it could be flipped. Bolt from the Blue managed to get underneath again and lifted its foe up, but didn't manage to tip it over.

"Firestorm 2, surely not another seed to go out here?"
— Jonathan Pearce
Bolt from the blue vs firestorm

Firestorm 2 rides up the wedge of Bolt from the Blue

It got underneath a few more times, but never lifted Firestorm 2 up. Bolt from the Blue then tried pushing Firestorm 2 towards the pit, but struggled to get traction and Firestorm 2 escaped. Bolt from the Blue got underneath Firestorm 2 once more before cease was called. The battle ended in a judges' decision, where the judges controversially went in favour of the seeded Firestorm 2, putting them through to the Heat Final. Neither the Bolt from the Blue team, nor parts of the crowd, were happy with the decision, with some crowd members booing Firestorm 2 as a result.

"It was very difficult to call, that one. I think it was really lucky that we got through"
— Alex Mordue after the battle

In the Heat Final, Firestorm 2 faced The Morgue, which was reinstated after Scar was forced to withdraw before the second round.

"We've put our bigger batteries back in, that we had originally, when it came in overweight and we've taken out our little jumping cylinder, which doesn't really affect the robot's performance much, because it didn't really have much effect."
— Alex Mordue
Firestorm vs The Morgue

Firestorm 2 flips The Morgue

Firestorm 2 chased The Morgue around before finally getting underneath it and tipping it up, but not flipping it over. Firestorm 2 was soon able to get underneath and tip The Morgue up, but again failing to flip it. The Morgue then drove its opponent towards Dead Metal, but Firestorm 2 turned away in time. Firestorm 2 continued to probe away at The Morgue's sides, and after one more incomplete flip, Firestorm 2 was able to flip The Morgue into Matilda's CPZ.

"That was a power spurt, and The Morgue literally flew through the air and into the CPZ."
— Jonathan Pearce
Firestorm vs morgue matilda

Firestorm 2 throws The Morgue into Matilda

The Morgue rolled onto its wheels again and escaped, but after a head-on collision between the two, Firestorm 2 got underneath again and flipped it over, but again it simply rolled onto its wheels. Firestorm 2 tipped it up again before pushing The Morgue into the arena wall and using the flipper again but just could not get it over. The Morgue escaped and pushed Firestorm 2 into the arena wall, but it moved away, and the action drifted towards the pit.

"Oh, look, the pit starts to descend, and they're dangerously close now! The Morgue, and they WENT DOWN - NO, FIRESTORM'S DRIVEN IN! Were The Morgue wedged on? They think they've won it, The Morgue! The Firestorm drove themselves into it as well! They think they've beaten! What an upset this could be!"
— Jonathan Pearce
Controversial Heat C End

The controversial finish

The pit descended and Firestorm 2 pushed The Morgue towards it. The Morgue reversed onto the edge and appeared to get wedged on the top with its lifting forks, but Firestorm 2 turned backwards and fell in underneath it. The Morgue team celebrated, thinking they had won, but the judges controversially ruled that The Morgue was stuck over the pit and therefore immobilised first, and Firestorm 2 was declared the winner. Like Firestorm 2's previous decision, some of the crowd booed Firestorm 2 after the battle.

"Another fairly good fight. Much running around, Morgue rolled a couple of times. We rammed them up against the side of the arena at one point - into a point to be precise :) a bit more chasing, and we were both in the pit. Well, actually, Morgue went in first (just) and then one of our wheels dropped in and in trying to reverse, we went in completely."
— Firestorm website on the rematch with The Morgue[26]

Firestorm 2's first-round battle of the Series Semi-Finals was a fast and furious battle against the promising newcomer to the main competition, Dominator 2.

Julia Reed: "What's your message for the opposition?"
Graham Bone: "Run away"
— Interview before the Semi-Finals
Firestorm vs dominator

Firestorm 2 flips Dominator 2

Dominator 2 vs firestorm 2

Dominator 2 axes Firestorm 2

In the battle, Firestorm 2 immediately came on the attack, driving straight under Dominator 2, flipping it and shoving it around the arena. Dominator 2 rolled onto its side, where it then used its axe to flick itself back onto its wheels. In retaliation, Dominator 2 axed the flipper of Firestorm 2, dragging it around the arena floor. Firestorm 2 attempted to fire its flipper to shake the axe head out, but was unsuccessful and ended up lifting itself off the ground twice before Dominator 2 released it.

"Look at the blade - lifting, plucking at the powerful flipping arm of Firestorm 2."
— Jonathan Pearce on Dominator 2's axe
Firestorm 2 vs dominator 2

Firestorm flips and pushes Dominator 2 about

Dominator 2 vs firestorm 2

Dominator 2 manages to clamp Firestorm down

Dominator 2 was flipped once more, but before it could right itself, Firestorm 2 attacked it and rushed around, ending up pushing it onto its own wheels. Dominator 2 axed into Firestorm 2 as it drove at Dominator 2, with Firestorm 2 batting the axe away with its flipper. Firestorm 2 then drove onto Dominator 2's wedge, and the axe clamped it in place. However, Dominator 2 released Firestorm 2 and backed away for another attack. Firestorm 2 recovered and once more hurled Dominator 2 onto its rear. Nudging it, Firestorm 2 pushed it over and Dominator 2 self-righted.

"Scarred, Firestorm, badly as well, but always aggressive."
— Jonathan Pearce
Dominator 2 vs firestorm

Firestorm 2 keeps Dominator 2 on its side

Dominator 2 firestorm 2 stuck

Both robots become wedged on the arena side wall

Firestorm 2 repeated this, but Dominator 2 was unable to right itself in time to prevent Firestorm 2 slamming it into the side wall. Firestorm 2 attempted to push Dominator 2 out of the arena, but was not in the right position to be successful, and time expired. The judges' decision was one of the closest ever, being a controversial, 2-1 split decision that favoured Dominator 2 by only one point, eliminating Firestorm 2 from the competition, at this relatively early stage of the competition for Firestorm.

"At the end of the match, we managed to get them up against the side of the arena and they were immobilised. Time-out was called and it went to a judges' decision. The judges went for Dominator 2, slightly disappointed, lost it on damage by one point. Even more disappointed in the pits when we found that one of their batteries had destroyed itself just at the whistle. If the match had lasted only a couple seconds longer, we would have won. Never mind, there's always next time."
— The Firestorm website[27]

Firestorm 2 also entered the Tag Team Terror tournament that took place during the Christmas specials, where it was paired up with Scorpion.

Graham Bone: "We are the Firestorm team from the north..."
John Bell: "and we are the Scorpion team from the south!"
Alex Mordue: "And we're here as a Tag Team to unite the country!"
— The teams on pairing up
Firestorm vs plunderbird 4

Firestorm 2 flips Plunderbird 4

In the first round, the pairing were drawn up against Bigger Brother and Plunderbird 4.

In the battle, Bigger Brother and Scorpion went out first, it wasn't long before the red machine was toppled; therefore, Firestorm 2 came out of its zone and righted Scorpion.

"Scorpion now flipped up and over by its teammate Firestorm, who seemed to come out of its zone there before it should! Are they disobeying rules immediately?"
— Jonathan Pearce

Firestorm 2 retreated as now Plunderbird 4 attacked Scorpion, but then Firestorm 2 shot out of the Red Zone and rammed Plunderbird 4 from behind. Firestorm 2 was warned by Refbot to get back to its zone, which it did, but soon after darted into the Blue Zone and almost toppled its team-mate. Firestorm 2 then bulldozed Plunderbird 4 into the Red Zone, attempting to flip but was lifted by Matilda.

"What on Earth is going on here, Refbot? Control these robots!"
— Jonathan Pearce comments on the madness in the arena.
RW2

Firestorm 2 is pinned against the arena wall by Matilda

RW1

Firestorm 2 attempts to get under Bigger Brother

Plunderbird 4 then attempted to crush into the wedge of Firestorm 2, but Plunderbird 4's weaponry wasn't working. Firestorm 2 escaped and then attacked Bigger Brother, almost flipping it, but couldn't quite manage it and was again attacked by Matilda. It reversed away from the Red Zone, slamming into Bigger Brother on the way for good measure. It again got underneath Scorpion, slamming it into the seemingly immobile Plunderbird 4. Firestorm 2 released Scorpion from the wedge of Plunderbird 4, only to be assaulted by Bigger Brother. Firestorm 2 flipped Plunderbird 4 onto its claw, but it dropped down shortly afterwards. It slipped underneath it, but was pinned underneath Plunderbird 4 momentarily, freeing itself to right Scorpion again. Bigger Brother shunted it into Matilda's CPZ, where it was flipped against a side wall. It propelled itself away, then righted itself. Firestorm 2 then attacked Bigger Brother, who had flipped Scorpion, but Firestorm 2 failed to flip the bronze robot. Firestorm 2 was pushed against a side wall, while Scorpion was set alight by Sgt. Bash. Bigger Brother pushed Firestorm 2 into a CPZ, but it was soon able to escape. It was then forced into the Blue Zone and was pressured for the remainder of the battle. The judges gave the win to Firestorm 2 and Scorpion.

"First fight against Plunderbird and Bigger Brother. Scorpion was first out and was immobilised. We were a bit naughty and went to the rescue :) a bit more fighting later, and we immobilised Plunderbird. As we were both still mobile at the end of the match, we won :)"
— The Firestorm website explains the judges' decision[28]

Firestorm 2 and Scorpion proceeded into the Final against 101 and King B3.

"We must have suffered some damage in our previous fight as we couldn't drive. So it was down to Scorpion. They got a couple of hits in but ultimately got toasted over the flame pit."
— Firestorm website on having to rely on Scorpion[29]
Firestorm king b3 101

Firestorm 2's only attack before it breaks down

Both Firestorm 2 and Scorpion had suffered damage from the last round, and Firestorm 2 in particular had a lot of trouble getting going. Scorpion (still burnt and wearing a plaster over its "eye") started off against King B3, which used its disc, causing sparks. The action drifted towards the red zone, but Scorpion didn't tag Firestorm 2. King B3 then pushed Scorpion into the arena flame jets, but Scorpion managed to escape before it could be burnt again. King B3 continued to attack Scorpion, slamming it multiple times and scratching it with its disc. King B3 then retreated to the blue zone, so 101 came out and started attacking Scorpion. Firestorm 2 came out and lingered next to 101 and Scorpion before moving away. King B3 then came out and attacked Firestorm 2. Scorpion was clutched by Dead Metal, while the other three robots scuffled in the red zone.

"And all of a sudden we've got all four robots on the arena floor! Yes! This is what we want! Scorpion may have gone blind and they've shown a blind eye to rules and regulations! It's gone mad in Robot Wars: Tag Team Terror!"
— Jonathan Pearce

It was now apparent that Firestorm 2 was still suffering from problems, as it struggled for movement, even when King B3 and 101 both rammed it. However, King B3 then drove onto Firestorm 2's wedge and was flipped onto the top of 101, which took the opportunity to slam its team-mate and rival into the arena wall - Firestorm 2 broke down after this and was not seen again.

RWFirestormScorpion

The immobilised Firestorm 2 and crippled Scorpion in their tag zone

"I think the Tag Team Terror has been won by 101 and King B3...and now we have what I thought we'd have, right from the first activate! We've got 101 against King B3, this is a massive grudge!"
— Jonathan Pearce

King B3 retaliated and pushed 101 back, before then pushing the wounded and limping Scorpion back towards the immobilised Firestorm 2. With both of their opponents no longer working properly, King B3 and 101 finally turned on each other for real, pushing each other all around the arena. Dead Metal and Sgt. Bash finally managed to separate them, damaging them in the process.

"About a second from the end of the match, King B gave us a little shunt and put a spike right through our buffer tank - Cheers!"
— The Firestorm website[30]
FirestormSumo

Shunt shoves Firestorm 2 off the sumo ring

Firestorm 2 would make a further appearance in Sumo Basho, its run in Heat A being one of the first in the series to be broadcast. However, Firestorm 2 made the mistake of charging directly into Shunt's wedge, expecting to drive underneath it, but the House Robot comfortably breached Firestorm 2's wedge, and in a single drive, Shunt pushed Firestorm 2 off the Sumo ring in only four seconds. This placed Firestorm 2 towards the very bottom of the table, finishing 15th out of 16 participants.

"Just a bit of fun this one. Lasted 4 seconds. Hmm maybe next time eh?"
— Firestorm website on the Sumo Basho[31]
FirestormPinball

Firestorm 2 tries to hit the 75-point target in Pinball Warrior

Lastly, it would compete in the Pinball Warrior Tournament, its run being shown in Heat N. Firestorm 2 smashed into the barrels, knocking them down, but couldn't get to Sgt. Bash's target. Then, after being attacked by Dead Metal, Firestorm 2 hit the multi-ball release, then Dead Metal's target and the car doors, but couldn't get underneath Matilda to reach its target. Firestorm 2 scored 135 points, equal seventh with Hypno-Disc - although Graham Bone asserts on the Firestorm website that Firestorm 2 had also pressed Matilda's points target and this factored into its total score at filming, but the footage and its respective points were not shown in the televised run[32].

"Not a bad outing. Knocked over the barrels, got a couple of tyres, released the multi-ball. The main problem with the run was one of interference. All of the metal bits in the arena were playing havoc with the reception. One other point to note was the points guarded by Matilda. When the show was filmed, we were given the points because we hit the target under Matilda. When it was shown on TV though, it wasn't included, dropping us to about 8th (I think)"
— The Firestorm website[33]

Extreme 1[]

Firestorm 3 entered three events in Extreme 1. Firestorm 3 first took part in the Robot Wars Extreme 1 All-Stars Championship after having reached a Grand-Final and Semi-Final in the previous 2 UK Championships. In the first round, it was drawn against Panic Attack, who Firestorm had taken the crown off in Series 3.

"A bit of a grudge match this one. We'd beaten PA in the semi's of series 3 on a judges decision. Kim reckoned that PA wasn't behaving itself last time around, and that we'd be in trouble this time around. The main reason we beat PA in series 3 was its ground clearance was quite high. This time around, however, PA was wearing a skirt! Should be tricky to get under"
— The Firestorm website[34]
Firestorm vs panic attack

Firestorm beats Panic Attack for a second time

As soon as Activate was called, Panic Attack charged right at Firestorm 3, but at just the last moment tried to veer to the side. This allowed Firestorm 3 to get right underneath the side of the skirts, and it flipped Panic Attack over. Firestorm then pushed Panic Attack to the arena wall to prevent it from self-righting, and as the Welsh machine tried to self-right, Firestorm 3 flipped it onto the wall. Panic Attack was left stuck on the wall, with its srimech facing up, so it could not get down. Sir Killalot and Dead Metal nudged Panic Attack to try and get it down, but Panic Attack was still caught on the wall. Firestorm 3 drove under Panic Attack and attempted to flip it, but mistimed its charge, driving under Panic Attack and missing with the flipper. Firestorm 3 pushed Panic Attack from behind, which knocked it from the wall, but it landed on the pincers of Dead Metal. Panic Attack could not get free, and it was counted out. Firestorm 3 progressed to the next round of the competition.

"It was almost like a suicidal lunge at Firestorm 3!"
— Jonathan Pearce

Firestorm 3 was then placed up against Wild Thing in the Quarter-Final round. It entered the battle garbed in Diotoir's fur.

"Wild Thing. A bit tougher than PA. FireStorm wasn't quite as manoeuvrable as Wild Thing and so for a bit of the fight we were trying to get turned around in time to face them. This aside, we still managed to flip Wild Thing a few times, although they managed to self right with their nifty arm."
— Firestorm website
Wild Thing vs Firestorm

Firestorm 3's fur is shredded by Wild Thing

As the battle began, Firestorm 3 immediately got underneath Wild Thing and drove it into an empty CPZ before flipping it over. Wild Thing self-righted just before Dead Metal could grab it. After ramming against the house robot, Firestorm 3 pursued Wild Thing. However, Wild Thing was able to outmanoeuvre its opponent, pushing underneath from behind and ramming it against the arena wall. It eventually allowed Firestorm 3 to escape and the two drove around each other. Wild Thing launched a side on attack, tearing away some of the polka-dot fur on Firestorm 3's side. Firestorm 3 got underneath Wild Thing's front and flipped it over, but Wild Thing righted itself again.

Wild thing vs firestorm 3

Firestorm 3 and Wild Thing

Firestorm III vs Wild Thing

Firestorm 3 flips Wild Thing onto its arm

After this, the two robots drove around each other again. Wild Thing briefly drove onto Firestorm 3's wedge, but could not be flipped. After this, it pushed into Firestorm 3's side, driving it around the arena momentarily. After getting underneath it again, Wild Thing pushed Firestorm 3 towards Dead Metal's CPZ, however, Firestorm 3 veered out of the way just in time, resulting in Wild Thing driving into Dead Metal's pincers. Firestorm 3 then moved behind Wild Thing, blocking its escape. As Dead Metal attacked Wild Thing, Firestorm 3 flipped it further into Dead Metal's saw, which also allowed Shunt to attack Wild Thing. Eventually, Wild Thing escaped and tried to attack Firestorm 3, but its disc was no longer spinning. Firestorm 3 flipped Wild Thing again, but it rolled back onto its wheels. However, Firestorm 3 quickly launched another attack and flipped Wild Thing over. As Wild Thing tried to right itself, Firestorm 3 flipped it again, this time against the arena wall on its front. Wild Thing desperately tried to close its self-righting arm, but as it attempted to open it again, it resulted in pinning the arm open, rendering Wild Thing stuck.

"A few more encounters later and we managed to flip Wild thing over with its arm open. It just didn't have enough power to close the arm, and so was immobilised yey! We knew we'd won so held back a bit."
— Firestorm website
ShuntaxesFirestorm

Firestorm 3 is axed by Shunt

ShuntflippedbyFirestorm

Firestorm 3 throws Shunt over

Unable to move, Wild Thing was counted out by Refbot. Dead Metal and Shunt attacked it before slowly moving it towards the now-open pit. However, as they approached, Firestorm 3 got underneath Dead Metal and tried to push him into the pit as Wild Thing was nudged in. It failed in this, and thrust Dead Metal away. Shunt responded by hitting Firestorm 3's gas canister with his axe, but caused no damage. Cease was called, but Firestorm 3 was not put off, and quickly flipped Shunt over.

"Well, Shunt wasn't too pleased with us picking on his mate so had a go at us. He hit our fire extinguisher but didn't manage to pierce it (Phew!). We couldn't stand for that so we had a go at Shunt. 'Cease' was called but we couldn't resist tipping Shunt over. 'And the crowd goes wild...' :)"
— Firestorm website

In the Semi-Final round, Firestorm 3 was drawn up against reigning World Champion Razer.

"Well, we didn't go into this round with high hopes (well would you?), our only chance was if we were low enough to get under the front of Razer and flip them. If we could have we could have stood a good chance. Unfortunately we weren't low enough, so that was it."
— Firestorm website
Razer vs Firestorm

Razer holds Firestorm 3 aloft

The battle began quickly, with the two circling each other, before Firestorm 3 drove at Razer. Razer's wedge won out and it immediately gripped Firestorm 3 with its claw, puncturing straight through Firestorm 3's flipper. Firestorm 3 forced its flipper open in a bid to protect itself, then managed to drive Razer around the arena, but was unable to stop Razer from causing more damage. Razer then raised Firestorm 3 into the air, but Firestorm 3 fell off, only to land on Razer's wedge once more. After making another hole in the flipper, Razer pierced Firestorm 3's main body.

"Well, this is very one-sided, surprisingly so"
— Jonathan Pearce in the opening stages
Razer vs Firestorm III

Razer fills Firestorm 3 with holes

After driving it around a little more, Razer raised its claw to its fullest height, with Firestorm 3 still firmly attached. Firestorm 3's attempts to free itself proved futile, and Razer finally lowered it, letting its opponent go. Firestorm 3 once again drove at Razer, only to get caught on its wedge again, and received another hole in its front for its troubles.

"It's kamikaze, really"
— Jonathan Pearce on Firestorm 3's brave but suicidal attempts

Razer then drove Firestorm 3 into Matilda's CPZ, and both Matilda and Shunt proceeded to attack Firestorm 3, Shunt hitting it several times with his axe. Despite this, Firestorm 3 managed to survive to a judges' decision, but to no avail: Razer easily won the decision, eliminating Firestorm 3 from the competition.

"The only tactic was a frontal assault as Razer is much more manoeuvrable in turning due to its rear wheel design (incidentally a design we were the first to adopt in Series 2 with GroundHog). Anyhow, a few attacks later and Razer had given us some nice ventilation holes. At one point Razer lifted us off the ground and opened its 'wings' - much to the delight of the crowd. We were still running at the end so it went to the judges - it wasn't much of a surprise when they gave it to Razer. Still, could have been worse - we did come out in one piece after all ;)"
— The Firestorm website[35]
Fsdam

A damaged Firestorm 3 following its battle with Razer in Extreme 1

Firestorm 3 also took part in a Vengeance battle with Diotoir.

"The reason for this Vengeance was explained by Julia, in a nutshell, Dr. Zulu printed in the RW mag that we were a bunch of Girlie Boys, well vengeance was required. We've beaten Zulu and Co before and we weren't going to let them even the score this time round."
— Firestorm website
ZulufirestormRWMup

The offending article and response

Although the two had fought each other in Series 3, the grudge was actually based on an insulting comment that Team Nemesis member Ciaron Byrne (aka Dr. Zulu) made about the Firestorm team in the Robot Wars Magazine in his column. An agreement was made that, if Firestorm 3 won, Zulu would write an apology in the magazine. In addition to this, CCTV camera picked up an (obviously staged) illegal sabotage involving Zulu vandalising Firestorm 3. The Diotoir team were promptly threatened with being stripped of their Sportsmanship Award should it happen again.


Firestorm III vs Diotoir

Firestorm 3 overturns Diotoir

Zulu sabotages Firestorm

Dr. Zulu "sabotages" Firestorm 3

In the battle itself, both robots charged at each other, but neither could get under their opponent due to their low ground clearances. Firestorm 3 attempted to drive around the side of Diotoir, but Diotoir kept turning towards it and momentarily got underneath its side, but failed to flip it. The two collided head-on, failing to get under one another again, but moments later, Firestorm 3 got underneath Diotoir from the side and rolled it over until it fell onto its back. Diotoir attempted to right itself, but it only served to knock its eyes off. Refbot came in to investigate Diotoir, but Firestorm 3 sportingly righted Diotoir. However, after pushing the now-blind Diotoir over the flame pit, Firestorm 3 flipped Diotoir over onto its side and left it there to burn. Sgt. Bash also added to the blazing Irish robot's troubles with his flamethrower.

"We drove about a little (sizing them up :) and then proceeded to turn them over. We thought that was a bit too quick so we turned them back over. After a bit more play we turned them over again and that was that."
— Firestorm website
VengeanceFirestormDiotoir

The burning Diotoir is left on its side. Notice the 'Firestorm are girlie boys' flag

FirestormDiotoirFlag

Team Nemesis' addition prior to fighting Firestorm 3

Only after most of the fur had been burned off did Refbot finally put Diotoir out of its misery and count it out. Firestorm 3, in giving Diotoir another shove, managed to catch fire itself. Sgt. Bash finally knocked Diotoir off the arena wall and back onto its wheels, revealing that even the metal underneath was badly burnt. Despite being counted out, it still tried to ram Firestorm 3, but the former grand-finalist simply drove it to the other end of the arena and tried to pin it against the wall.

"Diotoir, a charcoaled mess. A nude Diotoir, nuded of fur and Firestorm have well and truly rubbed them in it."
— Jonathan Pearce

Unfortunately for Firestorm 3, despite winning the Vengeance battle, the Robot Wars Magazine was cancelled before Dr. Zulu could write his apology.

The Second World Championship[]

After reaching the All-Stars Semi-Finals, Firestorm 3 was allowed to represent the United Kingdom in the Second World Championships, along with Chaos 2, Razer and Tornado. This competition was also broadcast during Extreme Warriors: Season 1. In the first round of the competition, Firestorm 3 was drawn up against NEAT Machine of the Netherlands, walkerbot Drillzilla of the United States and Whirlpool 70 (also known as W70) of Sweden.

"Like typical American tourists, they're all a bit overweight"
— Alex Mordue on Drillzilla
Firestorm 3 Drillzilla Whirlpool 70

Firestorm 3 drives under Drillzilla in the opening seconds

In the battle, Drillzilla started quickest, pushing straight into Whirlpool 70 and stopping its spinning frame. Firestorm 3 pushed underneath Drillzilla, then forced it into Sir Killalot's CPZ, but failed to flip it. Despite being on Firestorm 3's wedge, Drillzilla managed to force its British opponent back, before Firestorm 3 pushed it away.

"From the start of the fight, we knew that Drillzilla would be our toughest challenge so that's who we went for first. Drillzilla is a tough little bot. Made from at least 10mm Aluminium with eight feet. It makes a noise like a V8 engine revving. That unsettles you before you even get going. Back to the fight. We got a couple of hits on Drillzilla but couldn't get under far enough to use the flipper. We should have gotten enough traction but up to his old tricks, Sir K had been spewing oil all over the arena (he's not quite house trained yet) So our wheels were just spinning and we weren't going anyplace fast."
— The Firestorm website[36]
2ndWCFight2 1

Firestorm 3 flips NEAT Machine over

Drillzilla then clashed with W70, whilst Firestorm 3 pursued NEAT Machine. W70 remained very close to Sir Killalot's CPZ, and Drillzilla pushed it straight into the house robot's claw. Drillzilla pushed NEAT Machine onto Firestorm 3's wedge, and the UK representative flipped the Dutch entrant over.

"Now for W70. W70 started life as a pool cleaner. Unfortunately pond scum doesn't move very fast so pool cleaners don't go that fast either. Their spinning weapon looked nasty enough but never got going so they were easy to flip."
— The Firestorm website[37]
Firestorm vs W70

Firestorm 3 turns W70 over

Drillzilla and firestorm

Firestorm 3 is pinned against the pit release button by Drillzilla

Drillzilla vs Firestorm

Firestorm 3 is rammed again by Drillzilla at the end

Firestorm 3 left NEAT Machine alone and drove back to the CPZ where W70 had been left, before flipping it into Sir Killalot, leaving the Swedish machine on its side. Whilst all this was happening, Drillzilla pushed into the back of Firestorm 3, controlling a lot of its movements. Refbot counted out NEAT Machine right as Killalot placed W70 on the arena flipper. Although it was on its wheels, the Swedish robot was no longer mobile, and no sooner had Refbot counted it out than it was thrown by the floor flipper. Drillzilla managed to push Firestorm 3 from behind straight into the far arena wall, bringing the remains of W70 with it. After a little bit more pushing, the two robots began a more tactical battle, trying to keep their fronts to their opponent, just as Sir Killalot placed NEAT Machine on the floor flipper, sending the Dutch robot flying too. Drillzilla then managed to get behind Firestorm 3 once more and pushed it into the pit release button. The pit release tyre managed to get caught on one of Drillzilla's claws and was pulled clean off. In the last few seconds, Drillzilla managed to get behind Firestorm 3 one last time, slamming it into the arena wall in a distant CPZ.

"All that pushing about at the start of the match had taken it's toll on our batteries and they weren't in tip-top condition so we couldn't turn as fast as we should have been able to. So we got pushed about a little before the match was over."
— The Firestorm website[38]

The Judges were called to make a decision, and decided that Drillzilla had won on aggression.

"We're a bit gutted with that one, we did all the work with the other two! ...Well, at least we didn't drive into a pit!"
— Graham Bone on his performance, and that of Chaos 2, after the battle

According to Robot Wars Extreme: The Official Guide, Firestorm 3 was also considered as a potential competitor in a Mayhem qualifier for one of the two Annihilators, but it is unknown whether or not it was ever actually invited to take part.

Series 5[]

"They say this is their year, we shall see!"
— Philippa Forrester on Team Firestorm at the start of the Heat

Firestorm 3 was seeded number 7 for the Fifth Wars, where it was drawn against newcomer Bee-Capitator in the first round. Before the fight started, Firestorm 3 lost mobility in the arena entrance, and had to be rewired before the fight.

Firestorm bee capitator

Firestorm 3 avoids Bee-Capitator's weapon

"A new robot this one. Well constructed, although the team didn't have much experience. We did have a few problems though. The rebuild of FireStorm had resulted in a rewire and replug. This time round we decided to have the ability to charge the batteries with the lid on. This meant having some connectors beneath the arm. Before the filming we had tested the electronics, and the pneumatics - no problems. Unfortunately, we had not tested both together. So back to the filming. In the bullpen before the fight, we activated the electronics, checked that everything was working, and then activated the pneumatics. Problem, the arm came down and broke the contact. FireStorm was dead in the water. We had to come out of the bullpen and do a quick rewire before we could continue. Once that was done, it looked like we didn't have any problems."
— The Firestorm website[39]
Firestorm 3 Bee-Capitator 1

Firestorm 3 starts to push Bee-Capitator onto the angle grinder

FirestormBeeCapitator

Bee-Capitator is turned over as Firestorm 3's flipper is buckled

Firestorm 3 drove at Bee-Capitator, but the newcomer dodged the seed, and drove past it, close to Sir Killalot. Firestorm 3 turned around to chase Bee-Capitator, and as Bee-Capitator tried to drive away, Firestorm 3 got underneath it and pushed it across the arena and against the arena wall. Firestorm 3 attempted to flip its opponent over, flipping it onto an angle grinder, but Bee-Capitator landed back on its wheels and got away. Bee-Capitator darted across the arena and drove near Matilda's CPZ, with Firestorm 3 slipping in behind Bee-Capitator as it attempted to reverse away. Firestorm 3 tried to flip Bee-Capitator into Matilda's flywheel, but Bee-Capitator slipped off as it was flipped, and Firestorm 3's flipper was buckled by the House Robot's weaponry. Fortunately for Firestorm 3, Bee-Capitator had landed on its back, and with it unable to self-right, Refbot came in to count it out. Firestorm 3 stood back as the House Robots burnt, attacked and pitted Bee-Capitator.

"The fight went mostly to plan, although at one point I drove into Matilda with the arm up - I was flipping Beecapitator at the time - her tail smashed the arm and nearly took it off :("
— Firestorm website

The flipper was repaired for Round 2, where Firestorm 3 fought veteran Sir Chromalot.

"And also, these two, it's a bit of an item going on, they're all loved up, kissy and cuddly, his mind's not on the job! We've got no problem!"
Steve Merrill before the fight, referring to Graham Bone and his partner Hazel Heslop
Firestormchromalot

Firestorm 3 flips Sir Chromalot over in seconds

In one of the quickest immobilisations in Robot Wars history, Firestorm 3 simply slipped underneath Sir Chromalot and flipped it over within five seconds, before pushing it into the arena wall. Firestorm 3 tried to flip Sir Chromalot back, but drove out of the CPZ when Sgt. Bash came in. Sgt. Bash pulled Sir Chromalot onto the floor flipper, where it was thrown. Dead Metal then pitted Sir Chromalot. Firestorm 3 was through to the Heat Final, but during the battle, it had some control problems.

"The fight was just about the quickest on record: only a few seconds. We managed to turn them over and that was it. The problem being that we had a reoccurrence of the round 1 fault - Loosing forward and backward. We tracked the problem to a dodgy terminal."
— The Firestorm website[40]

In the Heat Final, it fought previous heat semi-finalist Reactor 2.

"With the terminal fixed we had high hopes for the fight. Reactor 2 is a good robot. Their shape means that if you turn them over, they roll back onto their wheels. What to do then?"
— Firestorm website
FirestormReactor

Firestorm 3 tips Reactor 2 out of the arena

Firestorm 3 immediately drove up onto Reactor 2's flipper, but it was unable to flip the seeded robot. Firestorm 3 was then able to get underneath Reactor 2 and flipped it against Refbot, but Reactor 2 rolled back onto its wheels. Firestorm 3 flipped Reactor 2 again in the middle of the arena and bundled it around the arena to stop it self-righting. Firestorm 3 eventually nudged Reactor 2 back onto its wheels, but continued its drive and threw Reactor 2 over and into the arena wall. Reactor 2 managed to self-right, but Firestorm 3 rolled it over once more. Firestorm 3 then lifted Reactor 2 up onto the side wall where it dangled for a few moments before finally falling out into the House Robot entrance, giving Firestorm 3 its third consecutive semi-finals place.

"Well, we gave them a good run for their money, turning them over a few times before getting them up against the side of the arena. Once at the side, one more flip and they were out. We never thought that we could get someone out of the arena, but hey, we weren't complaining. Through to the semi-finals."
— Firestorm website[41]

Firestorm 3's opening semi-final battle saw it get placed up against the number 3 seed Hypno-Disc.

"Flipper against spinning disc. Classic Robot Wars encounter."
— Jonathan Pearce at the start of the battle
Firestorm Immobile

Firestorm 3 rolls towards the arena side wall, immobilised

HDiscpushFirestorm

Hypno-Disc pushes the immobile Firestorm 3

At the start of the battle, both robots drove forward, but both missed their opponent. Hypno-Disc and Firestorm 3 turned on the spot, and Firestorm 3 drove straight into Hypno-Disc, which remained idle near the flame pit. Firestorm 3 drove straight into Hypno-Disc's flywheel. Firestorm 3 was deflected, and rolled partially over the flame pit, as Hypno-Disc backed away. After this blow, Firestorm 3 had been immobilised. Hypno-Disc slammed into Firestorm 3 with the flywheel, sending it rolling towards the CPZ. As Firestorm 3 remained immobile, Hypno-Disc attacked with the flywheel again, before using its rear end to push Firestorm 3 further into the empty CPZ. Shunt came in, as Hypno-Disc pressed the pit release. Shunt did not attack Firestorm 3, as it was being counted out by Refbot.

"How disappointing for Firestorm. Disposed Reactor 2 in it's heat. Tossing it spectacularly out of the arena. But what an anticlimax. Beaten by Hypno-Disc's first charge, Graham and Alex and Hazel."
— Jonathan Pearce
Firestorm and Killalot

Sir Killalot pits Firestorm 3

Shunt pushed Firestorm 3 over the flame pit, and then onto the floor flipper. The floor flipper threw Firestorm 3, and it landed back in front of the CPZ where it was counted out earlier in the battle. Firestorm 3 had been inverted off-screen, after which Sir Killalot used the Jaws of Life to pick up Firestorm 3, and drop it into the pit.

However, Firestorm 3 came back strongly to win the Losers' melee up against its rival, and the 6th seed Panic Attack and the 10th seed Wheely Big Cheese.

"The three yellow machines, a banana skin battle developing."
— Jonathan Pearce
Wheely Big Cheese Angle Grinder

Wheely Big Cheese is attacked by Firestorm 3 while wedged under an angle grinder.

Firestorm 3 started by charging at Wheely Big Cheese, slotting its wedge in between the base-plate and flipper of Wheely Big Cheese, opening the front of it. While Firestorm 3 and Wheely Big Cheese were connected, Panic Attack got under one of Wheely Big Cheese's spiked wheels, and lifted it up. Wheely Big Cheese slipped off, causing Firestorm 3 to land on Panic Attack's lifting prongs, before both backed away. Wheely Big Cheese drove into Panic Attack's front, not getting underneath, before Firestorm 3 was able to get under Wheely Big Cheese's rear and push it into the arena side wall, seemingly unable to fire its flipper after damage sustained in previous battles. Firestorm 3 made another charge at Wheely Big Cheese's side, before crashing into the arena side wall near the pit release. Panic Attack was pushing against Wheely Big Cheese before Firestorm 3 slotted under Wheely Big Cheese, then found itself wedged onto Panic Attack's side. Panic Attack lingered around the pit release, where Wheely Big Cheese got under its front, overturned it, and throwing it into the arena side wall. As Wheely Big Cheese's flipper remained open, Firestorm 3 drove under Wheely Big Cheese, buffeting it, before ramming Panic Attack, then Wheely Big Cheese again. Panic Attack was making little movement, remaining beside the pit release, as Wheely Big Cheese fired its flipper again with nothing on top of it. This caused Wheely Big Cheese to bounce on the arena floor, an opportunity Firestorm 3 used to push Wheely Big Cheese into the CPZ. While Wheely Big Cheese was in the CPZ, Firestorm's flipper activated for the first time in the match, pushing Wheely Big Cheese slightly.

"Trying to toss 99 kilos of cheese out of the arena."
— Jonathan Pearce as Firestorm 3 thrusts Wheely Big Cheese into the arena wall

Both robots lingered in the CPZ as Sgt. Bash came in. Firestorm 3 was then able to get fully underneath the wedge of Wheely Big Cheese, flipping it against the arena side wall twice, as Sgt. Bash fired its flamethrower. Once Wheely Big Cheese was able to escape Firestorm 3's wedge, it drove straight under an angle grinder, where it became stuck. Firestorm 3 slotted under Wheely Big Cheese, firing its flipper, before backing away. Sgt. Bash used its flamethrower again, while it became evident that Wheely Big Cheese's wheels were turning, the robot was stuck under the angle grinder. Refbot freed Wheely Big Cheese from the angle grinder, but Wheely Big Cheese drove straight back into the arena side wall and Sgt. Bash again. Panic Attack was still merely twitching beside the pit release. Sgt. Bash tried to close its jaws on Wheely Big Cheese but was not fast enough to crumple the machine before it could escape. Firestorm 3 nudged Panic Attack, which was eventually able to reverse away, then trapped Firestorm 3 in an empty CPZ, unsuccessfully trying to lift it. Panic Attack reversed into the centre of the arena, but Firestorm charged towards Panic Attack, buckling a side skirt by driving at the front of it. Panic Attack then reversed into an angle grinder beside the flame pit, allowing Firestorm to get completely underneath Panic Attack. Firestorm 3 did not flip Panic Attack, however, instead just remaining idle over the flame pit itself.

"OH, Firestorm is in underneath! Can we see a flip here!? No, they've missed an opportunity."
— Jonathan Pearce
Panic Attack lifts Firestorm 3

Panic Attack's final onslaught on Firestorm 3. Note one of its skirts bent upwards

Wheely Big Cheese was immobile against an arena side wall, as Refbot began to count it out. Firestorm 3 had pushed Panic Attack into Dead Metal's CPZ, getting under one of its side skirts, bending it upwards. Refbot's count reached 10, and Wheely Big Cheese was eliminated from the Losers' Melee. Firestorm 3 got underneath Panic Attack again, raising it with its flipper, and Panic Attack drove into another angle grinder. Panic Attack aligned itself with Firestorm 3, getting underneath Firestorm 3's wedge using its lifting prongs, and lifting it against the arena side wall, before Dead Metal pushed both away, causing minor damage to Panic Attack with the static spike on its rear. Despite Panic Attack finishing the stronger, the Judges awarded the victory to Firestorm 3 on the basis of a stronger performance throughout.

"You're though, but when you get to realise who you're gonna be fighting next, maybe it wasn't such a good idea! You've got Hypno-Disc, Dominator or Pussycat! I'll just say that again; Hypno-Disc, Dominator or Pussycat!!"
— Craig Charles to Team Firestorm after the battle

Firestorm 3 went back into the competition where they went up against the 2nd seed Pussycat.

Firestorm 3 vs

Firestorm 3 traps Pussycat in the CPZ.

Pussycat vs firestorm vs shunt

Shunt axes Firestorm who pressures Pussycat

Both robots clashed immediately, with Firestorm 3 bumping Pussycat off the ground. Firestorm got under Pussycat again. However, Pussycat went over the top. Pussycat spun up its blade, which made contact with Firestorm 3 as it was being pushed onto its back by Firestorm 3's wedge. Firestorm 3 got behind Pussycat and pushed it across the arena, slamming it into an angle grinder near the flame pit, overturning it with the flipper. Firestorm 3 pushed Pussycat into another arena side wall, this time near the pit release, lightly lifting Pussycat with its flipper. Both robots circled around each other, before Firestorm 3 finally got underneath, but to no significant avail. Pussycat glanced Firestorm 3 with its blade, but Firestorm 3 was left relatively unharmed.

"Firestorm here, doing all the driving."
— Jonathan Pearce

Both robots only made slight contact with each other, until Firestorm 3 got under Pussycat and lifted it, where Pussycat balanced precariously on top of Firestorm 3's flipper, before being tossed away. Pussycat charged at Firestorm 3 again, but drove straight up Firestorm 3's wedge, and was flipped. Pussycat lingered by the flame pit, and was flipped again. Firestorm 3 pushed Pussycat towards an empty CPZ, before turning in circles and crashing into the side wall. Firestorm 3 then pushed Pussycat into the pit release, activating the pit, before flipping Pussycat again. Both robots moved to the opposite end of the arena, where Firestorm 3 flipped Pussycat again. Pussycat fled, but drove into Shunt's CPZ, where Firestorm 3 kept it in place for Shunt to attack with its axe. While Shunt's axe remained on top of Pussycat, Firestorm 3 flipped again, but this allowed Pussycat to escape. Shunt, having activated its axe with Pussycat still in front of it, inadvertently attacked Firestorm 3. Pussycat buffeted Firestorm 3 again, inflicting damage, before Firestorm 3 retaliated, knocking Pussycat almost onto its side. Firestorm 3 accidentally drove into Shunt's CPZ, which immediately fired its axe upon Firestorm 3. Pussycat drove into the same CPZ, where Firestorm 3 flipped it twice, pressing it against the arena side wall, while being axed again by Shunt, and then lifted by Shunt's scoop. Firestorm 3 was axed again as Pussycat moved away. Shunt continued to axe Firestorm 3, lifting it with its scoop and pushing it into the main arena again. By this point, Firestorm 3's movement was minimal, and Pussycat attacked again.

"Oh no! Oh no! What's happened to Firestorm? For a minute I thought they were immobilised."
— Jonathan Pearce as Firestorm 3 progress momentarily slows
Firestorm 3 vs

Pussycat breaks through Firestorm 3's armour

Firestorm 3 started moving properly again, but drove back into Shunt's CPZ, where Pussycat landed a heavy blow on Firestorm 3. When Firestorm 3 tried to escape to the arena centre, Pussycat attacked Firestorm's side, jamming its blade into Firestorm's armour. After a few seconds, Firestorm 3 freed itself and rammed Pussycat one last time, putting Pussycat onto its side, as time ran out. Despite Pussycat's late comeback, Firestorm 3 was awarded the victory by the Judges.

"A little bit battered now, but it's done us proud, so whatever happens to us now doesn't really matter."
— Graham Bone on his machine after the battle

In its Grand Final eliminator, Firestorm 3 was drawn against Razer for the second time in Robot Wars history.

Razer vs firestorm 3

Razer crushes the interior of Firestorm 3

Firestorm razer anglegrinder

Firestorm 3 pins Razer by the angle grinder

Just as it had in Extreme, Razer grabbed Firestorm 3 and pierced straight into its front. Firestorm 3's flipper fired, and Razer carved into the exposed mechanism. Firestorm 3 fell free, but Razer's beak crushed into Firestorm 3's innards once more. Firestorm 3 finally escaped, but its flipper mechanism was stuck open.

"Look at the front flipper, is that not wedged open or do my eyes deceive me, which means the very innards of Firestorm are now open for any Razer attack."
— Jonathan Pearce
Razerfirestormpit

Firestorm 3 pushes Razer across the pit of oblivion

Firestorm 3 rammed Razer, and turned back before attacking again. Razer caught Firestorm 3 and crushed it, crumpling the flipper down and back into place to cover the internals. However, with its restored wedge, Firestorm 3 managed to get beneath Razer and slam it into the angle grinders. Razer shifted position and managed to crush into Firestorm 3, dislocating part of the armour plate. Razer became wedged beneath the angle grinder, but Refbot nudged it free, and Razer dodged Sgt. Bash. Razer grabbed Firestorm 3 again and pierced it, but Firestorm 3 drove forward and crossed the corner of the pit, very nearly pushing Razer in.

"Oh! How did they survive that? I've heard of walking on water, but walking across the Pit of Oblivion? Never before have we seen that!"
— Jonathan Pearce
Razer firestorm

A close battle between Firestorm 3 and Razer comes to a close

Razer and Firestorm 3 both dodged out of Sgt. Bash's CPZ, and pressed against each other. Firestorm 3 pushed Razer into the CPZ of Bash once more. Razer drove out, and then back in, carrying Firestorm 3 with it, but it released Firestorm 3 in the CPZ and darted away, leaving its adversary to be attacked by Bash. Firestorm 3 escaped and ran into Razer, whose beak had weakened significantly and was unable to pierce through the flipper. Shunt axed both machines as they drew close to its CPZ, and Razer pulled out, dragging Firestorm 3 with it. Cease was called as time ran out.

"And it looks as if we're going to go to the judges. This was an unbelievable contest! What a battle - one of the closest I've seen, nip and tick, no quarter was asked nor given. And I don't think we've seen its like before!"
— Jonathan Pearce
Judges examination

Martin Smith, Myra Wilson and Noel Sharkey examine Firestorm 3 and confer with Derek Foxwell

The judges, based on the amount of damage taken by Firestorm 3, gave the fight to Razer.

"They want everybody to know that it is the closest fight they've ever marked on Robot Wars. It's the hardest decision they've ever had to make on Robot Wars. See, I think you won aggression - you pushed them around, nearly got them in pits twice. Razer's always going to win style. It came down to damage."
— Craig Charles
Firestorm 3

Comparison of Firestorm 3 at the first fight of the series and its last

Firestorm 3 went into the Playoff for third place, where it was drawn against Hypno-Disc for the second time in the series. With its flipper still out of commission from the previous fight, the team had used the extra weight to add additional armour that enabled it to stand up to the blade of Hypno-Disc, although Firestorm 3 did lose its wheel armour on both sides, exposing its tyres.

"There's nothing to lose, everything to play for, and Hypno-Disc is involved. What more could you hope for?"
— Philippa Forrester
Firestorm vs hypno-disc

Firestorm 3 shoves Hypno-Disc

Hypno-Disc turned side on and the disc began spinning, but the armoured Firestorm 3 charged in and slammed into the disc, pushing Hypno-Disc into the side wall. It then reversed it towards the CPZ, and contact between the two caused Hypno-Disc to jump into the air. Driving away, Hypno-Disc attempted to spin and attack, but the armoured front of Firestorm 3 deflected the blow. Firestorm 3 continued relentlessly, attempting twice to get beneath Hypno-Disc but being deflected by the disc on both occasions. Firestorm 3 crashed into Sir Killalot, and as it fled, Hypno-Disc cut a deep welt in its side. Firestorm 3 activated the pit and charged back at Hypno-Disc, managing to get into a position where Firestorm 3 was not touching the disc. Firestorm 3 pushed Hypno-Disc towards the pit, and both robots fell in.

Firestorm hypnodisc

Both machines crash into the pit

"Firestorm onto the side of Hypno-Disc again. Across the arena, at up to 12 miles an hour- They've both gone down! Work that one out!"
— Jonathan Pearce

The judges called for a rematch, although Hypno-Disc had broken down, and could not participate.

Craig Charles: "The judges said they want a rematch. Is that okay with you?"
Dave Rose: "We'd like to do it, but unfortunately we're actually immobile. We've lost some electronics somewhere, so we can't continue."
Craig Charles: "So you can't continue?"
Derek Rose: "The weapon's working, the self-righter's working, but we think something's come loose when we hit the pit"
Craig Charles: "Well, unfortunately then, if you're immobilised, you know the rules, the decision has gone to Firestorm!"
— The confirmation

This awarded the win, and third place in Robot Wars, to Firestorm 3. At the end of the series, Firestorm 3 was nominated for the Best Engineered Robot Award but lost out to Derek.

Series 6[]

Firestorm 4 returned for the Sixth Wars, as the third seeds following its performance in Series 5. It was placed in Heat B of the main competition, facing Series 2 returnee Mega Hurts 2, and newcomers Cedric Slammer and Colossus in its first-round melee. All three robots who were from Preston, Lanconshire.

"They all seem pretty good robots, but they do have the ground clearance."
— Graham Bone on his opponents
Firestorm vs cedric slammer

Firestorm 4 flicks Cedric Slammer

Firestorm cedric slammer

Firestorm 4 negates the srimech of Cedric Slammer

Cedric Slammer and Colossus fought each other at the start, and Firestorm 4 pushed past Mega Hurts 2 to join the fight, flipping Cedric Slammer towards the CPZ of Sir Killalot. Firestorm 4 wedged itself against Sir Killalot's claw, but escaped, along with Cedric Slammer. Firestorm 4 then flipped Cedric Slammer once more, and when Cedric Slammer attempted to self-right, Firestorm 4 used its wedge to push Cedric Slammer, negating the srimech from working.

"It seems to me that Firestorm 4 certainly has put pain to Cedric Slammer."
— Jonathan Pearce
Firestorm colossus

Firestorm 4 knocks out Colossus

Firestorm mega hurts

Firestorm 4 hurls over Mega Hurts 2

Having defeated Cedric Slammer, Firestorm 4 caught up with Colossus and Mega Hurts 2 which were fighting each other. Firestorm 4 flipped Colossus into Sir Killalot's CPZ, leaving its back facing the wall, and preventing it from self-righting. Sir Killalot closed in on Colossus, and Firestorm 4 targeted Mega Hurts 2, flipping it over and crumpling the monitor on top.

"Firestorm looking pretty impressive so far, now they've gone after Mega Hurts! This is very good driving by Graham Bone! Very aggressive!"
— Jonathan Pearce
Firestorm 4 pit

Firestorm 4 in the pit

Firestorm 4 pitted the remnants of Mega Hurts 2. Firestorm 4 then chased after Cedric Slammer, which had been righted somehow. Firestorm 4 accidentally drove past Cedric Slammer and drove into the pit. With all four robots immobilised, cease was called. Craig Charles announced the verdict of the judges - Cedric Slammer and Colossus had been immobilised first, meaning that Firestorm 4 and Mega Hurts 2 went through to the next round.

"Oh, that's all we need! Mayhem, absolute mayhem!"
— Jonathan Pearce when Firestorm 4 pitted itself

In the second round of the heat, Firestorm 4 was placed up against another newcomer in Barbaric Response.

Firestorm 4 barbaric response

Firestorm 4 is clamped by Barbaric Response

Both machines darted around the arena, trying to keep the low part of the robot facing its opponent at all times. However, when Barbaric Response activated the pit, Firestorm 4 was able to get beneath it briefly. Barbaric Response quickly escaped and retaliated, flipping Firestorm 4 up but not over.

"It would be a huge surprise here if Barbaric Response were to win this battle."
— Jonathan Pearce
Firestorm barbaric response

Firestorm 4 flips Barbaric Response

Firestorm landed back on its wheels and Barbaric Response clamped its flipper down on Firestorm 4's rear. However, when Barbaric Response closed its flipper, it raised its base-plate off the ground and allowed Firestorm 4 to easily slip beneath it, pushing it away and flicking it aside with its flipper. The two robots darted around near the pit, with the swifter Firestorm 4 darting beneath Barbaric Response's ground clearance. Firestorm 4 then pushed Barbaric Response into Refbot, flipping it onto its back. Barbaric Response flipped itself back onto its wheels. As Barbaric Response drove back, Firestorm 4 pushed Refbot aside and flipped it onto its side.

Refbot flipped

Firestorm 4 and the immobilised Refbot

"Refbot gets far too close!"
— Jonathan Pearce

Firestorm 4 flipped Barbaric Response several times, but accidentally wedged itself beneath an angle grinder. Escaping, Firestorm 4 flipped Barbaric Response against an angle grinder, where it was stranded. Mr. Psycho loomed closer, but without Refbot to count Barbaric Response out, it was not permitted to attack. Eventually, cease was called.

Craig Charles: "That was fairly easy, wasn't it?"
Graham Bone: "Not really, no. We got them up against the side there, and I could've had a bit more fun, but I wasn't that confident that we'd be able to immobilise them again, so I had to leave them."
— After the battle

Firestorm 4 was through to the Heat Final. There, Firestorm 4 was placed against the former semi-finalist X-Terminator.

"Well, I haven't seen the axe working, so we should be alright. We've been up against Dominator before, and we're a lot thicker now than we were back then."
— Graham Bone before the battle
X-Terminator Firestorm 2

X-Terminator gets underneath Firestorm 4

The robots drove carefully around each other to begin with, both trying to get in to use their weapon effectively, but neither getting in a good position. Firestorm 4 drove over a CO2 vent, and X-Terminator activated the pit. When the two came together, X-Terminator's ground clearance was the lower, but its axe seemed to be broken, and it was unable to use it as a flipping arm successfully. Firestorm 4 got under X-Terminator, but Firestorm 4 turned, causing X-Terminator to fall off the wedge. X-Terminator reversed away, driving onto the flame pit. Firestorm 4 pursued, and when X-Terminator got the scoop under it, Firestorm 4 turned off. X-Terminator drove away, and turned to face Firestorm 4 on a CO2 vent.

"Graham is very cool. You very rarely see even a bead of sweat, even in the most difficult fights. He's a fantastic driver. Firestorm, this year, could go all the way, I think, because it's just zipping around like nobody's business."
— Praise from Philippa Forrester before the Heat Final
X-terminator firestorm

Firestorm 4 props X-Terminator against the wall

Firestorm 4 pushed X-Terminator into Shunt's CPZ, but drove into the House Robot itself, driving up the scoop. Shunt used its axe to knock Firestorm 4 off, and it quickly escaped, followed by X-Terminator. Firestorm 4 got under X-Terminator, but allowed it to escape. X-Terminator drove away, but drove to the arena disc, and the scoop briefly got caught, allowing Firestorm 4 to catch up. Firestorm 4 pushed X-Terminator towards the pit and tried to flip it in, but it was not close enough, so X-Terminator was able to reverse away.

"Goodness me, that was close."
— Jonathan Pearce
Shunt firestorm

Firestorm 4 flips Shunt

Firestorm 4 attacked the broadside of X-Terminator, flipping it and sending it tumbling against the side wall. With the axe not working and the side self-righting arms out of position, X-Terminator was unable to pull itself back into the battle. Shunt nudged its way in, and Firestorm 4 attacked him. Shunt axed Firestorm, but Firestorm 4 pulled away and got beneath the House Robot, spinning him around and flipping him onto his back.

"Shunt overturned! The crowd love it when the House Robots are flipped and tipped, and beaten and bullied, and we remember it! We will have our day! We will have our day, Firestorm team!"
— Jonathan Pearce
Shunt firestorm refbot x-terminator

Firestorm 4 rights Shunt as Refbot's count begins

X-Terminator finally got its axe working, but the attempted self-right resulted in X-Terminator being on its back with the axe extended. Firestorm 4 righted Shunt and continued battling him as Refbot counted out X-Terminator. Cease was called.

"Well, he was either going to attack them with his axe, or he was going to knock them off the side, and I didn't want either of them"
— Graham Bone explains why he attacked Shunt after the battle
Firestorm IV vs 13Black

Both robots are stranded on the arena wall

In the Series Semi-Finals, Firestorm 4 was placed up against the rising star 13 Black in the first round. In this battle, 13 Black drove straight at Firestorm 4, driving up the wedge. 13 Black tried to drive off, but it couldn't get away fast enough. Firestorm 4 pushed it back and flipped it, but flipped it at the wrong angle, so failed to turn it over, flicking it away instead. Firestorm 4 got under again straight away and pushed 13 Black around the arena before flipping it over as it neared the other arena side wall, throwing it against an angle grinder. 13 Black tried to carry on moving with the discs, but little movement occurred. Firestorm 4 then tried to flip 13 Black onto the arena side wall, but as it did so, got its end caught on the arena wall as well.

Firestorm vs 13 Black

Firestorm 4 flips 13 Black

Refbot came in to knock 13 Black down from the wall, then freed Firestorm 4. Although Firestorm 4 drove back at 13 Black, it became caught on its aerial, and as it drove away, it did a wheelie, and drove onto an angle grinder where it became stuck again. Refbot knocked it free, and Firestorm 4 drove around to attack 13 Black again. 13 Black was making only slight movement with the discs, and Firestorm 4 got under it and flipped it against the arena wall. Firestorm 4 stood back as Refbot counted 13 Black out. After "cease" was called, Firestorm 4 knocked 13 Black off the wall.

In the second round, Firestorm 4 was drawn up against the number 7 seed S3.

At the start, the two robots cautiously approached each other. Firestorm 4 got under S3, but S3 kept turning off the wedge as Firestorm 4 tried pushing it, so Firestorm 4 could not flip it. S3 managed to get away from Firestorm 4, and drove towards the top of the arena. As S3 turned to face Firestorm 4, Firestorm 4 caught up with it, but when it tried to get under S3, S3 merely fell off. S3 turned to face Firestorm 4 again, and Firestorm 4 pushed it into the arena wall and flipped it against Refbot.

"Something came off the arena side wall, such was the power of Firestorm's thrust!"
— Jonathan Pearce
S3 vs Firestorm

Firestorm 4 flips out S3

S3 failed to get away, spinning on the spot, then stopping, so Firestorm 4 got under it and pushed it towards the arena side wall. S3 fell off, but drove into the wall, allowing Firestorm 4 to get under it again and flip it. S3 became propped up on the arena disc button, but due to its shape and exposed wheels, it was able to get down. However, it fell right onto Firestorm 4, which flipped it again, and this time, the disc was hanging over the wall, and the weight caused it to fall over the wall.

"They teetered and they toppled, and Firestorm have flicked them out"
— Jonathan Pearce, at the end of the battle

In the Grand Final, Firestorm 4 was placed up against the number 12 seed Tornado.

"I can't believe you're still looking laid back at this stage, just before the final, because they're still fixing, I mean they've had a lot to do, and you're perfect running order!"
— Philippa Forrester to Team Firestorm
Tornado vs Firestorm IV

Firestorm 4 flips Tornado

Tornado started quickly, getting its scoop under Firestorm 4. Tornado pushed 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, leaving a large gash in Tornado's top. Both robots escaped, and Tornado got under Firestorm 4 again and pushed it down the arena, but Firestorm 4 turned off the wedge and pushed Tornado into another CPZ.

"What a battle this is! Very even."
— Jonathan Pearce

Shunt came in, and Firestorm 4 flipped Tornado out of the CPZ. However, Firestorm drove into the arena wall, where Shunt axed it. Firestorm 4 turned around, but turned too far, and drove into the wall again. It managed to turn out of the CPZ, where Tornado was waiting. This time, Firestorm 4 got its flipper under 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
Firestorm 3 vs Tornado

Tornado pushes Firestorm 4 towards the pit of oblivion

Tornado got underneath again and pushed Firestorm 4 down the arena, into the arena wall. Firestorm 4 got away, Tornado got under again and pushed, but Firestorm 4 drove off the scoop. Firestorm 4 tried to get the flipper under Tornado, but drove up the wedge twice. Tornado 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.

"Once again, they'll have to Playoff for third place!"
— Jonathan Pearce

However, Firestorm 4 was still able to fight in the play-off battle for third place, up against the unseeded Terrorhurtz machine.

"Very little ground clearance on Terrorhurtz, for Firestorm to exploit."
— Jonathan Pearce at the start of the battle
Firestorm IV vs Terrorhurtz

Terrorhurtz strikes Firestorm 4

Terrorhurtz vs Firestorm 3

A battered Firestorm 4 machine secures another third-place finish

In this battle, Firestorm 4 started quickly and attacked Terrorhurtz, pushing it back, but then 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, leaving Shunt and Dead Metal to evade its attacks. Shunt caught Terrorhurtz broadside and pushed it onto the floor flipper. Terrorhurtz was thrown by the floor flipper and pitted by Shunt and Dead Metal, meaning that Firestorm claimed third place for the second year running, and third time overall.

"You came; third in the third war, you were third in the fifth war, and you're third, in the sixth war!"
— Craig Charles, pointing out Firestorm's consistency

Extreme 2[]

"Third twice in a row in the UK championships. Now even more durable!"
— Jonathan Pearce introduces Firestorm in the All-Stars

For reaching the Grand Final in the Sixth Wars, Firestorm 4 took part in the All-Stars tournament in the second series of Extreme. Firestorm 4 was placed in Heat A of the competition and was also fitted with a strip of steel to help get under opponents more easily. Firestorm 4 was placed up against Bigger Brother and S3 in the first-round melee. Having lost to both of its opponents before, S3 included an anti-flipper plate onto their disc housing, in the hope that flippers would fail to get underneath S3 and be driven onto the disc; however, these would be their undoing.

Bigger Brother vs Firestorm

The victorious Firestorm 4 and Bigger Brother continue fighting

Firestorm 4 charged at S3, but before it reached S3, Bigger Brother rammed its side. It pushed it and tried to flip it but missed. Firestorm 4 drove around S3, which turned to face Firestorm 4. Next, Firestorm 4 tried to get under S3, but S3 knocked it away with the disc. Firestorm 4 got under one of S3's wheels and pushed it against an angle grinder. Bigger Brother got behind S3 and flipped it onto Firestorm 4. Knocking S3 aside, Firestorm 4 drove under Bigger Brother and slammed it into an angle grinder. Meanwhile, S3 was stuck upright on one wheel and the disc, the anti-flipper plates preventing it from getting down. Firestorm 4 drove through it, then Bigger Brother got under it, and swiftly pushed it to the arena wall and flipped it out. Firestorm 4 then charged at Bigger Brother and overturned it, but it self-righted, only to be thrown over again and pushed into Mr. Psycho. Despite the fighting between the two robots, both qualified for the second round.

"Firestorm attacking Bigger Brother now, well this is for pride and maybe a bit of a grudge, because S3 has gone!"
— Jonathan Pearce

In the second round, Firestorm 4 was placed up against Dantomkia.

"I think we're very evenly matched"
— Graham Bone before the battle
Firestorm 4 vs Dantomkia

Firestorm 4 demonstrates its lower ground clearance

Firestorm v Dantomkia

Firestorm 4 flips Dantomkia into the CPZ

Both sides commented on how evenly matched the two machines were, but this proved wrong as Firestorm 4 began easily the stronger, getting under Dantomkia, pushing it and nearly throwing it over in seconds, before pushing it towards Sgt. Bash. Dantomkia was then overturned, but self-righted instantly, before being flipped again, and once again righted itself. The third flip proved more troublesome, as Dantomkia landed on Sgt. Bash as it tried to right itself. Sgt. Bash cornered Dantomkia and tried to grip the arm with his jaws, but backed off before it could do so. Eventually Dantomkia self-righted, and escaped, meanwhile Firestorm 4 turned on Sgt. Bash temporarily, pushing it out of the CPZ, before returning to Dantomkia, overturning it yet again, but once again Dantomkia self-righted, and came in on the attack, overturning Firestorm 4, who also self-righted effortlessly.

Firestorm IV vs Dantomkia

Firestorm 4 is overturned by Dantomkia

Firestorm vs Dantomkia

Firestorm 4 pushes Dantomkia into the pit

Firestorm 4 retaliated, flipping Dantomkia over twice, and pushing it into Shunt's CPZ, the House Robot attacking the top of Dantomkia. Firestorm 4 escaped the CPZ whilst Dantomkia was being attacked, but its flipper had become wedged open whilst flipping Dantomkia into the corner. Firestorm 4 shoved Dantomkia up against the arena wall, and it self righted, however this was the last move of the machine, as it broke down after this, and it was attacked by Shunt, who Firestorm 4 then tried to flip. Refbot came in and counted out Dantomkia. Firestorm 4 then slid under Dantomkia and pushed it to the pit. It turned out in the end that Dantomkia's batteries had failed.

"Flipping brilliant!"
— Craig Charles, post battle

The Heat Final saw Firestorm 4 placed up against Bigger Brother again, after it defeated Tornado in the previous round.

Philippa Forrester: "Who's the better driver?"
Graham Bone: "I wouldn't say I'm the better driver."
Philippa Forrester: "Right, OK. Who's got the more powerful flipper?"
Graham Bone: "They've got the more powerful flipper, but we've got more flips!"
Philippa Forrester: "You've got more flip? All right, that's interesting, and who's more manoeuvrable?"
Graham Bone: "It's probably fairly evenly matched, it's manoeuvrability in a different way though, because of the different drive mechanisms."
— Pre-battle interview
FirestormBiggerBrother1

Firestorm 4 flips over Bigger Brother

Firestorm 4 immediately charged at Bigger Brother, but got stuck under the disc of doom. It freed itself but got stuck again whilst chasing Bigger Brother, however this proved a good thing as Bigger Brother ran up on the disc, which is slightly above floor level, and onto Firestorm 4's wedge. Firestorm 4 flipped it over, but Bigger Brother easily self-righted. After riding on Firestorm 4's wedge, Bigger Brother bounced down and went on the attack, flicking Firestorm 4 up, but not flipping it over.

Firestorm IV vs Bigger Brother

Firestorm 4 continues its assault

The two robots spent a lot of time pushing one another, before Firestorm 4 flipped Bigger Brother onto its back by the arena wall, but once again Bigger Brother recovered. Bigger Brother missed an opportunity, as Firestorm 4 was wedged under the angle grinders, leaving the sides a sitting duck, but Firestorm 4 spun away before Bigger Brother could take advantage. Firestorm 4 once again went on the offensive, this time pushing Bigger Brother across the arena and slammed it into the opposite wall. Sgt. Bash attempted to crush the side of Bigger Brother, as the two robots had strayed into a CPZ, but failed to and Firestorm 4 carried Bigger Brother away on its wedge.

Craig Charles: "What went wrong?"
Joe Watts: "Something went silly with the gas"
— Post-battle interview with Team Big Brother
Bigger Brother vs Firestorm IV

Bigger Brother lifts Firestorm 4

FirestormBiggerBrother2

Firestorm 4 secures its place in the All-Stars final

Firestorm 4 then pressed the pit release button, and Firestorm 4 shoved Bigger Brother against the corner of the arena, just failing to overturn it before the arrival of Sgt. Bash and Shunt, who axed the top of Bigger Brother. The two robots escaped, and met again in the centre of the arena. Bigger Brother this time went on the attack, as Firestorm 4's flipper appeared to have wedged open. Firestorm 4 retaliated, and flipped over Bigger Brother, who had run out of CO2, and Firestorm 4 pushed it into the pit, winning the heat.

Craig Charles: "Who do you think your robot is susceptible to?"
Graham Bone: "We've lost to Razer a couple of times"
— Graham Bone, not knowing that Razer would be waiting for him in the final

At the end of Heat B, it became apparent that Firestorm 4 would have to go up against Razer in the final, a robot that had beaten Firestorm twice before.

"I mean Razer blew it in the Sixth War, but it was very controversial, because Tornado had adapted its robot so Razer couldn't get at it, I don't think Firestorm can do that, and the claw of Razer is mighty and they've come back, they want to prove themselves all over again, people think they're on the slid now, because they lost the Sixth War, but I think Razer have got a little bit too much, and I'm going to go for Razer myself"
— Craig Charles, agreeing with Jonathan Pearce's prediction that Razer would win
Ex2AllStarsGrandFinal1

Firestorm 4 wedges under Razer

Razer vs Firestorm IV

Firestorm 4's strong start comes to a close

The battle started cautiously as both robots circled in the centre of the arena, looking to find a gap in the other to exploit. Firestorm 4 eventually rode up the front of Razer and pushed it back in towards Dead Metal, who kicked sparks into the air with its circular saw before Razer finally wriggled out of the House Robot's grip. Meanwhile, in attempting to keep up its pressure on Razer, Firestorm 4 got itself stuck under the angle grinder. Razer caused little damage when it came across, however, and instead, with the help of Dead Metal, unpinned Firestorm 4. Firestorm 4 instantly came back onto the attack by getting under the front of Razer but couldn't manage to fully throw it over with its flip. Firestorm 4 then drove onto Razer's wedge again, and although it managed to force Razer backwards once more, the defending All-Stars champion had penetrated Firestorm 4's armour sufficiently enough for it to be able to lift Firestorm 4 up into the air as the beak retracted.

"Out come the wings of victory which signal the wings of doom for the defeated."
— Jonathan Pearce as Razer hoists Firestorm 4 aloft
Ex2AllStarsGrandFinal2

Firestorm 4 succumbs to Razer once again

Razer vs Firestorm 4

Firestorm 4 is finally pitted

Finally, Firestorm 4 came back down onto the arena floor and tried to retreat, but Razer gave it no room to breathe and brought its crushing arm down onto the top of Firestorm 4. Firestorm 4 edged its way towards the pit, clearly limited in its movement, before Razer came in and inflicted more punishment onto Firestorm 4. Although Firestorm 4 then pushed the pit release button after a nudge from Razer, it was slowly pushed towards the pit before finally falling in to confirm Razer as the winner and the All-Stars champion for a second time.

Craig Charles: "He made you look like a tea bag that time though, like 1000 perforations!"
Graham Bone: "Nah, it's not that bad, it was the one big hole in the top, that's taken out the battery, that's why we couldn't go forwards and backwards any more."
Craig Charles: "Are you gutted?"
Graham Bone: "Not really, no."
Craig Charles: "I mean you must have thought "third time lucky", surely!"
Graham Bone: "We did, but I mean second is nothing to be ashamed about, it's a good position!"
— Post-battle interview

Firestorm 4 also represented England in the Commonwealth Carnage competition in the second series of Extreme. Originally, the winner of the All-Stars tournament was meant to represent England in this tournament, but Firestorm 4, the runner up, took the place of Razer, presumably because Razer was fighting in the European Championship, as reigning world champion.

"Representing England, the pressure's on!"
— Philippa Forrester to Graham Bone, at the start of the Commonwealth Carnage
Firestorm IV vs Weld-Dor 3

Firestorm 4 flips Weld-Dor 3 out of the arena...

In the first round, it was placed up against Weld-Dor 3 of Northern Ireland, Corkscrew of Scotland and stock robot, Bondi Titch of Australia. In the battle, Firestorm 4 started very promisingly, as it chased after Weld-Dor 3 and flipped it over. Weld-Dor 3 swiftly self-righted, before Firestorm 4 got under and flipped it again. Weld-Dor 3 then failed to self-right, remaining still and not using the flipper, the result of an untelevised attack from Corkscrew. After being knocked by Corkscrew and pushed by Bondi Titch, Weld-Dor 3 fired the flipper in an attempt to self-right, but it was only venting gas due to its existing damage. Firestorm 4 took advantage by flipping Weld-Dor 3 into an unoccupied CPZ, while a huge amount of CO2 vented from the Northern Irish machine, and Firestorm 4 flipped Weld-Dor 3 out of the arena.

Firestorm IV vs Bondi-Titch

...and throws Bondi-Titch out as well

Bondi Titch opened the pit, and Firestorm 4 got under it and flipped it against the arena wall, trying to get it out. Bondi Titch was stuck on its side, but Firestorm 4 tried getting under it again, knocking it back on its wheels in the process. Bondi Titch struggled to move away, so Corkscrew charged in, almost driving into the pit as it did so, knocking it off the arena wall on the first hit, then ripping off a back panel. Firestorm 4 came in and flipped Bondi Titch against the arena side wall, then drove around its front and rammed it into the corner. It tried to flip it out, but failed to do so. Firestorm 4 tried to flip Bondi Titch out twice more, merely flipping it against the wall each time, then backed out of the CPZ when Mr. Psycho came in. Mr. Psycho hammered the Australian representative, but Bondi Titch managed to drive out of the CPZ. Firestorm 4 got under it and flipped it back into the CPZ, and Bondi Titch narrowly reversed away from a hammer blow. Firestorm 4 then pushed Bondi Titch against the arena side wall, and finally succeeded in flipping Bondi Titch out of the arena, putting Firestorm 4 through to the next round of the competition, along with Corkscrew.

"Spectacular, the English hope!"
— Praise from Jonathan Pearce

In the second round, Battle 3 of the Firestorm/Panic Attack grudge commenced as Firestorm 4 was drawn up against Panic Attack yet again, who was representing Wales.

Philippa Forrester: "This is it: Wales against England, Panic Attack versus Firestorm. They're evenly matched."
Graham Bone: "I wouldn't say that!"
Philippa Forrester: "Why?"
Graham Bone: "We've beaten them three times already!"
— Boasts from Team Firestorm
Panic Attack vs Firestorm IV

Panic Attack slips under Firestorm 4

In this battle, the two robots drove towards each other, then paused, trying to find the right place to attack. Firestorm 4 was able to get in underneath Panic Attack and push it, but Panic Attack turned off the wedge. It drove away, closely followed by Firestorm 4, but Firestorm 4 failed to get under Panic Attack's skirts, and drove over the forks. Firestorm 4 chased Panic Attack and got under it again, pushing it against the wall in a CPZ. It flipped Panic Attack against the wall, but Panic Attack fell back onto its wheels. Panic Attack tried to get away, but Firestorm 4 was in hot pursuit. Near the top of the arena, Panic Attack turned to face Firestorm 4, and Firestorm 4 drove up the forks again. Panic Attack drove away, through Sgt. Bash's CPZ, followed by Firestorm 4, and Firestorm 4 managed to get under Panic Attack's side, and push it across the arena, into an empty CPZ at the top of the arena.

CommonwealthCarnageRound2.1

Firestorm 4 leaves Panic Attack on its side

Panic Attack got off the wedge after being pushed into the arena top wall, but Firestorm 4 immediately got behind it and pushed it into an arena side wall, then into Sgt. Bash's CPZ. Firestorm 4 tried to flip Panic Attack, but the flipper was not under Panic Attack properly, so Panic Attack slid off instead of being flipped, and Firestorm 4 drove into Sgt. Bash. Both robots escaped the CPZ, and Firestorm 4 got under Panic Attack's front, tried to flip it again, but turned and drove off as it did so, meaning Panic Attack fell onto its wheels. Firestorm 4 drove under Panic Attack again and tried another flip, but the flipper was not under Panic Attack properly, so Panic Attack fell onto its wheels again.

Firestorm IV vs Sgt Bash

Mr. Psycho holds Panic Attack while Firestorm 4 flips Sgt. Bash

Firestorm 4 got behind Panic Attack, pushing it onto the flame pit, but it drove itself onto an angle grinder, briefly getting stuck. As it freed itself, Panic Attack got the forks under it and pushed it, until Firestorm 4 spun off the forks. Firestorm 4 turned around, and rammed the front of Panic Attack. The two pushed each other, moving into a CPZ. Sgt. Bash came in, Panic Attack pushed it away, but this allowed Firestorm 4 to get under Panic Attack and flip it against the arena side wall. Panic Attack's srimech was designed for protecting it from getting stuck on its back, so was useless on its side. First Refbot, then Mr. Psycho tried to free Panic Attack, but failed, so Panic Attack was counted out, and Firestorm 4 pressed the pit release. Mr. Psycho picked up Panic Attack, and paraded it around the arena, whilst Firestorm 4 took on Sgt. Bash and flipped it. Mr. Psycho left Panic Attack to attack Firestorm 4 who had tried, and failed to get underneath.

"Go on Firestorm! If you can lift Mr. Psycho, that is one heck of a robot! Mr. Psycho just a glance there of the hammer, to say "No, you'd be ill-advised"!"
— Jonathan Pearce as Firestorm 4 tries to get under Mr. Psycho
Firestorm flips Mr Psycho

Firestorm 4 topples Mr. Psycho

After hammering Firestorm 4 and chasing it a little, Mr. Psycho returned to Panic Attack, dumping it in the pit. As Mr. Psycho reversed, he reversed up the wedge of Firestorm 4. Cease was called, but Firestorm 4 continued anyway, managing to topple the gargantuan house robot using its wedge shape and flipper. This made Firestorm 4 the only robot to ever flip Mr. Psycho with its own weapon.

"I had a go when he was trying to roast Kim over the flame pit, I thought "No, get them away from the flame pit", but he saw us coming and got away, and then when he was putting Kim down the pit I thought "Well, he might be slightly off-balance, and he wasn't, but he reversed back on, and he got at the right angle so we managed to tip him!"
— Graham Bone explains his attack on Mr. Psycho to Craig Charles after the battle

This victory put Firestorm 4 through to the next round. In the final, Firestorm 4 was placed up against Crushtacean, who was representing South Africa.

"I think they [Crushtacean] are going to see their match with Firestorm here, Firestorm we know are extremely fast, can drive extremely well, never quite got to the top, but have been very near there."
Mat Irvine's prediction for the final
Firestorm IV vs Crushtacean

Firestorm 4 flips Crushtacean

CommonwealthCarnageFinal

Firestorm 4 takes damage from Sgt. Bash but lifts Dead Metal

In the battle, Firestorm 4 started the battle with an onslaught on Crushtacean, attempting to flip it several times. Dead Metal then attacked Crushtacean, attacking the exposed wheels. Firestorm 4 got in underneath Crushtacean again, and flipped it over, and then onto its side, from where it could not self-right. Refbot then counted down the South African machine, and Firestorm 4 was crowned Commonwealth Champion, their first trophy in four years of trying. In celebration, Firestorm 4 took on the House Robots, pressuring Dead Metal, almost flipping it over. Sgt. Bash came in with its jaws, and crushed the shell of Firestorm 4. Refbot tried to separate the three machines. The fight ended with Firestorm 4 balancing Dead Metal precariously on its flipper, with Sgt. Bash locked onto the back of Firestorm 4.

"After all this time you've won something! Would you like the trophy?"
— Craig Charles presents the Firestorm team with their prize

Series 7[]

"Tonight sees the return of one of my favourite robots, are there any Firestorm fans in tonight?! If any robot, deserves to win this championship, it's Firestorm, who after years of nearly getting there, still haven't got their hands on the title, well, have they come back with what it takes?"
— Craig Charles

Now the second seed (due to Razer not returning), with high expectations placed upon it yet again, Firestorm 5 returned for the Seventh Wars, and was placed in the final heat of the series. In the first round of the heat, the seeded Firestorm 5 was placed up against Team Mousetrap's clusterbot Black and Blue, newcomer Daisy-Cutter and two time Dutch Grand-Finalist Bamm Bamm.

""What's special", you may say, "about our #2 seeds?". It is brilliantly driven, it is formidable, it is durable..."
— Praise from Jonathan Pearce at the start of the battle
Firestorm 5 flips Blue and Bamm Bamm

Firestorm 5 flips Bamm Bamm and Blue together

Firestorm Black and Blue

Firestorm 5 slides Blue down into the pit

Firestorm 5 proved very impressive in this battle, dominating the fight. In the battle, Firestorm 5 started by getting under the blue Black and Blue twin, which drove off the wedge, so Firestorm 5 got under the black one and flipped it, but this had no effect as it was invertible. Firestorm 5 quickly threw Bamm Bamm over, also flipping one of the Black and Blue twins over in the process. Bamm Bamm was unable to self-right, so Firestorm 5 carefully positioned it on the panel covering the pit of oblivion, and then pressing the pit release button, pitting Bamm Bamm. Firestorm 5 then flipped one of the Black and Blue twins around the arena a few times, as Daisy-Cutter and cornered the other up against the arena side wall, by an angle grinder. Firestorm 5 then flipped the twin that it was taking on towards Daisy-Cutter, but as the twin tried to escape, it began to slow to a halt. Firestorm 5 took advantage of this, and shoved the Black and Blue twin down the open pit, securing victory. This meant that Firestorm 5 and Daisy-Cutter progressed to the next round of the heat.

"Firestorm burning up the war zone!"
— Craig Charles after the first round battle

In the second round, Firestorm 5 was placed up against a much improved Reptirron the Second machine.

Jayne Middlemiss: "You still get apprehensive at this stage? You are the #2 seeds though, Graham!"
Graham Bone: "That's where the pressure comes from though, isn't it?"
— Pre-battle interview
Firestorm Reptirron 1

Firestorm 5 flips Reptirron The Second over straight away

Firestorm 5 vs reptirron the second

Firestorm 5 flips Reptirron the Second out

In this battle, despite a degree of worry from Graham Bone beforehand, Firestorm 5 immediately got underneath Reptirron The Second and pushed it around before flipping it into Shunt's CPZ. Shunt attacked Reptirron The Second as it tried to right itself, and Firestorm 5 threw it towards the arena wall. Reptirron still couldn't self-right and Firestorm 5 tried to throw it out of the arena twice without success, before taking a run-up and throwing up against the side wall. Firestorm 5 took another run-up and finally threw Reptirron The Second over the arena wall, with steam smoking out of Reptirron the Second.

"I was worried going into that one, it's a good robot"
— Graham Bone, after the fight

In the Heat Final, Firestorm 5 was drawn up against the impressive Ripper machine. Prior to the match, Team Firestorm told Team Roaming Robots that if Ripper won the match, they should not attack the House Robots again, and that if Firestorm 5 won, it promised to destroy Ripper, with assistance from the House Robots.

"I think again, it's going to get down to who's the lowest on the ground, if we get straight under then we should have a good chance."
— Graham Bone before the fight
Firestorm Ripper

Firestorm 5 reverses Ripper onto its back

Refbot Counter Fault

Refbot's counter goes 'Euro' as he counts Ripper out

Firestorm 5 vs ripper

Firestorm 5 flips Ripper out of the arena

In this battle, Firestorm 5 almost immediately immobilised Ripper, throwing it onto its back, where the giant low-pressure flipper flopped open and failed to self-right. Firestorm 5 sportingly righted Ripper, only to drive it around the arena, again flipping it over, this time onto the arena side wall. Once again, Ripper's flipper jammed open and appeared to be stuck. This time, the Roaming Robots competitor was out of luck, as the Refbot came in to count it out (with the counter display going from 21 to 29, before reaching 10). After the count was complete, Firestorm 5 came in again, drove in underneath Ripper and toppled it out of the arena, securing its place in the Series Semi-Finals, while breaking the team's own promise by saving Ripper from further harm.

"There was a time when I left them when they were just up on their back, but it doesn't make a very good show, does it?"
— Graham Bone on his changed treatment of immobilised robots

Firestorm 5 was through to the Series Semi-Finals for the fifth consecutive time. It was drawn against the New Blood runner-up, Mute, in the first round.

"Third in the Fifth Wars, third in the Sixth Wars, can they go one better?"
— Jonathan Pearce in the Semi-Finals
Firestorm Mute

Firestorm 5 watches on as Mute attempts to self-right

Both robots charged at each other, with Mute driving straight over Firestorm 5's top. Firestorm 5 fired its flipper, but it was too late to flip Mute. Mute drove towards an angle grinder, where Firestorm 5 sneaked up on it, slipped under the side, and flipped Mute, which tumbled back onto its wheels again afterwards. Firestorm 5 got straight under the front of Mute, and flipped it again.

"Firestorm 5, relentless, pressurising."
— Jonathan Pearce as Firestorm 5 dominates the early proceedings
FirestormOOTAMute

Firestorm flips its seventh and final robot out of the arena, breaking Chaos 2's record. Note that Mute's flipper is also open

This left Mute inverted, where it struggled to self-right, throwing itself into Sgt. Bash, which was mysteriously in the centre of the arena. Mute made another attempt at self-righting, as Firestorm 5 drew near, firing its flipper with no robot on top of it. Mute made a full somersault, landing on top of Firestorm 5, before doing another full flip in a self-righting attempt, still unable to land on its wheels. As Mute made another full somersault, Firestorm 5 pushed it towards the arena side wall. In this situation, Mute could potentially throw itself out of the arena when attempting to self-right, so it remained idle. Firestorm 5 got underneath Mute from the rear, and flipped it, trying to get it out of the arena. The Mute team felt that Mute was heading out of the arena through this flip, so they activated Mute's own flipper, flinging Mute straight into the safety barrier out of the arena, and out of the competition. Firestorm 5 had won the battle, and broken Chaos 2's record of six out of the arena flips in doing so.

"Measuring, clinical, and there's the kill"
— Jonathan Pearce, as the Out of the Arena flip is replayed

In the second round of the Semi-Finals, Firestorm 5 was placed up against the impressive New Blood Champion and number sixteen seed, Storm 2.

Firestorm 5 under Storm 2

Firestorm 5 gets underneath Storm 2

Both robots started quickly but neither was able to launch a solid attack for a while, dodging around each other, trying to get in a good position to attack. Storm 2 drove up Firestorm's wedge a couple of times, but both times it drove off before it could be flipped. Storm 2 finally got underneath Firestorm 5 and pushed it into the arena wall. Storm 2 pushed Firestorm 5 towards the CPZ and then into the pit release button, and Firestorm 5 nearly drove into the opening pit. Firestorm 5 then drove over the side of Storm 2 and into an arena angle grinder, bending the front strip enabling it to get underneath Storm 2, but then it quickly escaped.

Firestorm Storm

Storm 2 rams Firestorm 5 against the arena wall

"Storm 2 suddenly look menacing and they're on top I would say."
— Jonathan Pearce

Firestorm 5 continued to be aggressive, but found it hard to get underneath Storm 2, now that the front strip had been bent, so it could only drive up the front of its opponent instead. Firestorm 5 continued to drive up the front of its opponent and Storm 2 was able to push it around the arena, nearly pitting it on one occasion, before finally pushing it into the pit of oblivion.

Storm II pits Firestorm

Storm 2 pits Firestorm 5

"Storm 2 again the push, Firestorm 5 gone! No Grand Final this time for Graham and Hazel! A wedding day to look forward to, but no Grand Final day on Robot Wars. Storm 2 through!"
— Jonathan Pearce

Team Firestorm had fought in six wars, so Firestorm 5 returned for the All-Stars Tournament at the end of the series. In the first round of the competition, Firestorm 5 found itself being drawn up against Kat 3 (for the first time), Bigger Brother (for the fourth time) and Panic Attack (for the fifth time).

Jayne Middlemiss: "Who've you ganged up on?"
Graham Bone: "I wouldn't like to say"
— Pre-first round interview for the All-Stars
All stars eliminator A

Firestorm 5 leads the way in taking out Shunt

Firestorm V vs Shunt

Firestorm 5 is briefly stuck on the wall

Immediately, all four robots converged on Shunt, and Firestorm 5 was the first to slide beneath the house robot and flipped it over. Bigger Brother and Firestorm 5 both attacked Shunt again, with Firestorm 5 wedging itself on the arena side wall in the process. Shunt's axe flailed as it tried to self-right, accidentally nudging Firestorm 5 off the wall in the process. Refbot cleared the competing robots away, and Cassius Chrome rammed Kat 3 across the arena. As it escaped, Firestorm 5 retaliated by pushing Cassius Chrome along the arena, but did not flip it.

"This is tremendous stuff, so much experience out there - durable machines."
— Jonathan Pearce
Firestorm V vs Panic Attack

Firestorm 5 wedges under Panic Attack

Cassius Chrome bumped both robots off, and rammed Kat 3 towards the arena side wall. Panic Attack and Firestorm 5 then attacked Cassius Chrome from the sides, causing the sole House Robot to flee. Meanwhile, Refbot activated the pit release button, and Bigger Brother was on the panel already. Bigger Brother couldn't drive away, as the descent had already began and Bigger Brother's ground clearance was too low, so the descent was halted, and the Refbot shoved Bigger Brother off and away, allowing the descent of the pit to continue. As Bigger Brother joined Panic Attack in attacking Cassius Chrome, Refbot accidentally reversed into the pit itself, the pit then quickly raised again to let the Refbot out. Firestorm 5 and Bigger Brother tried to flip Cassius Chrome, but they were unsuccessful, and Firestorm 5 pushed Panic Attack into Cassius Chrome, with the two competitors then shoving the house robot the length of the arena.

"Rules? What rules?"
— Jonathan Pearce as the frenetic action continues
Drop Zone fail

The Drop Zone misses Firestorm 5 by a wide margin

As Bigger Brother and Kat 3 attacked Cassius Chrome, Kat 3's axe caused the House Robot's eye to fall off. All four robots ganged up on Cassius Chrome. Panic Attack hoisted Cassius Chrome off the ground, before being aided by Bigger Brother. Meanwhile, The Drop Zone and the arena floor flipper both activated in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the rampaging robots.

"How do the judges mark this by the way? Two machines have to go through to the second round of the All-Stars...on style, on aggression, on damage, but on control?! Has any one single machine been strictly under control out there? It's been sheer roboteering lunacy!"
— Jonathan Pearce
Firestorm V pitted

Firestorm 5, having driven into the pit

Cassius Chrome appeared to have lost power as it was pushed towards the pit by Panic Attack, who then left it up against the arena side wall by the pit release button, as it was obvious that Cassius Chrome was consequently immobilised. After this, all four competitors decided to leave it alone and turned on the Refbot. However, Firestorm 5 suddenly drove itself into the pit of oblivion after deflecting off the Refbot in a charge. It would later be joined by Bigger Brother in what was Firestorm's final battle in Robot Wars.

Results[]

FIRESTORM - RESULTS
Series 3
The Third Wars - UK Championship
Third Place
Heat O, Round 1 vs. Crasha Gnasha Won
Heat O, Round 2 vs. Facet Won
Heat O, Final vs. Diotoir Won
Semi-Final 1, Round 1 vs. Pitbull Won
Semi-Final 1, Round 2 vs. Panic Attack Won
Grand Final, Eliminator vs. Chaos 2 Lost
Grand Final, Playoff vs. Steg-O-Saw-Us No winner
FIRESTORM 2 - RESULTS
Series 4
The Fourth Wars - UK Championship
5th Seed, Semi-Final, Round 1
Heat C, Eliminator vs. Scar, The Morgue Qualified
Heat C, Semi-Final vs. Bolt from the Blue Won
Heat C, Final vs. The Morgue Won
Semi-Final 1, Round 1 vs. Dominator 2 Lost
Pinball Warrior Tournament
Equal Seventh (with Hypno-Disc)
Pinball 135pts 7th
Sumo Basho
Fifteenth
Sumo 4.21 seconds 15th
Tag Team Terror
(with Scorpion), Runner-up
Round 1 vs. Bigger Brother & Plunderbird 4 Won
Final vs. 101 & King B3 Lost
FIRESTORM 3 - RESULTS
Extreme Series 1
All-Stars
Semi Finalist
Round 1 vs. Panic Attack Won
Quarter-Final vs. Wild Thing Won
Semi-Final vs. Razer Lost
Single Battle Events
Vengeance
Vengeance vs. Diotoir Won
The Second World Championship
Representing the UK, Heats
NOTE: This competition was also broadcast during US Season 1
Heat vs. Drillzilla (USA), NEAT Machine (NED), Whirlpool 70 (SWE) Eliminated
Series 5
The Fifth Wars - UK Championship
7th Seed, Third Place
Heat D, Eliminator vs. Bee-Capitator Won
Heat D, Semi-Final vs. Sir Chromalot Won
Heat D, Final vs. Reactor 2 Won
Semi-Final 2, Round 1 vs. Hypno-Disc (3) Lost
Semi-Final 2,
Losers Melee
vs. Panic Attack (6), Wheely Big Cheese (10) Won
Semi-Final 2, Round 2 vs. Pussycat (2) Won
Grand Final, Eliminator vs. Razer (4) Lost
Grand Final, Playoff vs. Hypno-Disc (3) Won by default
NOTE: After both robots were immobilised in battle simultaneously, a rematch was called. Hypno-Disc could not take part, and Firestorm 3 won by default.
FIRESTORM 4 - RESULTS
Series 6
The Sixth Wars - UK Championship
3rd Seed, Third Place
Heat B, Round 1 vs. Cedric Slammer, Colossus, Mega Hurts 2 Qualified
Heat B, Round 2 vs. Barbaric Response Won
Heat B, Final vs. X-Terminator Won
Semi-Final 1, Round 1 vs. 13 Black Won
Semi-Final 1, Round 2 vs. S3 (7) Won
Grand Final, Eliminator vs. Tornado (12) Lost
Grand Final, Playoff vs. Terrorhurtz Won
Extreme Series 2
All-Stars
Runner-up
Heat A, Round 1 vs. Bigger Brother, S3 Qualified
Heat A, Round 2 vs. Dantomkia Won
Heat A, Final vs. Bigger Brother Won
Grand Final vs. Razer Lost
Commonwealth Carnage
Representing England, Champion
Round 1 vs. Bondi Titch (AUS), Corkscrew (SCO), Weld-Dor 3 (NIR) Qualified
Round 2 vs. Panic Attack (WAL) Won
Final vs. Crushtacean (RSA) Won
FIRESTORM 5 - RESULTS
Series 7
The Seventh Wars - UK Championship
2nd Seed, Semi-Final, Round 2
Heat P, Round 1 vs. Bamm Bamm, Black and Blue, Daisy-Cutter Qualified
Heat P, Round 2 vs. Reptirron the Second Won
Heat P, Final vs. Ripper Won
Semi-Final 2, Round 1 vs. Mute Won
Semi-Final 2, Round 2 vs. Storm 2 (16) Lost
All-Stars
Round 1
Round 1 vs. Bigger Brother, Kat 3, Panic Attack Eliminated

Wins/Losses[]

  • Wins: 33
  • Losses: 11

Firestorm's proposed battle against Steg-O-Saw-Us in Series 3, and victory over Hypno-Disc by default in Series 5, have been omitted.

Series Record[]

Main Series Firestorm Series Record
The First Wars Did not enter
The Second Wars Entered with GroundHog
The Third Wars Joint Third Place as Fire Storm
The Fourth Wars Semi-Finals, Round 1 as Firestorm 2
The Fifth Wars Third Place as Firestorm 3
The Sixth Wars Third Place as Firestorm 4
The Seventh Wars Semi-Finals, Round 2 as Firestorm 5
Series 8 Did not enter
Series 9 Did not enter
Series 10 Did not enter
Robot Wars Extreme Appearances
Series 1 Entered as Firestorm 3
Series 2 Entered as Firestorm 4

Gallery[]

Outside Robot Wars[]

Snowstorm

Snowstorm, the team's Techno Games entry

212px-Teamsnowcat

Snowstorm and Kat's Whiskers

Like many Robot Wars competitors, Team Firestorm entered Techno Games. The team entered the football tournament with a new shell covering Firestorm 3 called Snowstorm (spelled on the team's website SnowStorm), which shared the same design but was painted white and blue and was weaponless, like any Techno Games competitor, but was a modification made with respect to Razer having broken the flipper weapon of Firestorm 3. Snowstorm was teamed with Kat's Whiskers from Team KaterKiller. Together, they won the silver medal in 2002, losing 5-0 to Storm Chaser and Sprocket in the final. In 2003, the pair lost 2-1 to the Skeleton Crew in the first round. Snowstorm also competed in the Assault Course in 2003 but lost in Round 1 to Sugar Plum Fairy after receiving penalties (bringing its time to 40 seconds as opposed to Sugar Plum Fairy's time of 22.57 seconds), despite finishing before Sugar Plum Fairy.

Firestorm team 2003

Firestorm at the Enginuity Robot Crusade in 2003

FirestormNKCS03

Firestorm on display at the 2003 Newark Kit Car Show

FirestormRobotZone

Firestorm on display at a Robot Zone event in 2003

Firestorm2005

Firestorm at the 2005 Teesside Robot Challenge

Firestorm would occasionally appear at live events. It fought at the Enginuity Robot Crusade 2003 event before the filming of Series 7, losing to Velocirippa in the first round to drop into a Losers Melee with Hydra and 51, but lost and was eliminated from the tournament.[42] Fortunately, Firestorm earned a win in a whiteboard match against M2.[43] Firestorm also appeared at the Newark Kit Car Show the same year as a static display[44] and at The Robot Zone event hosted by Steve Merrill, again as a static display.

Firestorm20161

Firestorm at Newcastle College in September 2016

Following Series 7, Firestorm was retired from combat, but still appeared at events as a display piece, one of which was at the 2005 Teesside Robot Challenge event.[45] In the present day, Firestorm makes occasional appearances at Newcastle College, where Hazel Heslop (nowadays Hazel Bone) works at as the course leader for the Manufacturing Engineering course.[46] One of Firestorm's appearances at Newcastle College was publicly shared in September 2016.[47] Firestorm is still in working condition with only a change of batteries needed to get it running again.[48] When not being displayed, Firestorm is stored at Graham Bone's workplace.

Team Firestorm 2023

Graham and Hazel Bone with Team Immersion at Extreme Robots Newcastle in 2023

Graham, Hazel and their son made a surprise appearance in July 2023 when they attended the Extreme Robots Newcastle event as backstage guests.[49]

FireStorm XR

Firestorm on display at Extreme Robots Newcastle in July 2024

A year later in July 2024, Graham and Hazel again attended the Extreme Robots event in Newcastle, this time bringing along Firestorm 5 itself for a surprise appearance.[50] Firestorm would be displayed in front of the main battle arena, sporting a clear polycarbonate top panel which partially showed off its internals, with its usual top plate laid beside it. After the event was completed, Team Firestorm were interviewed by Extreme Robots for their Facebook page[51] and invited to attend their Colchester event with Graham Bone as a guest judge, while Firestorm 5 itself was posed with replica House Robots in the arena (including a flamethrower test from Sgt. Bash) and other front-hinged flippers such as Immersion and a Firestorm-inspired featherweight by Calum Jones called Thunderstorm.

Antweight Firestorm

An antweight Firestorm, by Alex Mordue

In 2016, Alex Mordue released a set of files that allows builders to create an antweight version of Firestorm. For more information on Alex Mordue's achievements outside of Firestorm, including the beetleweight Saw Loser, see here.

Appearances in Merchandise[]

Trivia[]

  • With 33, Firestorm has the second most UK wins of all robots and has the highest win tally without winning a UK Championship.
  • At five, Firestorm has reached the most Semi-Finals out of any Robot Wars competitor.
  • Firestorm is one of only nine robots to fight in more than one UK Championship and never fail to win a heat.
    • Of those eight robots, Firestorm fought in the most UK Championships, at five. This also makes it the only robot to fight in five wars without ever failing to reach the semi-finals.
  • Firestorm remains the only robot with a front-hinged flipper to successfully flip another robot out of the arena.
  • Firestorm 4 was the second robot to flip two robots out of the Arena in one battle.
  • Firestorm has lost to the eventual champion of a series of UK Robot Wars three times, more than any other robot. On each occasion, it happened during the Grand Final Eliminator stage.
  • Along with Hypno-Disc and Carbide, Firestorm is one of only three robots to have reached the Grand Final three times.
  • Firestorm was the only robot to compete in all three All-Star tournaments.
  • Firestorm and Plunderbird are the only machines to name a Model 5 machine. Other machines such as Bulldog Breed entered five versions of the machine, but Plunderbird and Firestorm were the only two to designate their machine as the fifth in the series, rather than a general name.
  • Firestorm was never seeded lower than 7th throughout its UK Series appearances (except for the Third Wars which had no seedings).
  • Firestorm 4 became the third robot in history, after Killertron in Series 2 and Chaos 2 in Series 4, to finish in its position predicted by seeding, (third) in Series 6.
    • Additionally, Firestorm 4 was the first and only occasion where the third-place finisher in the previous war was seeded third.
  • In five UK championships and two Extreme series, Firestorm has only needed to use its flipper as a srimech three times, in Heat O of Series 3 against Facet, in the Tag Team Terror Round 1 in Series 4 against Bigger Brother and Plunderbird 4, and in Heat A of the Extreme 2 All-Stars, against Dantomkia.
    • In fact, Firestorm was only ever flipped over one other time, when Chaos 2 flipped Fire Storm over, before flipping it out of the arena.
  • Out of all of the Series 4 Semi-Finalists, only Firestorm and Steg 2 have never fought in an Annihilator or Mayhem qualifier.
  • Excluding Series 3, Firestorm competed in the first Semi-Final at even-numbered series (4 and 6), and the second Semi-Final at odd-numbered series (5 and 7).
  • Ironically, Firestorm was the first robot to be Thrown Out of the Arena, but went on to beat Chaos 2's record of Out of the Arenas in Series 7, with seven.
    • Firestorm also briefly held the record for most consecutive Out of the Arenas, alongside Tsunami and Atomic, at 3. Atomic would later break this record within the same episode.
  • Firestorm 3 was the only winner of a Losers' Melee to go on and reach the Grand Final, not counting Eruption's win in the 10 Robot Rumble.
    • As a result, Firestorm holds the record for having the most fights in a single competition than any other robot (8) during the original run.
FireStorm Trolley

Firestorm's trolley used for loading into the arena, pictured in 2024

  • The trolley used to transport Firestorm across the pits and into the arena was also painted to match the Firestorm brand.
  • In an interview in Robot Wars: The Official Magazine, Team Firestorm claimed they had considered giving Firestorm spiked wheels to give the robot more traction, but did not have time between Series 6 and Extreme 2. Ultimately, these wheels were never added.[12]
  • The Firestorm series of robots have fought every Robot Wars Grand Champion from the original run except for the first and last, Roadblock and Typhoon 2.
  • Firestorm is one of only two robots prior to the reboot to lose a battle to an opponent and then defeat them later in the same tournament, the other being Lizzard.
  • With eight occurrences, Firestorm holds the dubious record of being the competitor which has been pitted the most times. Half of these were inflicted by other robots, the other half saw Firestorm drive itself into the Pit (though it won three out of those four battles despite it).
  • Of the fifty robots to return from Series 4 to compete in Series 5, Firestorm is one of only ten to perform better in its Series 5 appearance. The others are Bigger Brother, Razer, Diotoir, Prizephita Mach 2, Kat 3, Reactor, Rick, Destruct-A-Bubble and Clawed Hopper.
  • In 2003, Firestorm received an Honorable Mention in The Combat Robot Hall of Fame, in recognition of its active differential steering, front-hinged flipper and for being the only robot to flip Mr. Psycho over.[52]
  • The first time Firestorm ever fought a seed in the main competition was when it encountered Hypno-Disc in the Series Semi-Finals of The Fifth Wars.
  • Firestorm is one of only two robots to have scored an out of the arena flip from all four corners of the arena, the other being Dantomkia.
  • Firestorm 3's loss to Hypno-Disc in Series 5 was the only time it was beaten in the main UK Semi-Finals while Philippa Forrester was the pit reporter.
  • Firestorm also had alternate clear polycarbonate panels, however these were never used on the show itself and only saw use in live events as a means to show off the robot's internals.
  • Firestorm 3 had the S.M.I.D.S.Y. team logo, and the Mad Cow logo on it during The Second World Championship.
  • In every series it entered except for Series 3, Firestorm was the only robot from the north of England to reach the Semi-Finals.

Honours[]


Honour
Only competitor robot to flip Mr. Psycho
Honour
Most UK Series Semi-Finals reached (5)
Honour
Most Grand Finals reached (tied with Hypno-Disc, 3)


Nominations

References[]

  1. [1]
  2. [2]
  3. Robot Wars: The Official Magazine, Issue 2, Pages 49-50
  4. Team Firestorm website - Design (Archived)
  5. Conversation between Graham Bone and other roboteers at Extreme Robots Newcastle in July 2024
  6. Robot Wars: The Official Magazine, Issue 3, Page 49
  7. Conversation between Graham Bone and other roboteers at Extreme Robots Newcastle in July 2024
  8. Team Firestorm website - Design (Archived)
  9. Team Firestorm website - Design (Archived)
  10. Team Firestorm website - Results (Archived)
  11. Team Firestorm website - Diary (Archived)
  12. 12.0 12.1 Robot Wars: The Official Magazine, Issue 3, p.50
  13. Team Firestorm website - Diary (Archived)
  14. Conversation between Graham Bone and Calum Jones at Extreme Robots Newcastle
  15. http://web.archive.org/web/20071009181529fw_/http://www.teamfirestorm.co.uk/results.htm#series3
  16. http://web.archive.org/web/20071009181529fw_/http://www.teamfirestorm.co.uk/results.htm#series3
  17. http://web.archive.org/web/20071009181529fw_/http://www.teamfirestorm.co.uk/results.htm#series3
  18. http://web.archive.org/web/20071009181529fw_/http://www.teamfirestorm.co.uk/results.htm#series3
  19. http://web.archive.org/web/20081208184424/http://www.teamfirestorm.co.uk/index2.htm
  20. http://web.archive.org/web/20081208184424/http://www.teamfirestorm.co.uk/index2.htm
  21. http://web.archive.org/web/20071009181529fw_/http://www.teamfirestorm.co.uk/results.htm#series3
  22. http://web.archive.org/web/20071009181529fw_/http://www.teamfirestorm.co.uk/results.htm#series3
  23. Response to wiki user NJGW
  24. http://web.archive.org/web/20081208184424/http://www.teamfirestorm.co.uk/index2.htm
  25. http://web.archive.org/web/20081208184424/http://www.teamfirestorm.co.uk/index2.htm
  26. http://web.archive.org/web/20081208184424/http://www.teamfirestorm.co.uk/index2.htm
  27. http://web.archive.org/web/20071009181529fw_/http://www.teamfirestorm.co.uk/results.htm#series4
  28. http://web.archive.org/web/20081208184424/http://www.teamfirestorm.co.uk/index2.htm
  29. http://web.archive.org/web/20081208184424/http://www.teamfirestorm.co.uk/index2.htm
  30. http://web.archive.org/web/20071009181529fw_/http://www.teamfirestorm.co.uk/results.htm#series4
  31. http://web.archive.org/web/20081208184424/http://www.teamfirestorm.co.uk/index2.htm
  32. http://web.archive.org/web/20081208184424/http://www.teamfirestorm.co.uk/index2.htm
  33. results.htm
  34. http://web.archive.org/web/20071009181529fw_/http:.//www.teamfirestorm.co.uk/results.htm#rwextreme
  35. http://web.archive.org/web/20071009181529fw_/http://www.teamfirestorm.co.uk/results.htm#rwextreme
  36. http://web.archive.org/web/20071009181529fw_/http://www.teamfirestorm.co.uk/results.htm#rwextreme
  37. http://web.archive.org/web/20071009181529fw_/http://www.teamfirestorm.co.uk/results.htm#rwextreme
  38. http://web.archive.org/web/20071009181529fw_/http://www.teamfirestorm.co.uk/results.htm#rwextreme
  39. http://web.archive.org/web/20071009181529fw_/http://www.teamfirestorm.co.uk/results.htm#series5
  40. http://web.archive.org/web/20071009181529fw_/http://www.teamfirestorm.co.uk/results.htm#series5
  41. http://web.archive.org/web/20081208184424/http://www.teamfirestorm.co.uk/index2.htm
  42. Robot Crusade 2003 results (archived)
  43. M2 vs Firestorm 2003 - M2Robot YouTube
  44. http://www.bugs.nl/media/album/view.php?path=L3J3L25ld2FyazIwMDMvdWstY2hpbGNvdHQvUGl0cy9QaXRzIEdlbmVyYWwvUGl0cyAoOSkuSlBH
  45. Public Discord message from Jamie McHarg, 4 July 2024
  46. Engineering - Newcastle College
  47. Reddit post featuring the Instagram post by kridoin
  48. Private correspondence between RobotManiac and Hazel Bone, June 2022
  49. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10230923564893321&set=pcb.10230923579653690
  50. https://www.facebook.com/extremerobotshow/videos/383542080941351
  51. https://www.facebook.com/extremerobotshow/videos/955432546269995
  52. The Combat Robot Hall of Fame ®, Team Run Amok website

External Links[]

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