Stinger

EXT 2
S6
S5
EXT
S4
S3

Participation Information

UK Series

3-6, Extreme 1-2

US Season

1

Robot Wars Live Circuit

2013-16

Other Names

Stinger 2
(Series 4)
Stinger 3
(Series 6)

Team Information

Team

The "S2" Team

Team Members

Kevin Scott
Karl Skinner
Jonathan Pillai
(Series 3)
Tim Mann
(Series 4-6, Extreme 1-2)

From

Lincoln
(Series 3-4)
Branston, Lincolnshire
(Series 5-6, Extreme 1 & 2)
Lincoln, United Kingdom
(US Season 1)

Associated Robots

Infernal Contraption
(Jonathan Pillai)

Robot Statistics

S6
S5
EXT 1
S4
S3

Weight

95kg

Dimensions

0.47m x 1.02m x 0.77m

Top Speed

10mph

Power

2 x 750W motors

Weapons

Bludgeoning axe/spike with blades

Statistics correct as of its most recent show/competition appearance, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

"You know what it is, you know what it does, you know how it does it. And we're back for more of the same."

— Tim Mann in Series 5

Stinger was a heavyweight robot which competed in Series 3-6 of Robot Wars, as well as both series of Robot Wars Extreme.

In its Series 3 debut, it was defeated in the first round against Mace 2, after veering into the pit during the first battle of the series. However, a much more successful Stinger returned for Series 4 as the thirtieth seed, and was able to reach the Semi-Finals by defeating Bulldog Breed 2. It progressed to the Grand Final after winning a close Judges' decision against the fourth seed Panic Attack, and performed strongly against the defending champion Chaos 2, only to lose its eliminator to the latter on another close Judges' decision. Stinger ultimately finished third in Series 4, after Hypno-Disc withdrew from the planned Playoff.

Stinger was unable to emulate this level of success in its subsequent appearances, losing nearly all of its fights in both series of Robot Wars Extreme. It still reached the Heat Final stage in Series 5 and 6, before losing to S3 and 13 Black respectively.

Design[]

"Stinger's weapon is its tail. This weighs 6Kg and is made from steel which has been sharpened and tipped with Stellite. The tail has no actuator, but is driven by inertia from the wheels. When the motors are stopped, the wheels continue to roll so the transmission turns the axle which transfers their momentum into the tail. When the motors are reversed from full speed, the tail slams overhead with the force of a 14lb bowling ball being dropped from 60 feet!"

— The Stinger website on the tail^[1]

The original Stinger in the arena, armed with the 'pizza cutter'

The insides of Stinger's wheel at the Series 3 auditions

In all of its appearances, Stinger was a two-wheeled axlebot, armed with a swinging tail. The robot itself had virtually no body, other than a small section made out of 5mm steel tube from a gas turbine; the motors, batteries and radio gear were all housed within its two wheels, which were each built from two 12 inch motorcycle wheels welded together^[2] with steel domes on the outside. Inside the wheels, there was an internal fan to prevent the motor drive electronics from overheating^[3]. The robot itself was inspired by American robot The Master. The axle had motorcycle gears from a Honda CBR600 welded to it^[4]

"It's very expensive to build it this way because we have to cram everything in. Everything is shoehorned in there, we have motor, power electronics that fit here, and a big chunk of battery that goes in. When you try and shrink something down, it becomes more expensive to do."

— Tim Mann, interviewed in the Swedish dub of Heat J of Series 4^[5]

The mace was made out of boiler plates, tipped with stellate, and attached on the end of an arm, constructed from conrods from a car engine. The weapon worked by kinetic energy - when the robot's brakes were applied, the arm would swing over. There was a 3kg lead weight inside the tail, attached to a spring, that would slide up the arm as the robot span or the arm swung over, so that the mass would be transferred to the tip, before being pulled back down.

"It's just strong enough to overcome the mass. When the tail has his something and slowed down, the spring pulls the weight back towards the centre of the machine. Then the machine starts to spin-up once more."

— Kevin Scott, interviewed in Ultimate Real Robots magazine^[6]

The robot originally took 3 months to construct before Series 3, at a cost of £1064^[7]. In Series 3, a 5kg grinding wheel (often nicknamed a 'pizza cutter') was used instead of the spiked tip. Below the axle, the robot had a bumper system to give the robot pushing power and to stop it climbing on top of everything it drove into. The bumper was made from 3mm Cromweld steel plate, using laser cutting^[8]. Some of the metal used in the robot was ordered in especially, such as the domes, which were ordered from a supplier in Newcastle who spun the steel into domes, and the team also used discarded scrap metal from their employers, Alstom.

"Car parts from a Lotus and leather from a trouser belt were used in the 3-month construction of Stinger. The 3mm body shell steel dome's come from a gas turbine, and there's a real sting in the tail!"

— Jonathan Pearce introduces Stinger in Series 3

Series 4 appearance, featuring a baseplate

After driving into the pit in Round 1 of Series 3, Stinger was modified to give better control for Series 4, though the top speed was very high at 18 miles per hour. The tyres were run at a lower pressure to reduce the robot's bouncing^[9]. The radio reception was improved by switching to a new system, with each wheel having its own receiver running on the same frequency, whereas the original had remote controls in each wheel, linked by a copper brush.^[10].

"Three months were spent messing around with a drive system made by 4QD which had all sorts of tuneable parameters such as acceleration ramps. Using servo actuators in this system allowed a decent aerial system (without the slip rings) to be developed but the acceleration ramps were slugging the response. 4QD were extremely helpful and advised a couple of modifications. This was now the time for some driving practice, however performance remained slow, so the decision was taken to continue to developing {sic} the power-brick."

— The Stinger website on the improved drive^[11]

The original "pizza cutter" weapon was replaced with an axe, and though the team took the original weapon to Series 4, it was never used again. The new mace was constructed front boiler plate, and had five points, to allow the weapon to cause damage whether swinging over, spinning on the spot, or driving at opponents in "joust mode".

"Axe was stronger & never swapped back to pizza cutter, as in it's day, it had a hardened & sharpened tip that could slice thru 1½" box as we spun (Tornado outer frame in Extreme)"

— Kevin Scott on Stinger's axe^[12]

When the weight limit was increased for Extreme 1, Stinger initially only had minor improvements, with the weight only increasing from 77.1kg to 83. The robot was strengthened by replacing the original 3mm thick domes with new 6mm thick ones^[13] then reinforcing the domes with internal bracing, and the tail was strengthened with ribbing. The bumper plate was removed for all subsequent appearances, as when Stinger was flipped over, it would leave the robot stuck upside down, unable to use its axe. Instead, roughly triangular plates were added either side of the tail. The robot had two Yuasa Dry-fit lead acid batteries in each wheel, providing 12 Volts at 7 Amp Hour per wheel. The speed was lowered to 8mph.^[14]. In Extreme 1, Stinger had a counterweight on the tail, however, this was removed for Series 5 and subsequent series.

" For Robot Wars Extreme and series 5 Stinger has had many detail improvements, with particular attention payed {sic} to improving the armour. The drive electronics have been made more reliable and responsive. A new bumper frame has been developed (though opinion is divided within the team as to its effectiveness)."

— Stinger website on the improvements for 2001^[15]

Stinger's weight was increased to 95kg for Series 6, with the robot's batteries being changed to more powerful NiMH batteries^[16], 28.8 Volt at 8.5 Amp Hour per wheel^[17], and the wheel domes being strengthened and covered in golf studs, though the golf studs were purely cosmetic^[18].

"They might look strong enough, but Pussycat managed to penetrate them. The increase in weight limit from 80 to 100kg means we can make 'em thicker and stronger. We've already improved them by putting a lip round the inside to prevent them being pushed in. But doubling the thickness will increase the strength by a factor of 8"

— Tim Mann in Ultimate Real Robots magazine^[19]

After Series 6, the Stinger team rebuilt the robot's axle to make it stronger, after it was bent in its battle with Fluffy. In Extreme 2 only, the tyres and axe were decorated with black-and-yellow striped tape, to imply danger.

"Axle was then rebuilt from 50mm x 6mm wall tube, by adding a solid centre section made from Inco718 (a very strong aerospace material)"

— Kevin Scott on Stinger's axle^[20]

Etymology[]

Official photo for Extreme 2, before its warning tape was added

In an interview shown during the Swedish broadcast of Series 4, Heat J, Kevin Scott revealed that Stinger's name was suggested to him by his children, which references the 'sting' in the tail of the robot.

"My children liked the idea of this robot, and the fact that it dives in, it 'stings' other robots, and it disappears out!"

— Kevin Scott reveals the origins of Stinger's name to Micke Dubois in the Swedish broadcast of Series 4, Heat J^[21]

The Team[]

"Stinger, designed by three engineers, they know what they're doing!"

— Julia Reed in Series 4

The Stinger team came from Lincoln, where they all worked for ALSTOM Power^[22]. In Series 3, the team consisted of Kevin Scott, Karl Skinner and Jonathan Pillai, but Jonathan Pillai left the team after Series 3. He later created his own machine, Infernal Contraption, which fought in Series 6 through 8. He was replaced by Tim Mann for all the team's subsequent appearances.

"I was working during my year out as part of the Year in Industry Scheme when an email was sent around appealing for potential roboteers. Meetings were held, many people came initially, but six remained sufficiently interested to take action. ... When I left the Stinger team after my year out, I wanted to build a robot of my own. I wanted to evolve the Stinger concept by implementing an active (powered) weapon."

— Jonathan Pillai on his involvement with Team Stinger on the Infernal Contraption website^[23].

The team originally consisted of 6 members, two of which never appeared on television. Kevin Scott originally came up with the design for Stinger, and the team built the robot at the ALSTOM Power factory in Firth Road, Lincoln, outside of work hours.

"STINGER was conceived over the Christmas period of 1998. A group of enthusiasts from ALSTOM Power (Lincoln, UK) had been proposing robot ideas. These included an idea from Kev for a two wheeled robot with a tail between the two wheels. The motors and batteries would be mounted in the wheels so that they rotated with the wheels, the idea being to transfer the kinetic energy from this rotating mass to the tail - a bludgeoning weapon. The team argued that it couldn't push anything around, until Kevin had one of those Eureka moments and said "All it needs is a bumper frame hanging on the axle between the wheels"."

— The Stinger website on the origins of Stinger^[24]

Kevin Scott was the Team Captain throughout all the team's appearances, and was a gas turbine engineer, with a hobby of remote controlled cars^[25]. Karl Skinner was a performance engineer who wrote Stinger's software for the radio receiver^[26], and Tim Mann was an electronics engineer who designed and built the robots motor drive electronics and processor circuit, who had experience building Kit Cars^[27].

"This is the Stinger team. On my left, I've got Karl Skinner, with the software, on my right, Tim Mann with the electronics, and I'm Kevin Scott, Team Captain."

— Kevin Scott in Series 4

Jonathan Pillai worked on Stinger's Printed Circuit boards and was the robot's original driver, and after he left the team, each of the three team members would get a chance at driving the machine in subsequent series, though Kevin Scott was the team's main driver throughout its appearances - for example, in Series 4, he drove the robot in all of its fights in the main competition, though Karl Skinner drove the robot in the Northern Annihilator. Tim Mann took the controls for the first time in Extreme Warriors 1, and drove the robot for all the fights in Series 5, and its final appearance in Extreme 2.

Official photo of Team Stinger from Series 6

During Series 4, Karl Skinner was not present for Stinger's Pinball Warrior run and similarly, Tim Mann was not present for Stinger's appearance in the Northern Annihilator. Kevin Scott was absent for only one battle of Stinger's entire career - the Round 2 battle against General Carnage 2 in Series 5.

"The members of the team all work for ALSTOM Power (who make small industrial gas turbines) but are not sponsored, but rather tolerated by the company. Tim, for one, certainly takes an unhealthy interest in the scrap bins. I suppose you could call it creative recycling."

— The Stinger website on the team^[28]

There were also two members of the team who never appeared on television; Jim, who was a performance engineer^[29], and Brian, a controls engineer who worked with Karl Skinner to improve Stinger's performance^[30]. Other members of ALSTOM Power who were involved in Stinger's construction were; Bill Homley, who did some mechanical engineering on Stinger, Chris Hewitt, who sorted out the robot's aerials and reception, and Akash Shar, who initiated the project^[31].

Qualification[]

The team decided to build a robot over the Christmas period of 1998, with the members proposing a number of ideas. The team built two robots, Stinger and Impact, a four-wheel drive robot armed with a pneumatic ram. Although Impact was finished first, it had control issues, so the team chose to take Stinger to the auditions instead.

"The team decided to build two entrants with as much common hardware as possible. ... Healthy rivalry spurred both projects forward and was at it's peak before the series 3 auditions when the team were working flat out to get them both mobile. IMPACT won that race, but showed up some problems in the transmission and controls. At the assessment STINGER had yet to turn a wheel, but the combination was enough to demonstrate that 'we had the technology' and it's novelty value got it into the show. This was our first sight of other robots and we were staggered at the variety, ingenuity and quality on display."

— Stinger website on building and entering Stinger^[32]

Stinger attended the auditions in a complete state, and although it was not working, it was chosen to compete.

This was the only time Stinger had to go through the qualification process, as in all of its other appearances, it would qualify automatically due to being seeded. In Series 4, it was given a seed due to its unique design, despite falling in Round 1. Stinger was the only robot ever to be given a seeding despite losing its only battle in the previous series.

"Coz it was well made & massive novelty. They trusted that we’d sort out our series 3 embarrassment - & since we got into the Grand Final, hope you agree it was a fair call?"

— Kevin Scott on Facebook, asked about the Series 4 seeding^[33]

In August 2003, a few weeks before Series 7 was due to be filmed, Stinger was retired as Kevin Scott felt that there was no way to improve the design to keep up with newer competitors of the time.^[34]

Rivalry[]

"...Sir Killalot...he's got history with Stinger, they don't like each other!"

— Jonathan Pearce in prior to Stinger's Heat Final in Series 5

Tornado rams Stinger into Sir Killalot's CPZ

House Robot Sir Killalot seemed to hold a grudge against Stinger, as he often used his claw to grab Stinger and pick it up, and when he did, he would often not follow the rules, attacking Stinger even when it was not immobile, and interfering with its battles. The first occasion came in Extreme 1, during the Vengeance battle with Tornado. Tornado rammed Stinger into Sir Killalot's CPZ, and as Stinger tried to drive around Sir Killalot to escape, Sir Killalot turned around and grabbed it with his claw. Sir Killalot picked Stinger off the floor, and carried it out of the CPZ, holding it over the fence, but then reversed and let go, dropping Stinger back to the arena floor.

In the Wild Card Warriors battle between Stinger and Ajjay, aired in the second episode of Extreme 1, Stinger swerved away after missing a swing at Ajjay, and drove in front of Sir Killalot. Although it was outside of the CPZ, Sir Killalot used his claw to push it into the CPZ, then grabbed it with his claw. Sir Killalot picked Stinger up, and with the battle going into the last 10 seconds, carried it down the arena. Time ran out before Sir Killalot could reach the bottom of the arena, but despite 'Cease' being called, Sir Killalot drove to the bottom arena wall, and dropped Stinger over the fence.

Craig Charles: "What has Killalot got against you?"

Karl Skinner: "I don't know! We didn't actually go into the CPZ, so he was a bit out of order!"

— In the post-battle interview

Behemoth pushes Stinger into Sir Killalot's CPZ

Sir Killalot would attack Stinger again just one episode later, this time in Stinger's Challenge Belt battle against Behemoth. Behemoth pushed Stinger into Sir Killalot's CPZ, and Stinger could not escape because it had lost drive in one wheel. Sir Killalot grabbed it in his claw, and picked it up, carrying it out of the CPZ. However, as Stinger had not been counted out, Sir Killalot had to let go of Stinger, dropping it near the Pit.

"It's dallied too long in the CPZ, and that means that Sir Killalot once again can grapple at the very axle of Stinger!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Sir Killalot grabs Stinger again

Sir Killalot's attacks would continue over the next two series. In Series 5, during its Round 1 battle against Hippobotomus, Stinger lost drive on one wheel and drifted close to Sir Killalot's CPZ. Hippobotomus rammed into it, and as Stinger turned away it drove into the CPZ, and with Stinger unable to drive out of the CPZ, Sir Killalot pinned it against the arena entry gate with his claw, then grabbed it by the tyre and picked it up. Sir Killalot carried Stinger out of the CPZ, but dropped it to the arena floor as 'Cease' was called.

Sir Killalot would attack Stinger again in the Heat Final, this time when Stinger was immobile. S3 immobilised Stinger with its disc, and after it was counted out, Sir Killalot picked Stinger up by the lance with his claw and carried it to the Floor Flipper.

In Series 6, whilst Sir Killalot did not attack Stinger at all in Round 1, even when Stinger lost drive on one wheel, but towards the end of the Heat Final, 13 Black pushed Stinger into an empty CPZ, and before Stinger could escape, Sir Killalot rushed over, pinning Stinger in the corner, and grabbed the lance with his claw. Sir Killalot held Stinger on top of the arena wall, but the battle ended.

Robot History[]

"A Tail of Two Wheels"

— Stinger's website history

Series 3[]

"Stinger; 1 horse power motor in each wheel. Batteries, electronics, everything are inside these wheels here. On the tail, we've got a 6 kilogram tail wheel. When we stop the motors, it rolls over, right over the top, and crashes into the opposition. Very heavy tail wheels!"

— Kevin Scott describes Stinger in its introduction

Stinger made its first appearance in Heat A of Series 3, and fought in the first fight of the series where it was drawn against Mace 2, a Semi-Finalist in the previous war.

Mace 2 started much faster, charging forwards and reaching Stinger just as it began to move. Stinger swung its weapon across as Mace 2 got its front lifter under it, but the impact of Mace 2 charging into it flipped Stinger up onto its side, so the weapon missed, hitting the arena floor.

"And again Stinger crashes that great grinding wheel against the floor of the arena - what on earth for? Wasted energy there!"

— Jonathan Pearce

Stinger rolled over and drove away for another attack, then drove back in front of Mace 2, swinging its arm back over. Mace 2 rammed into Stinger's side and tried to get its lifter underneath, but missed as it fired the lifter because the lifter was not underneath its opponent. Stinger turned, but Mace 2 kept pushing against it to prevent it driving away. Stinger turned to get at Mace 2's side, and Mace 2 drove away, then turned around. Mace 2 charged into Stinger's side as it drove forwards, but Stinger merely drove over the lifter. Stinger swung the arm over, and the two robots charged together. Stinger rode up Mace 2's lifter and bounced off, but as it did so, it managed to swing the arm at Mace 2, landing a glancing blow on the side. Stinger reversed away from Mace 2, swung the arm back over, then turned to avoid Mace 2 as it drove at it. Mace 2 followed it, and when Stinger swung the arm over, Mace 2 got its lifter between the arm and one of the wheels, which helped it push Stinger, but as it fired the lifter, Stinger merely reversed off. Mace 2 drove into the arena centre, and Stinger chased after it, but swung the arm over when Mace 2 was not close enough, completely missing, and allowing Mace 2 to drive to the other side of the arena.

"Stinger, crashing off into the distance again, like some massive flailing insect, hopping and bouncing around like a mad march hare!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger swings the arm around

Mace 2 turned around and the two competitors drove together, but Stinger drove past the front of Mace 2. Stinger rushed away across the arena away from Mace 2, swinging its axe over. Mace 2 drove after it, and Stinger charged at Mace 2's front, bouncing off the front and rolling over. Stinger tried to drive into the arena centre, and Mace 2 reversed with it, reversing against Stinger's side, and Stinger turned around Mace 2 as Mace 2 turned to face it, flipping it self up on its side.

"Do they really know what they're doing? Should we have tested them for booze beforehand, I wonder?"

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger rolls over again

Mace 2 tried to get its lifter under Stinger, and Stinger tried to turn and drive off the lifter, but Mace 2 kept pushing. Stinger went up on its side and spun away, so Mace 2 turned away. Stinger landed back on its wheels, dangerously close to the Pit. Stinger swung its arm over, then turned and drove straight into the arena wall. It turned, its arm hitting an angle grinder, and charged at Mace 2, but as the two robots drove into each other, Stinger was flipped up on its side, and as it fell back on its wheels, it was right in front of the Pit, and as it drove forwards, it drove straight in.

"Well it was only a matter of time, absolute Looney Tunes from the Stinger team."

— Jonathan Pearce after Stinger drove into the Pit.

As a result, Stinger was eliminated from the Third Wars.

"At the same time STINGER was suffering horrendous radio reception problems. Our concept is absolute simplicity with a channel driving each wheel (steers like a tank). Full operation needs no other inputs, but the electrics are completely independent in each wheel - so there are two receivers running with the same crystal. Now this was always going to be a concern but it had been demonstrated to work (long before this stage) on a pair of model cars. However, when aerials are mounted on rotating steel drums, their reception is not very effective. At one stage there was so much cross talk that Stinger could still be driven without even fitting a crystal into one of the receivers. Enormous effort went into this area and the team entered series 3 with a slip-ring system connecting each aerial to the tail shaft (which was insulated from the rest of the robot). This actually worked, but now it was time to compete in Series 3. Unfortunately, with all this work nobody had had time to practice driving very much, so Stinger had a fabulous few seconds, before getting so excited that it was almost driven straight into the pit."

— Stinger website on their Series 3 control issues^[35]

At the end of the series, Stinger was nominated for the Most Original Entry Award for the Third Wars, but it lost to Hypno-Disc.

Series 4[]

"A spinning whirling dervish, with a narrow axe weapon at the back of the steel shell, mobilised by customised motorbike wheels, and the top speed of 18mph means that Stinger goes like a missile!"

— Jonathan Pearce introduces Stinger

Despite losing its first battle, Stinger was seeded thirtieth due to its unique design and popularity, although it was originally due to be seeded thirty-second before Blade's Big Bruva and Trident pulled out. In its first round eliminator, Stinger went up against newcomer Spikasaurus and fellow Round 1 drop out from Series 3, Bulldog Breed 2 in Heat J.

Karl Skinner: "If you remember Stinger from the last battle, we had the pizza cutter weapon. This Year, we've replaced it with a better weapon."

Tim Mann: "(Lifting up weapon) Do you think that's big enough to get Killalot?"

— The team show the new weapon before Round 1

At the start of the battle, Bulldog Breed 2 drove at Stinger, which drove past it before it could get under the side, whilst Spikasaurus drove past its two opponents. As Stinger drove away from Bulldog Breed 2, Spikasaurus turned around to face Stinger, and Bulldog Breed 2 changed targets, getting under the side of Spikasaurus and flipping it over. Spikasaurus rolled over, and it sped up the arena, past Stinger, then turned around, ramming into Stinger's side. Spikasaurus' front spikes caught the side of Stinger's axe, and Spikasaurus managed to push Stinger a little, but it reversed for another attack, allowing Stinger to drive away. Stinger drove in front of Bulldog Breed 2, swinging its axe over, and Spikasaurus rammed Stinger into Bulldog Breed 2's flipper. One of Spikasaurus's front spikes punctured one of Stinger's tyres, and Bulldog Breed 2 lifted Stinger up with the flipper. Spikasaurus pulled Stinger back, its front spike still caught in the tyre, and Stinger fought back by pushing against Spikasaurus and swinging its axe over onto its front.

"Stinger, with the great axe on the back, slamming down like a mighty pendulum. They say it's better than the pizza cutter, but boys, we didn't see the pizza cutter last time around! You were in the pit too quickly!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger hits the front of Spikasarus

Bulldog Breed 2 throws Stinger in the first round

Spiksaurus reversed away, pulling the spike out of Stinger's tyre, and Bulldog Breed 2 got at Stinger's side and flipped it over. However, as soon as it did so, Spikasaurus rammed into its side. Stinger turned around, hitting Spikasaurus' front with its axe, but Spikasuarus drove around Stinger, pushing past it. Stinger began to spin on the spot, but Spikasaurus rammed into it, pushing it against Bulldog Breed 2, which flicked Stinger up a little with its flipper. However, Spikasaurus' front spike became caught in Stinger's tyre again. Bulldog Breed 2 tried to flip Spikasaurus, but only managed to flick it up a little, as it did not get the flipper properly under the side. This did not free Spikasaurus' spikes from Stinger's tyre, and Stinger swung its axe back and forth, then Spiksaurus reversed away, pulling its axe free of the tyre. Stinger charged at Bulldog Breed 2, but drove straight onto its flipper, which flipped it away.

"Bang, bang, bang goes Stinger, onto the arena floor! Hey! the hoppity hop for Stinger!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger swings its axe back and forth, then gets flipped up by Bulldog Breed 2

Spikasaurus spears one of Stinger's tyres

Stinger drove away, driving straight into the arena wall, then drove away. Spikasaurus drove into Bulldog Breed 2's side, and Bulldog Breed 2 flipped it up, and as it rolled back over, Stinger charged into its side. Stinger span around on the spot, but Bulldog Breed 2 drove after Spikasaurus, getting under the front and lifting its wheels off the ground. Stinger held back as Bulldog Breed flipped Spikasaurus over, but once Spiksaurus rolled over, it rammed into Stinger, slamming it into the arena wall. Stinger was knocked onto its side, and it span around on its side. Before it could spin back down, Bulldog Breed 2 got underneath the wheel and lifted Stinger off the ground. This turned Stinger upright, and it drove off Bulldog Breed 2's flipper. Bulldog Breed 2 got under Stinger again, but Stinger drove off the flipper and drove away to the arena centre before it could flip.

"Spikasaurus attacks Stinger, Stinger up on one side, it's mad, isn't it Stinger? Look at this, it doesn't care, Stinger! Bulldog Breed flew it up in the air, comes back down (laughs} You're supposed to attack the other robots and the House Robots, not the arena floor, with the weapon! Who's in control of that Stinger wepaon? Who's driving it?"

— A gleeful Jonathan Pearce on the manic driving of Stinger

Stinger on top of Bulldog Breed 2 who flips Spikasaurus

Spikasaurus drove at Stinger, and Stinger swung its axe over, hitting Spikasaurus' front. Stinger go away from Spikasaurus, but Bulldog Breed 2 drove after it, getting under one wheel and flipping Stinger over. Stinger rolled back upright and began spinning on the spot, hitting the side of Spikasaurus as it drove past. Bulldog Breed 2 held back as Stinger spun, and Spikasaurus accidentally drove into the arena wall, and its front spikes punctured the wall, leaving it stuck. As Spikasaurus was pushed free by Dead Metal, Bulldog Breed 2 got under Stinger and flipped it over.

"Stinger revolves madly, great value. ... This is very close you know. Stinger's doing its own thing out there, like the looney who dances by himself at a disco on a friday night!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger is flipped over

Bulldog Breed 2 lifts Shunt while Stinger and Spikasaurus keep aside

Stinger drove down the arena and started spinning, then held back as Bulldog Breed 2 tried to flip Spikasaurus. Stinger drove at Bulldog Breed 2 and Spikasaurus as the two drove together, but Bulldog Breed 2 flipped Stinger aside. Spikasaurus tried to ram Stinger, but Stinger turned away. Spikasaurus turned around for another attack, ramming into Stinger, getting under the axe, but Stinger swung the axe over, and Spikasaurus crashed into Shunt. Bulldog Breed 2 got its flipper under Spikasaurus and held it up against the wall, then dropped it and took on Shunt, getting its flipper under his side and lifting him up. However, Shunt then pushed Bulldog Breed 2 into his CPZ, and Stinger rushed in, hit Bulldog Breed 2 with its axe, then rushed away. As Shunt axed Bulldog Breed 2 and pulled it out of the CPZ, Stinger drove back at it and began spinning. Bulldog Breed 2 avoided it, so Stinger drove into the arena centre, and Bulldog Breed 2 got under the side of Spikasaurus and flipped it over. Spikasaurus rolled into Stinger, preventing it from rolling over, and Stinger spun on the spot, hitting the overturned Spikasaurus. Bulldog Breed 2 turned Spikasarus back upright, and Spikasaurus rammed into Stinger's side just as time ran out.

"Look at Stinger in the background! Flamboyant to the extreme, showed great aggression though even when pressurised by Spikasaurus. Certainly good movement throughout, a willing participant. It's gonna be very close."

— Jonathan Pearce reviews the highlights

The match went to the Judges, who unanimously eliminated Spikasaurus.

Stinger then fought newcomer and fellow Lincoln robot Hammer & Tong in the second round, a team the Stinger team were friends with.

Julia Reed: "Can you hear the audience cheering for you? Can you hear it?"

Kevin Scott: "We've got fifty people out there."

Julia Reed: "You've got fifty of your own people out there?"

Jonathan Pearce: "One thing that amazes me about Tim Mann and the crew - they've got fifty friends at all! Just joking boys - the whole of the village is here"

— The whole of Lincoln - home town of both Stinger and Hammer & Tong - was supposedly in the audience.

Stinger goes up on one wheel after driving onto Hammer & Tong's side

The battle started slowly, with Stinger cautiously approaching Hammer & Tong, which waited for its opponent. As it approached Hammer & Tong, Stinger stopped and span on the spot, and as Hammer & Tong cautiously advanced on Stinger, Stinger hit Hammer & Tong's side. Hammer & Tong reversed, with Stinger landing another hit on the side. Stinger backed off for another attack, swinging its axe back and forth, then drove down the arena a bit to get at the other side of Hammer & Tong, then turned and charged back at Hammer & Tong, hitting the top with its axe.

"Slower start for the Stinger, building up pace. Can get up to 18 miles an hour, slow evolution, in comes the big axe! They actually described it to us as a narrow-shaped axe, it's a mighty one! Bashes down onto the top of Hammer & Tong!"

— Jonathan Pearce on Stinger's early attacks

Stinger reversed for another attack, and Hammer & Tong drove at Stinger, but Stinger drove around to avoid Hammer & Tong's weapon. Stinger drove up on Hammer & Tong's front, turning itself up on its side, and it span around on its side. Hammer & Tong tried to hit Stinger with its axe, but Stinger managed to roll away, turning it back to its wheels, but in the inverted position. Stinger charged at Hammer & Tong, swinging its axe at it, hitting Hammer & Tong and turning itself over in the process. Both robots backed away from each other, then as Hammer & Tong turned around, Stinger drove at it, hitting the back with its axe. Stinger reversed and pulled the axe back, then tried hitting Hammer & Tong again as it turned, but narrowly missed. Stinger reversed for another attack, then drove back at Hammer & Tong, but its axe hit the underside of its raised weapon, so Stinger reversed away, dodging the axe as Hammer & Tong pulled the axe down. Stinger charged back at Hammer & Tong as it raised is weapon back up, hitting the side. Stinger reversed for another attack, but held back as Hammer & Tong lowered its weapon into the flipper position. Stinger cautiously approached Hammer & Tong, hitting it with its axe whilst also avoiding the flipper, reversing off as Hammer & Tong tried to flip. Stinger drove back at Hammer & Tong as its lowered its weapon, getting at the side of the flipper and hitting Hammer & Tong's top. Hammer & Tong reversed, but backed onto a flame jet and Stinger drove back at it, hitting the top again. Hammer & Tong turned off the flame jet, but was moving very slowly.

"Bashing down on Hammer & Tong again! Well, it's not a great display of mobility around the arena, is it?"

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger slams Hammer & Tong again as Hammer & Tong slowly tries to get away

Stinger leaves Hammer and Tong to Sir Killalot

Stinger waited, then charged at Hammer & Tong with its axe lowered, getting it under Hammer & Tong's front, before reversing away. Hammer & Tong broke down, and Stinger drove back at it, spinning around, then landed a series of blows on its top. The House Robots came out to attack, with Sir Killalot grabbing the side and spinning Hammer & Tong around, tossing it aside. Sgt. Bash and Shunt also attacked it, before Sir Killalot took it to the Floor Flipper, where Hammer & Tong was tossed across the arena, landing upside down. Stinger drove to its opponent's immobile body, and spun around, hitting Hammer & Tong with its axe.

"Over goes Hammer & Tong, and Stinger, dancing with delight!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger spins against the immobile Hammer & Tong

'Cease' was called, and Stinger was through to the Heat Final.

Craig Charles: "What is the force of that hammer? It's... awesome!"

Kevin Scott: "Well it's about, I don't know, 6 kilograms with a couple of horse power behind it! The wheels are 60 kilograms, they're rolling and they's swing the tail over."

Craig Charles: "Such an awesome robot, that. I think you might go far"

— Post-battle interview

In the Heat Final, it met Bulldog Breed 2 once again.

Kevin Scott: "We were in the same driving arena with them this morning, we were standing next to each other! And now we've got to knock 'em about!"

Karl Skinner: "We've got something to prove really, because in the last wars, Craig said we were drunken drivers, so this year we've got to prove him wrong!"

— Stinger talks to Julia Reed

Stinger spun on the spot, and Bulldog Breed 2 cautiously approached it. Stinger stopped spinning, then drove at Bulldog Breed 2, driving so one wheel rode up the front flipper. Stinger rolled over the top before Bulldog Breed 2 could flip, and fell back upright. Bulldog Breed 2 turned around and drove after Stinger, but Stinger drove down the arena to avoid it. Stinger swung the axe over, then drove at the side of Bulldog Breed 2, slamming it with the axe as Bulldog Breed 2 turned around.

"It is a fairly fierce weapon, isn't it? But is there any great control of the weaponry? Does it matter really? Don't know! Comes slamming in on Bulldog Breed 2!"

— Jonathan Pearce

Bulldog Breed 2 turned so it was facing away from Stinger, and Stinger swung the axe at it, but narrowly missed. Stinger backed away for another attack, and Bulldog Breed 2 turned to face it, but when it drove at Stinger, getting the flipper under one wheel, Stinger drove over the flipper, briefly going up on one wheel, before falling back upright. Bulldog Breed 2 turned to try and get under Stinger again, but Stinger drove away before Bulldog Breed 2 could get underneath. Stinger darted away across the arena and turned around, and as Bulldog Breed 2 drove at it, Stinger began to spin, but as Bulldog Breed 2 pushed against Stinger, then axe merely glanced over the front flipper.

"Its a bit tentative here, they're feeling each other out, I don't know why. They know all about each other, they fought together against Spikasaurus."

— Jonathan Pearce

Bulldog Breed 2's push left Stinger right by the flame jet, and as Stinger tried to turn and get away down the arena, it drove over the flame jet. Stinger was unaffected, and it drove by the arena wall, swung the axe over, then charged at Bulldog Breed 2, driving over the flipper. Stinger drove into the arena centre, and as Bulldog Breed cautiously drove at it, Stinger drove to its side and hit the back with its axe. Stinger reversed to swing the axe back, and Bulldog Breed 2 turned to face Stinger. The two competitors drove together, and Stinger drove up Bulldog Breed 2's flipper, so that when Bulldog Breed 2 fired the flipper, instead of being flipped aside, Stinger was lifted up on top of the flipper, and it drove off.

"Up and over Bulldog Breed 2, using the flipper! Control, style, damage and aggression matters in Robot Wars! Very close this one!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Bulldog Breed 2 lifts up Stinger

Stinger turned around and charged back at Bulldog Breed 2, slamming it with its axe, then backing off as Bulldog Breed 2 turned to face Stinger with its flipper. Stinger charged back at Bulldog Breed 2, hitting the top with its axe, but as it did so, one of its wheels went onto the flipper, and Stinger was tossed aside. Stinger drove back at Bulldog Breed 2's side, avoiding Bulldog Breed 2's flipper. Bulldog Breed 2 fired the flipper when Stinger was close, and it became stuck open. Stinger began to spin, hitting the side with the axe. Stinger spun quickly, landing a number of blows on Bulldog Breed 2's side as it turned around. Bulldog Breed 2 reversed and turned around, and Stinger hit the back twice in quick succession. Bulldog Beed 2 was moving very slowly, and Stinger charged at it, hitting the top, but Bulldog Breed 2 managed to drive forwards. Stinger reversed for another charge as Bulldog Breed 2 slowly turned around, and Stinger slammed its axe down onto the flipper of Bulldog Breed 2, then began to spin, hitting under the flipper. Bulldog Breed 2 was moving slowly, so it started spinning, and Stinger charged at its side, getting the axe under the flipper. As Stinger pushed against Bulldog Breed 2's side, CO₂ started venting from it.

"Stinger - a side attack on the Bulldog, the jaws of the Bulldog are open - ah! CO₂ being vented there! Bulldog Breed is in trouble here."

— Jonathan Pearce

Stinger attacks the smoking Bulldog Breed 2

Stinger span again, hitting Bulldog Breed 2's side, and this caused Bulldog Breed 2 to break down. CO₂ poured out of the machine, and Stinger drove into the front, but drove over under its flipper, which was still stuck in the fired position, which blocked the axe. Stinger reversed a little and swung the axe over, hitting the flipper. The House Robots came in to attack, and after being spun around and turned over by Sir Killalot, it was placed on the Floor Flipper by Dead Metal. Bulldog Breed 2 was thrown by the Floor Flipper and cease was then called, letting Stinger go through to the Semi-Finals.

Craig Charles: "It's almost indestructible, what do you do defeat that robot?"

Tim Mann: "Hit it as hard as you can, hit and run! That's the name of the game!"

Craig Charles: "How do you see a robot that's gonna beat you, I mean what kind of robots are out there that you think "Oh, I wouldn't want to come up against that"?"

Kevin Scott: "Bladey ones, they're gonna have a go at the tyres, there's no question about that."

Craig Charles: "That {Stinger} can still roll without tyres though!"

— The post-battle interview

Stinger was drawn against MouseTrap with its unique trap weapon in the first round of the Series Semi-Finals.

"The strategy is; it's well made, it's bulletproof, but with bulletproof the problem is, you hit them twice in the same place and you're through, so that's our strategy."

— Karl Skinner's tactics

As the battle started, the two competitors cautiously approached each other, then Stinger swerved to drive past MouseTrap. MouseTrap turned and drove at Stinger, getting underneath. Stinger started spinning, and MouseTrap snapped the trap down, but it merely glanced off of Stinger. MouseTrap reversed, and Stinger charged at, swinging the axe down on MouseTrap's top a couple of times. Stinger drove up the arena, and MouseTrap charged after it, getting underneath. However, as it tried to grab Stinger in the trap, Stinger quickly backed off its front wedge, so the trap missed. MouseTrap reversed, and Stinger charged after it, but swerved to avoid MouseTrap as it got close, stopping on the Floor Flipper. MouseTrap drove at Stinger, who slammed its axe down on the top of MouseTrap, then backed off to avoid the trap as it snapped down. Stinger then drove onto MouseTrap's front wedge before it could pull the trap back. MouseTrap raised the trap, lifting Stinger up on one wheel, and it rolled on its side, then fell back down and drove by the CPZ.

"Stinger tends to throw itself around an arena floor, and spinning wildly on its side! Comes down now!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger hits the arena floor

MouseTrap retracts its weapon, lifting Stinger over in the process

Stinger turned around by Shunt's CPZ, then the two competitors drove at each other, with Stinger driving onto MouseTrap's wedge and bringing down the axe, but MouseTrap failed to fire the trap. Stinger then reversed off MouseTrap's front before it could fire, and drove around MouseTrap. MouseTrap turned, and Stinger drove onto MouseTrap's front wedge, slamming its axe down on the front, then reversed off before MouseTrap fired the trap. Stinger dodged the trap as MouseTrap fired, but briefly tipped itself up on its side as it reversed off MouseTrap's side. MouseTrap pulled its trap back, but a chain had fallen off, hanging loose out of the back of the robot, so MouseTrap could not use the trap again for the rest of the battle. Stinger drove into the arena centre and began spinning, then drove at MouseTrap as it turned around, but in doing so, Stinger drove over the flame jet.

"That mighty, mace-type axe there, crashing down! What control do the Stinger boys have? We have suspected that from time to time, lovely to see it dancing and pirouetting, but not greatly effective."

— Jonathan Pearce

MouseTrap loses a weapon chain as it burns on the flame jet

MouseTrap drove at Stinger as it spun, getting side-on so that the axe merely glanced over the top as it struck. Stinger hit the top a couple of times as it span, then struck the side. MouseTrap turned around, and Stinger started spinning in the opposite direction to hit the top some more. MouseTrap turned away, but nearly drove into Matilda's CPZ, and as it turned along the edge, Matilda hit it with her tusks, and Stinger hit the back with its axe. MouseTrap turned around, and Stinger drove to its side, then slammed the axe into MouseTrap's side. MouseTrap tried to get away down the arena, but Stinger kept right by it, spinning and whacking it with the axe, and MouseTrap drove across the flame jet. After driving off the flame jet, MouseTrap turned around, but Stinger charged into its side and lammed its axe into MouseTrap's back.

"Stinger for me, and Kevin Scott, doing all the work. MouseTrap trying to get away, and something's come of the side of MouseTrap! I think it's the chain that's used to control the trap weapon!"

— Jonathan Pearce notices the loose chain on MouseTrap as Stinger slams into it

Stinger began to spin, but MouseTrap turned around, and its low wedge allowed it to get under Stinger, with the axe merely glancing over the top, though Stinger soon hit MouseTrap's side, and it turned away. MouseTrap drove up the arena and turned around, and the two competitors charged at each other, with Stinger driving onto MouseTrap's wedge and slamming its axe down onto MouseTrap's top. Stinger backed off of MouseTrap, then drove up the arena as MouseTrap turned around and tried to attack. MouseTrap drove after it, but Stinger drove to its side, and slammed the axe down onto Stinger's top, after which MouseTrap suddenly stopped. Stinger drove to MouseTrap's front and began spinning, landing a couple of glancing blows on MouseTrap's front, then backed away as the House Robots came in. Sir Killalot roasted MouseTrap on the Flame Pit, then pushed it into Stinger as it pushed it over to the Pit and dropped it in, confirming Stinger as the winner.

Craig Charles: "Few more fights and you could be picking up the trophy lads!"

Kevin Scott: "Well we're doing our best, we're working hard!"

Craig Charles: "It's a very unusual design, but it's a very tidy design, isn't it, your robot?"

Tim Mann: "Yeah, well it's compact, it's hard to hit and it just does the business in true style!"

— Post-battle interview

Stinger then met Series 2 champion and fourth seed Panic Attack in the second round of the Semi-Finals, for a place in the Grand Final.

"Stinger, what can the boys do here? Kevin Scott, Karl Skinner and Tim Man, Kevin at the controls against Panic Attack."

— Jonathan Pearce just before the battles starts

Panic Attack made the first move towards Stinger, with Stinger holding back as Panic Attack rammed into it and pushed it onto the flame jet, but Stinger reversed off the flames, and Panic Attack drove over the flame jet as it drove after Stinger. Stinger slammed down its axe onto Panic Attack's forks. Stinger backed away from Panic Attack as it tried to push, causing Panic Attack to drive into the arena wall. Panic Attack reversed as Stinger swung its axe back and forth. Panic Attack drove at Stinger, getting the forks under Stinger's axe. Stinger reversed off the forks, driving into the wall. Stinger drove towards the arena centre as Panic Attack drove after it. Panic Attack drove around Stinger, and as Panic Attack tried to ram Stinger, Stinger slammed its axe down onto Panic Attack's forks and turned away from Panic Attack. Stinger paused as Panic Attack drove at it, then slammed its axe down on Panic Attack's forks and reversed away.

"Stinger with the heavier, weighted weapon, Panic Attack have those lifting forks. Ah, couldn't get any purchase."

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger gets away from Panic Attack

Stinger drove towards the arena side wall, and Panic Attack rammed Stinger into the arena wall. Panic Attack tried to lift Stinger with its forks, but Stinger slid off. As Panic Attack drove after Stinger, Stinger span, striking the front of Panic Attack, then the side. Panic Attack drove around Stinger as it spun, keeping its distance, then drove at it when it stopped Stinger, but Stinger drove over the forks. Stinger drove by the flame jet, and as Panic Attack chased after it. As it got close, Stinger drove away. Stinger started spinning as Panic Attack drove towards it, and Panic Attack held back, then drove around Stinger, driving into the arena wall. Panic Attack turned around and drove back at Stinger, and Stinger swerved to avoid it. Panic Attack drove at Stinger, which slammed its axe down on the forks. Stinger reversed, and Panic Attack drove after it. Stinger drove up Panic Attack's front, avoiding the forks and slamming the axe down on Panic Attack's side.

"Panic Attack now, moving... well I thought, to try and get a broadside perhaps, and attack the wheels, flick it up and over, but again, good driving by Stinger, and Kevin Scott."

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger avoids Panic Attack's pushing, hitting the forks with its axe

Panic Attack finally gains purchase on Stinger

Stinger reversed, and Panic Attack got its forks under Stinger, but Stinger reversed off the forks, slamming the axe down on Panic Attack's top as it reversed. Stinger drove back into Panic Attack, then reversed away by the Flame Pit, and started spinning. Panic Attack withstood the blows, and pushed Stinger into the arena wall. Stinger drove away from the wall, then swerved away as Panic Attack drove at it, and started spinning. Panic Attack got its forks under Stinger as it spun, but Stinger turned off the forks, hitting Panic Attack's side with its axe, then hitting the other side as Panic Attack reversed past it.

"Panic Attack seems to have a scheme, Stinger seems to wanna swing and spin around to get that axe, as I was mentioning, like a pendulum, coming down with force."

— Jonathan Pearce on the team's tactics

Matilda flips Stinger onto its side as it thwacks Panic Attack

Panic Attack then charged at Stinger, getting the forks underneath, but Stinger bounced off. Stinger tried to get away, but drove into the arena wall. Panic Attack pinned Stinger against the arena wall, and raised its forks, to hold Stinger up on its side. Stinger managed to get off Panic Attack by spinning, and Panic Attack reversed, then rammed into Stinger, pushing it into the arena wall by Matilda's CPZ, then turned to block Stinger from getting away. Panic Attack drove forwards, then reversed into Stinger, trying to push it into the CPZ, but Stinger spun, hitting Matilda's front with its axe as Matilda came over to attack. Matilda pinned Panic Attack against the arena wall, and Stinger's axe was caught on Matilda's tusks. Matilda pushed Stinger against Panic Attack in the CPZ. Stinger went up on Panic Attack's side, tipping itself up on its side. Stinger span around, swinging the axe against Panic Attack and Matilda.

"This is close, and I think this one could well go to the Judges."

— Jonathan Pearce as Panic Attack and Stinger are both attacked by Matilda

Panic Attack lifts Stinger against the flame jet

Stinger rolled back onto upright, then drove past Panic Attack, up to the top of the arena. Panic Attack charged after it, and as it rammed into Stinger, Stinger swung the axe onto Panic Attack's forks. Panic Attack slammed Stinger into the top arena wall, holding it by a flamethrower and lifting it with its forks, until Stinger slid off. Stinger drove down the arena, and as Panic Attack chased after it and pushed, Stinger swung over its axe and drove to the side of the arena. Panic Attack rammed into it, pinning it against the arena wall and lifting it up with its forks. Stinger drove off Panic Atack's top, rushing away across the arena just before time ran out.

"Stinger, first attack, and two. Panic Attack, this time though, comes back. Stinger spins wildly, was Panic Attack the more controlled robot? Did they finish the stronger? I think they did."

— Jonathan Pearce reviews the highlights

The battle went to a Judges' decision. The decision was very close, with only one point between the two competitors, but the Judges unanimously went for Stinger, which won on aggression. This proved to be an unpopular decision with many of the audience, with many booing, and chanting for Panic Attack.

Kevin Scott: "It was a tough call, I wouldn't want to be a Judge in that one!"

Craig Charles: "One point in it!"

Karl Skinner: "A shame somebody had to lose, but I'm glad it wasn't us!"

Craig Charles: "You've won a place in the Robot Wars final!"

Kevin Scott: "That's what we came for!"

Craig Charles: "And I said to you early on that I believed you could go all the way, because it's such a slippy {sic} little customer, your robot! So, good luck in the final!"

— Post-battle interview

Stinger was through to the Grand Final, but before its battle, one of the team's custom-made controllers blew, so the battle had to be delayed. This was not mentioned at all before the team's battle

"We blew a custom controller in pits just before the Chaos fight. We had a spare pcb, but it was a major electro mechanical Strip & Rebuild (2-3hr). Production waited for us until the evening - & kindly made sure that we were fed before going into the fight"

— Kevin Scott on the repairs^[36]

Stinger went up against the reigning champion Chaos 2 in its Eliminator.

Julia Reed: "So what will your tactic be?"

Kevin Scott: "We're going to drive straight up, over the flipper, sit on top and thump him on the back!"

Julia Reed: "Excellent!"

Karl Skinner: "And avoid getting thrown out of the arena."

Julia Reed: "Exactly, that's the key thing with Chaos 2, isn't it?"

— Team Stinger's tactics

Chaos 2 started by driving around to Stinger's side, and Stinger swung its axe back and forth. Chaos 2 drove into Stinger, getting underneath and tossed it across the arena. As Stinger bounced down, it began spinning, and as Chaos 2 drove at it, Stinger slammed its axe into Chaos 2's side. Chaos 2 turned around and held back as Stinger spun, and when Stinger stopped spinning, Chaos 2 charged at it, but Stinger slammed its axe down on Chaos 2's flipper, then reversed to avoid the song. Chaos 2 drove after it, but Stinger started spinning, turning away from Chaos 2's flipper, dodging its flip, and Stinger hit Chaos 2's side. Stinger stopped spinning and drove towards the arena centre, but as it turned, it tipped itself up on its side. As it tipped back down, Chaos 2 drove at it, getting underneath with the flipper. but Stinger turned away, clipping it with its axe as it turned. Stinger drove back at Chaos 2, swinging over its axe, but narrowly missed. Chaos 2 tried to get under Stinger's wheel, but Stinger drove away down the arena. Stinger then charged back at Chaos 2, swinging its axe down onto Chaos 2's flipper. Chaos 2 flipped Stinger, tipping it up on its side. Stinger span around, then toppled back upright. Stinger drove at Chaos 2's side, and Chaos 2 turned to face it, but before it could flip, Stinger swung its axe over, and reversed, causing Chaos 2 to miss with the flipper. After driving near the top arena wall, Stinger began to spin, so when Chaos 2 drove after it, Stinger struck the side. Chaos 2 missed with the flipper, and when it tried to get under Stinger, Stinger turned to avoid it. Chaos 2 drove down the arena for another attack, and Stinger drove behind the Floor Flipper and began spinning. Chaos 2 drove at it, but Stinger's axe struck Chaos 2's flipper. Chaos 2 held back as Stinger spun, and when it turned to try and get underneath, Stinger hit the side. Chaos 2 drove around Stinger, but drove into Matilda's CPZ. Chaos 2 quickly reversed out, and as it drove past Stinger, Stinger spun, hitting the back panel of Chaos 2, cracking a large hole in it.

"As they go into Stinger here... look, the back plate comes off! That's what Kevin Scott said he'd do - knock the back plate off, and George Francis now knows that the very innards of Chaos 2 are vulnerable and exposed!"

— Jonathan Pearce

Chaos 2 fights back after losing its back cover

As Chaos 2 drove at Stinger, Stinger spun, hitting Chaos 2's side. Chaos 2 drove past Stinger, accidentally driving back into Matilda's CPZ. Whilst Matilda lifted Chaos 2 up with her tusks, Stinger drove towards the arena centre. Chaos 2 quickly got out of the CPZ, and charged at Stinger and flipped it over. Chaos 2 then drove around Stinger and pushed it towards the top arena wall and flipped it over, sending it bouncing into the top arena wall. Stinger landed back on its wheels, and drove away as Chaos 2 chased after it, driving to the floor flipper and turning around. Chaos 2 drove at Stinger, and Stinger swung the axe at it, but narrowly missed. Before Chaos 2 could try and flip, Stinger turned to get off the flipper, spinning and hitting the back of Chaos 2 as it turned around for another attack. Chaos 2 turned to face Stinger, and drove at Stinger as it stopped spinning, only for Stinger to start spinning in the opposite direction, clipping Chaos 2's side with the axe and turning away from it. Chaos 2 turned around, and drove under Stinger as it spun, but as Stinger spun, it hit Chaos 2's front with the axe, turning away from the flipper. Stinger continued to spin, striking Chaos 2's side. Chaos 2 turned around Stinger, and Stinger hit Chaos 2's side as it turned. Stinger backed away from Chaos 2, and Chaos 2 drove at it, but then swerved so it was side-on with Stinger. Chaos 2 drove around Stinger and got at its wheel, flipping Stinger over. Stinger began spinning, and Chaos 2 drove at it, but turned away as Stinger hit its side with the axe. Chaos 2 turned around, then drove after Stinger as it stopped spinning and drove down the arena, but Stinger turned to avoid Stinger's charge. Chaos 2 drove behind Stinger, and Stinger tried to swing its axe over, but the bumper prevented it from swinging over. Stinger tried to turn away, but tipped itself onto its side, and as it rocked on its side trying to get down, Chaos 2 charged at it, ramming it towards the arena wall, but Stinger turned off the flipper before Chaos 2 fired the flipper.

"Chaos 2 has a lot of work to do, because if this goes to the Judges, they will mark on damage, control, style and aggression, and Stinger, very aggressive, have caused the damage!"

— Jonathan Pearce

Chaos 2 forces Stinger into the grip of Dead Metal

Stinger spun on the spot, but stopped, and this allowed Chaos 2 to ram Stinger into the arena wall, then flip it to Dead Metal. Dead Metal grabbed Stinger, and Chaos 2 got at Dead Metal's side and lifted the House Robot up, but this caused Stinger to slip from the House Robot's grip. Chaos 2 drove at Dead Metal's front and flipped it up a little, whilst Stinger drove away from the arena wall. Stinger drove across the arena, and Chaos 2 drove after it. Chaos 2 soon caught up with Stinger and tried to flip, but only got the flipper under Stinger's axe, so only managed to lift the axe up a little. Stinger drove away from Chaos 2, then turned and started spinning. Chaos 2 held back, and when Stinger stopped spinning, Chaos 2 drove at it, but swerved away as it got close, as Stinger turned, slamming the axe into the back of Chaos 2. Time ran out, and the battle went to the Judges. They decided that the two robots were equal on style, damage and aggression but Chaos 2 was ahead on control and was therefore awarded the victory.

Craig Charles: "What a valiant effor!Kevin Scott"

It was a tough call!: "It was a tough call, the Judges took ages making up their minds! But, you've done ever so well, you got so far, your robot - I thought - was virtually unbeatable unless you could get it out of the ring, and that's what Chaos 2 was trying to do, but it couldn't quite achieve it, and you're quite tenacious!"

Craig Charles: "We wriggled, we struggled."

It was a tough call!: "You're a slippery set of customers! Have you enjoyed it?"

Craig Charles: "Oh, it's been fantastic! You're not too disappointed?"

It was a tough call!: "We did it for all the roboteers, all the engineers, all the modellers, in Lincoln. LINCOLN!!!"

Craig Charles: "Post-battle interview"

It was a tough call!: "{{{10}}}"

Craig Charles: "{{{11}}}"

It was a tough call!: "{{{12}}}"

— {{{13}}}

Stinger would ultimately finish third overall in the Fourth Wars, as Hypno-Disc was forced to withdraw from the planned playoff due to the damage sustained in its battle with Pussycat, although this would not be reflected in Stinger's seeding in the next series.

At the end of the series, Stinger was nominated for the Best Engineered Award, but lost out to The Steel Avenger.

"And Stinger, Kevin Scott and the boys from Lincoln with this ingenious design, all the electronics held inside two impregnable wheel hubs!"

— Jonathan Pearce whilst reading the nominations for the Best Engineered Award

Stinger escapes from the shallow Pit during its Pinball Warrior run

Stinger also competed in the Pinball Warrior Tournament of the Fourth Wars. Stinger started erratically, driving forwards a little, but then veering towards the shallow Pit. It managed to prevent itself driving in by turning around, then drove across the arena, driving over the edge of the bridge. It drove around behind the right set of barrels, nudging one of the bottom ones with its mace, but failed to knock it over.

"There's the axe trying to knock barrels down now. Need to get points on the board, they've scored: nought!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger nudges the barrels

It turned around for another attempt, but Dead Metal came towards it, so Stinger sped away from the House Robot, knocking past the barrels as it did so, knocking three over. Stinger stopped for a moment, which allowed Dead Metal to catch up with it, and pushed he pushed Stinger into the shallow Pit. However, Stinger's axlebot design allowed it to drive out of the Pit, and it drove past Dead Metal and into Sgt. Bash. Sgt. Bash turned to face Stinger, leaving the target open, and Stinger managed to drive around Sgt. Bash and get to the target.

"That's well done, dodging in behind Bash. That's steady stuff so far there from Stinger, from Lincoln."

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger hit Sgt. Bash's target, then heads for the multiball release

Stinger drove around Sgt. Bash, and after some steering difficulties, as it struggled to drive in a straight line, it drove into the multiball release. Dead Metal drove towards it, and Stinger spun on the spot to defend itself, hitting one of Dead Metal's arms. With only a few seconds remaining, Stinger drove into Sir Killalot's zone, but swerved away from him. Dead Metal tried to grab Stinger, but it charged away towards the car doors. However, as it got close, it stopped and turned away from the car doors, seemingly suffering from interference. It turned back towards the doors, but Dead Metal caught up with it, hitting one of the wheels with a grabbing arm. Dead Metal did not grab Stinger, but Stinger could not line itself up to drive at the doors. Stinger span on the spot, and though it stopped spinning and turned to face the doors, time ran out before it could try and open the car doors.

"Steady, not spectacular. 50 Points though the key there. That was the highlight of the run - notching up 50 points to rescue an otherwise drab performance. Yes, the multiball release. They seemed unsteady over decision making, which way to go on the arena floor, losing their bearings too often"

— Jonathan Pearce reviews the highlights of Stinger's run

Stinger ended the run with only seventy-five points, meaning that it finished a rather low joint twelfth place along with Banshee.

"And the judges go seventy-five points for Stinger, not enough to upset the leaders Hypno-Disc."

— Jonathan Pearce reviewing the total points that Stinger managed to score

Stinger also competed in the Northern Annihilator that took place during the Christmas Specials during the Fourth Wars.

"Very quick across the arena floor, but when the wheels stop, the axe comes down with mighty power! Virtually indestructible! Difficult to get hold of! Difficult to steer, yes, but when it spins, look at the power of that axe once again. Watch out for Stinger, this one's gonna go very close in the Annihilator!"

— Jonathan Pearce, whilst introducing Stinger in the Northern Annihilator, reviewing its performances in its Series 4 heat

It was up against Suicidal Tendencies, Spikasaurus (who it beat in its Series 4 heat), Dominator 2, Chaos 2 (who beat it in the first round of Series 4 Grand Final) and Killerhurtz.

"We've got a really strong robot here, but we're up against 6 {sic} of the toughest robots in the series. We're gonna go in there, we're gonna give 'em hell, and we're gonna kill 'em!"

— Kevin Scott on his opponents before Round 1

In the first round, Stinger was slow to move away. At the start of the battle, Killerhurtz turned and drove at Spikasaurus, whilst Choas 2 charged across the arena at Spikasaurus. After initially holding back, Stinger also turned and drove up the arena as Killerhurtz had done. As it passed the flame jet, Chaos 2 reversed past it, backing into Dominator 2. Stinger tried to swing its axe at Chaos 2, but Chaos 2 was too fast for it, so Stinger missed. As Stinger swung its axe back, Spikasaurus drove down the arena, pushing past Stinger. Stinger swung its axe over and turned around as Chaos 2 drove into it. Chaos 2 fired the flipper prematurely as it turned at Stinger, so it failed to flip Stinger, closing the flipper onto Stinger's front as the two came together. Stinger swung its axe over, clipping the front of Chaos 2's flipper as it reversed away. Whilst Chaos 2, Dominator 2, Spikasaurus and Killerhurtz fought on the right side of the arena, Stinger remained on the left side, fighting with Suicidal Tendencies. Suicidal Tendencies drove over to the melee on the other side of the arena, but Stinger followed it, driving into Suicidal Tendencies' side.

"Stinger with the axe in there as well!"

— Jonathan Pearce

Stinger and Chaos 2 attack Suicidal Tendencies

Suicidal Tendencies tried to drive away, but Spikasaurus rammed into its front. Stinger swung its axe over at Suicidal Tendencies, but narrowly missed. Suicidal Tendencies pushed Spikasaurus away, and Stinger held back from its opponents for a short time, until Dominator 2 axed the top of Chaos 2. Stinger drove into the side of Chaos 2, driving up on the back and swinging over its axe, but narrowly missing. Dominator 2 pushed Chaos 2, and Stinger drove off, then turned around, slamming its axe into the Suicidal Tendencies as it charged at it. Suicidal Tendencies drove down the arena, and Stinger held back as Killerhurtz axed Spikasaurus. As Chaos 2 got under the front of Spikasaurus and gave it a little flip, Stinger charged at Chaos 2, slamming its axe down on the back.

"Stinger doing its own thing as it's want to do!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger holds back from the others, then attacks Chaos 2

Chaos 2 was unaffected, and drove away down the arena. Suicidal Tendencies drove at Stinger, but Stinger turned to avoid its charge, and Suicidal Tendencies drove past into Spikasaurus. Chaos 2 drove at Stinger, but Stinger turned as it tried to get underneath with the flipper, so Chaos 2 barely managed to lift it, though it managed to turn over Stinger's support frame. Chaos 2 did manage to catch Stinger under the flipper as it closed, but Stinger started spinning, so Chaos 2 reversed away.

"Stinger now, under threat from Chaos 2. Turning away!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Chaos 2 tries to flip Stinger

Stinger attacks the wounded Chaos 2 whilst the other robots fight

Stinger hit Dominator 2 as it drove past, then took a long charge and fired its axe, allowing itself to turn its support back over. Chaos 2 drove at Stinger and flipped it aside, and Stinger retreated towards a corner. The action moved to the bottom left corner, as Chaos 2 drove at Killerhurtz, flipping it, but was then axed and pinned against the wall by Dominator 2. Stinger followed, and tried to drive at Spikasaurus' side as it reversed away from Sgt. Bash, but was too slow, and Spikasaurus managed to drive past and turn around to Stinger's side before it could swing the axe over, causing Stinger to miss. Spikasaurus drove after Suicidal Tendencies, puncturing the side with its two front spikes, and Spikasaurus pushed it towards the arena wall. Spikasaurus turned Suicidal Tendencies around, and Stinger swung its axe at Suicidal Tendencies, but missed. Spikasaurus turned Suicidal Tendencies back towards the CPZ, and Stinger swung its axe at Spikasaurus a couple of times, hitting the top.

"Stinger loves a little bit of a rumble and a tussle! Sometimes I don't know what the Stinger boys are doing. I don't think they know what they're doing either!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger attacks Spikasaurus

As Sgt. Bash attacked Suicidal Tendencies, Suicidal Tendencies reversed against Spikasaurus. Stinger attacked Spikasaurus' side, then reversed away. However, as it did so, it collided with Chaos 2, which was turning around for another attack on Dominator 2. The impact flipped Stinger up on its side, and it landed upside-down. As it struggled to right itself so it could use its axe, Killerhurtz charged at it. Stinger tried turning to avoid it, but Killerhurtz still clipped Stinger's wheels as it drove past, which bounced Stinger aside, and it managed to turn itself upright with its axe. Spikasaurus rammed Suicidal Tendencies, which it still had caught on its front spikes, into a CPZ, and Stinger drove after Spikasaurus, swinging its axe onto its top a couple of times.

"We still have all 6 competing!"

— Jonathan Pearce notes no robot has yet fallen, before noticing Killerhurtz has Chaos 2 pinned by the wall

Dominator 2 pins Stinger down in Round 1

Dominator 2 came over to attack Chaos 2, which was fighting Killerhurtz by the wall, and Stinger charged at Dominator 2, but missed as it swung the axe. Dominator 2 turned around, and Stinger swung the axe at it, but the axe merely glanced off. Stinger left Dominator 2 and drove at Chaos 2, weakly swinging its axe at it, then turned away, turning into Spikasaurus, which was being axed by Dominator 2. Killerhurtz rammed Chaos 2 into Spikasaurus and Suicidal Tendencies, and Stinger held back. Dominator 2 axed Chaos 2, ripping off the polycarbonate back, and Stinger pushed against the back of Sgt. Bash. Shunt and Sgt. Bash eventually backed off from the competitors, allowing Stinger to drive at Chaos 2, which was now immobile. Shunt came over and bulldozed Chaos 2 up the arena. Stinger drove after it, but Dominator 2 caught it near the centre of the arena, axing the tyre and puncturing it. 'Cease' was called, and Stinger and the other 4 were through.

Dominator 2 takes out Stinger's wheel in Round 2

In the second round, Killerhurtz charged across the arena at Stinger as soon as the battle started. Stinger tried turning away as Killerhurtz rammed into it, causing it to ride up Killerhurtz' front wedge, flipping it onto its side, then rolling over. Killerhurtz turned away, and Stinger drove out of the CPZ before the House Robots could come over, and flipped itself back upright by swinging its axe.

"Immediately punished, and a little bit lucky to survive, some might say, the drive from Killerhurtz, into the CPZ"

— Jonathan Pearce as Killerhurtz rams Stinger

Stinger spins round in circles lifting its mace up and down

Stinger drove at Spikasaurus as its four opponents fought in the arena centre, but Spikasaurus quickly turned away. Dominator 2 axed Stinger, hitting the centre, then hitting one of Stinger's tyres. Dominator 2 turned and drove away, but Stinger merely spun on the spot. Killerhurtz rammed into Stinger, tipping it up on its side, but Spikasaurus charged into the back of Killerhurtz, so it turned away. Spikasaurus got Stinger's axe between its front spikes, but quickly turned away. The other four fought together, whilst Stinger could only spin on the spot. After fighting with Killerhurtz, Dominator 2 drove after Stinger, which was spinning around in the arena centre.

"Stinger's axe comes down, they've stayed out of trouble, in fact we haven't seen a great deal of 'em! I wonder you know, if that initial onslaught affected Stinger. We're gonna check on the manoeuvrability of it in a minute."

— Jonathan Pearce notices Stingers lack of forward movement

Spikasaurus rams Stinger (rear) whilst Killerhurtz is grilled on the Flame Pit

It tried to get under Stinger, but Stinger turned away, driving against Dominator 2's side. Dominator 2 drove past, and Stinger was left to spin by itself. Killerhurtz axed Sgt. Bash and was pushed onto the Flame Pit by the House Robot, and Spikasaurus rammed into Stinger's side, but failed to do any damage, so backed off. Dominator 2 drove past Stinger as it chased Spikasaurus up the arena, and Matilda pushed Killerhurtz free. Despite Stinger only being able to spin on the spot, the House Robots didn't come in to finish off Stinger, and the bout went on to the very end, but the Judges' decision that resulted went against Stinger, eliminating it from the Northern Annihilator.

"And there you have it. Confirmed Stinger, yes they were immobilised. Yes they're out."

— Jonathan Pearce reviewing the results

Back in the pits, it was revealed that one of Stinger's tyres had been spiked, which had damaged the aerial inside and crippled reception in the wheel.

Kevin Scott: "These tyres were always the potential weak-bit"

Julia Reed: "They carry the aerials in there, don't they?"

Kevin Scott: "We hadn't told anybody about that before, but that's it, it's taken out the aerial and killed the wheel!"

Karl Skinner: "No other damage at all, no other damage whatsoever!"

— Stinger's post-mortem

Extreme 1[]

"Hi, we're the Stinger team. I'm Kevin Scott the team captain, this is Karl Skinner and Tim Mann. The three of us have put this creation together, we came third in the last wars and we're looking to go all the way with an axe and two wheels"

— The team's introduction for Extreme 1

Stinger made several appearances in Extreme 1, but did not have a great deal of success.

Stinger's first battle of Extreme, also the first battle of Extreme altogether, was a Vengeance battle against Tornado. The Stinger team had referred to Tornado as a "big boring box on wheels", which "upset" the Tornado team greatly. The battle was held at the request of the two teams after a delay in filming, as both teams had supporters in the audience to watch them fight. The production staff agreed to allow them to fight, and as both of their battles in Round 1 of the All-Stars championship had been postponed due to a delay in filming, the line-up for the All-Stars was changed. However, the next day, Mentorn decided to go back to the original draw for the All-Stars, so this battle was reduced to being a Vengeance battle.^[37]

"They're boring! My mother hates them, they just spin around in a circle, and we're going to show them who's boss!"

— Andrew Marchant to Julia Reed

Tornado drove straight at Stinger, and as it did so, Stinger slammed its axe down on the top. As Stinger pulled back the axe, Tornado drove around Stinger and got behind it as Stinger swung the axe again. Tornado started to push Stinger, which responded by swinging its axe back at Tornado and driving away, but Tornado kept after it, ramming into it and pushed it across the arena. Stinger slammed its axe down onto Tornado and turned away from it, then started spinning. Tornado drove around Stinger, which hit its side.

"Stinger, slamming down with that bludgeoning spike. Turning quickly, can get up to 18 miles an hour, it's the faster of these two robots."

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger spins to defend itself from Tornado

Tornado drove around Stinger and drove down the arena, Stinger charged after it, swinging its axe down onto Tornado's top, but Tornado's spinning drum flipped Stinger up on its side, and Tornado got under the wheels and pushed it, until Stinger rolled away off Tornado's top on one wheel. Tornado turned to face Stinger as it fell back to two wheels, and Stinger turned, slamming its axe into Tornado's front, but Tornado was unaffected, and rammed Stinger across the arena towards the flame pit. Stinger managed to turn off of Tornado as it reached the edge of the flame pit, narrowly avoiding the flames. Stinger span on the spot, hitting Tornado, but Tornado withstood the blow, reversed and pushed Stinger onto the flame pit. Stinger drove off the flames, but Tornado rammed into it. Stinger drove away up the arena. Tornado chased after it, catching up with it, and though Stinger turned and tried to drive away, Tornado caught the end of its axe with its spinning drum, flipping Stinger up, and sending the axe spinning around. Tornado kept in pursuit of Stinger, but as it got close, Stinger began spinning, hitting Tornado's side twice. Tornado waited until Stinger stopped spinning, then drove at it. Stinger backed away, but stopped as it was near Dead Metal's CPZ, and Tornado rammed it into the CPZ. Stinger found itself caught between Dead Metal's arms, and Dead Metal used his saw on Stinger's side. However, Stinger managed to struggle free, slamming its axe into Dead Metal's face and rolling away, driving into the arena wall.

"It's in the clutches of Dead Metal, oh and just out! Stinger, that's a great thumping crunch down on Dead Metal!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger escapes Dead Metal

Tornado sends Stinger flailing away after using its drum

Stinger quickly got away, driving into the arena centre, and it started spinning as Tornado drove at it. Tornado withstood the impact, and started pushing. Stinger drove away, and as Tornado charged after it, Stinger slammed the axe down onto the top and turned away. Stinger drove around the Refbot and around the arena, with Tornado chasing after it, then Stinger stopped to try and bring its axe down on Tornado, but Tornado rammed into Stinger and Stinger missed with the axe. Tornado attacked Stinger with the drum, but Stinger brought its axe down onto Tornado's top, turned and drove away over the Flame Pit. Stinger drove across the arena, but Tornado chased after it, soon catching up and rammed Stinger into an angle grinder. Tornado reversed, and Stinger drove at it, but before it could swing over its axe, Tornado flipped it up with its spinning drum, flipping it over. Tornado started to push Stinger, but Stinger drove away up the arena.

"That's the Stinger boys; Kevin Scott, Karl Skinner and Tim Mann. Frantic use of the controls, good steering."

— Jonathan Pearce as the camera cuts to the Stinger team, before Stinger got away from Tornado

Sir Killalot hangs Stinger over the edge

Tornado chased after Stinger, soon catching up with it and hitting the axe with its spinning drum, causing sparks, then pushed Stinger to the edge of Dead Metal's CPZ, but in doing so it drove into the edge of the CPZ, and Dead Metal attacked it instead, cutting into the back with his disc, forcing Tornado to drive away. As Tornado drove away, Stinger mistakenly turned into the CPZ, getting its axe caught under Dead Metal, so Dead Metal drove forwards and turned, allowing Stinger to get its axe free, helped by a push from Tornado. Stinger drove away from the CPZ, but Tornado drove into Stinger's side, hitting it with the drum and flipping it up, allowing Tornado to get under a wheel. Tornado tried to push Stinger onto a flame jet, but Stinger narrowly managed to avoid the flames by driving off Tornado. Before it had a chance to get away however, Tornado rammed into it, pushing it into Sir Killalot's CPZ. Sir Killalot caught Stinger in his claw, and picked it off the ground, taking it to the arena side wall and holding it over the edge, only to reverse and drop Stinger back to the floor.

"That's Killalot, look at those great claws! Got Stinger by the chassis! By the axle! Ho ho! Stinger, you're going out of the arena, or into a Flame Pit, or into the Pit of Oblivion! ... No! Oh, you are so lucky Stinger!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Sir Killalot grabs Stinger and holds it over the arena wall

Stinger spun a little, and Tornado pinned it against an angle grinder. Stinger struggled free, and Tornado pushed it against the arena wall, but Stinger's large wheels allowed it to drive over Stinger and get away. Stinger drove to the centre of the arena and weakly spun, but Tornado drove straight into it, stopping its spinning. Tornado pushed Stinger down to the bottom of the arena, and Stinger turned and drove over Tornado, driving to the side of the arena. Tornado turned and charged into Stinger, hitting it with its drum and getting under one of the wheels. In the last few seconds, Tornado tried to push Stinger against the arena wall, but Stinger drove off of Tornado's top just before the battle ended.

"Tornado, locking horns with Stinger, this is a great battle, isn't it? This is why we've lined up the Vengeance battles in Robot Wars Extreme! The best of the robots pitted together! Tornado, slamming into Stinger once again. Very even battle, I think here. They've both shown great aggression and control..."

— Jonathan Pearce towards the end of the battle

The Judges were called to make a decision, and they went with Tornado.

Julia Reed: "I take it you're not too happy about that then?"

Kevin Scott: "We are unmarked, this robot is perfect to go out there again, and we was {sic} robbed! We're gonna get 'em next time, you wait!"

Tim Mann: "We'll be back! Stronger, faster, better than it was before! You have been warned!"

— Post-battle interview

It fought newcomer Ajjay in a Wild Card Warriors battle. Ajjay was supposed to have horizontal spinning flails, but the weapon failed to work, so Ajjay's only means of attack were pushing and spinning in place.

"He must have courage to come up against this [Stinger], we've seem some serious metal, and we're gonna just show him what you gotta do to be a top robot!"

— Kevin Scott

Stinger started by reversing a little, swinging its axe back. Ajjay drove across the arena, but as it got close to Stinger, it turned away and held back. Stinger swung its axe, but was not close enough to Ajjay to hit it. Ajjay drove by the arena wall, then rammed into Stinger, but Stinger turned away, so Ajjay merely drove past. Ajjay turned around and drove at Stinger, and started spinning on the spot. Stinger swung its axe over and backed away from Ajjay, so Ajjay drove away and started spinning. Stinger drove towards Ajjay, but Ajjay reversed down the arena to avoid it. As Stinger stopped, Ajjay charged at it, rolling Stinger over as it rammed into the wheels. Ajjay turned around, and Stinger swung its axe over, then drove at Ajjay. It swung its axe back, but then turned away from Ajjay, driving towards the bottom of the arena. Ajjay charged into it, ramming it towards the Pit release button, and though Stinger managed to get away before Ajjay could slam it into the arena wall, in doing so, it drove into the arena wall, and Ajjay hit the Pit release button. Ajjay reversed for a charge, and Stinger drove along the bottom arena wall.

"Is there control? Is there any aim to this?"

— Jonathan Pearce noting both robots lacking in good control

Ajjay charged into Stinger, ramming it against the wall. Stinger drove away, across an empty CPZ. Ajjay drove after it, but in doing so, it drove through the CPZ, and Sir Killalot came over, so Ajjay quickly reversed away to get out of the CPZ. Stinger held back as Ajjay drove away from the bottom arena wall, then the two competitors charged at each other, with Stinger slamming its axe down onto the top of Ajjay. Stinger rode up on top of Ajjay, but slid off the side. It fell onto the Flame Pit, but quickly got away.

"Stinger tries an attack with the axe, hits the arena floor. That's a problem with Stinger. The control of the weaponry by Kevin Scott, Karl Skinner and Tim Mann, has deserted them in the past."

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger rides up over Ajjay

Stinger hits the top of Ajjay with its axe

It drove after Ajjay, which reversed around Stinger and drove across, then up the arena. Stinger drove after it, and Ajjay turned around and rammed into Stinger, and its round shape allowed it to push past it and drive past before Stinger could attack. Ajjay drove down the arena, then turned around, but mistakenly backed into Sir Killalot's CPZ. Sir Killalot picked it up with his claw, but dropped it back down, and as it drove out of the CPZ, Stinger charged at it. Ajjay turned away to avoid it, but Stinger drove after it, slamming its axe down onto the top a couple of times.

"It's not been the best display from Stinger, let's be honest. Again crashing down with that great mace!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger hits Ajjay

Sir Killalot drops Stinger out of the arena

Ajjay turned to face Stinger, but Stinger reversed before it could try and push. Stinger drove back at Ajjay, slamming its axe down on the top and turning away before Ajjay could ram it. In doing so, it nearly backed into Sir Killalot's CPZ, but stopped itself in time, with its axe swinging over and hitting Sir Killalot's lance. Stinger drove past Ajjay, stopped itself as it drove to the edge of the Flame Pit, then drove down the arena to avoid a charge from Ajjay. Ajjay drove into the arena centre, and Stinger drove towards it. Ajjay charged at Stinger, but Stinger swerved to avoid it, causing Ajjay to drove over the flame jet and into the arena wall. After accidentally driving into Refbot, Stinger drove at Ajjay, slamming into it and quickly turning away over the flame pit. Ajjay drove into Stinger, which began spinning, so Ajjay turned away and drove up to the top arena wall. Stinger drove up the arena and started spinning, and Ajjay drove at it. Stinger turned and tried to hit Ajjay with its axe, but narrowly missed. Stinger turned to block Ajjay before it could get away, and swung the axe over, but again missed as it turned at the wrong moment. Stinger backed away, and Ajjay turned towards it, trying to spin. Stinger swung the axe in its direction, but missed again. As it pulled back the axe, it accidentally drove close to Sir Killalot's CPZ, and Sir Killalot blocked it with his claw, then pushed it into the CPZ, where he grabbed it with his claw, picking it up. In the last 10 seconds, Sir Killalot carried Stinger down the arena, all the way to the bottom arena wall. Sir Killalot held Stinger over the wall, and fortunately for Stinger, time ran out before Sir Killalot dropped it out of the arena, so the battle went to a Judges' decision.

"Stinger into the CPZ, could be in trouble here though! Again Killalot, and we've seen this before when Killalot's managed to grapple hold of Stinger! They've done all the work, but it looks as if it could get tossed out of the arena here! But Killalot's got to beat the clock! The clock is ticking down, can Stinger survive? Can Stinger stay in? I think they've just stayed in! Out of the arena they go. But I think it was after time, in which case, Killalot was bang out of order!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Sir Killalot throws Stinger out of the arena

The Judges were called to make a decision, and on a 2-to-1 split decision, they went for Stinger.

"We nearly got some egg on our faces, yeah, but we came through in the end, I really enjoyed that fight, and Ajjay did so well for a beginner! Killalot, he had it in for us, didn't he?"

— Karl Skinner after the battle

Stinger also entered the Challenge Belt, where it was the second robot to challenge the original holder Behemoth.

Kevin Scott: "They just do not deserve that belt. Show me where they earned that belt! We're gonna take that belt and whip their butts with it!"

Julia Reed: "And how badly do you want it Stinger?"

Tim Mann: "We are going to take it, and we are going to keep it, and if they think that they're deserving of it, think again!"

— Team Stinger's challenge to Behemoth

The two competitors drove at each other, with Stinger swinging its axe back, and as Behemoth got close, Stinger turned around, hitting Behemoth's scoop with its axe. Stinger started spinning, and Behemoth drove around Stinger, but Stinger hit the front scoop again with its axe. Behemoth tried to push Stinger, but Stinger turned the other way, hitting its side with its axe. As Behemoth turned, Stinger spun, hitting its side again. Behemoth turned to face Stinger, which stopped spinning, and started spinning in the other direction. Stinger hit Behemoth's scoop, and turned away as Behemoth tried to push it, hitting Behemoth's side, then reversed away.

"Stinger swings and pivots, and just almost caresses that bucket scoop at the front of Behemoth with the mighty bludgeoning mace."

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger spins around, hitting Behemoth repeatedly

Behemoth drove after Stinger as it spun, and Stinger hit Behemoth's scoop, then turned and hit the side, and as Behemoth turned, Stinger spun the other way and hit the scoop again. Behemoth pushed against Stinger, causing the axe to slide up its scoop, briefly getting caught between the scoop and the top, but Stinger turned away, and started spinning again. Behemoth held back until Stinger stopped for a moment, then drove into Stinger, getting under one of the wheels, but before Behemoth could lift it, Stinger reversed, swinging its axe over and hitting Behemoth as it did so. Behemoth kept after Stinger, getting under its side, but Stinger drove off the scoop as Behemoth lifted it, and turned and hit Behemoth's side. Behemoth turned to face Stinger, which spun, hitting Behemoth's scoop with the axe. Behemoth kept pushing, and Stinger spun around, hitting the scoop again. Behemoth turned to try and push Stinger against the wall, but Stinger spun in the other direction, hitting Behemoth's side with the axe.

"There you see what I was alluding to earlier on - does it spin out of control, or is that controlled aggression by Kevin Scott at the controls of Stinger? That's a good attack! Slamming down on the bucket scoop, but it just comes forwards and forwards Behemoth! Rarely retreats, irrepressible!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Behemoth weathers Stinger's attacks and pushes it down the arena

Sir Killalot holds Stinger, before having to let it go

Behemoth turned around, only for Stinger to spin and hit its side before it could get underneath with the axe. Behemoth turned, getting the scoop under the axe. Stinger turned around and hit its scoop. Behemoth pinned Stinger against the wall. Stinger swung its axe over, but Behemoth kept it pinned, getting the scoop under one wheel and the axe, and tried to lift it over the fence, but Behemoth was not close enough to lift Stinger up over the wall, so it reversed. Stinger turned away from the wall, but appeared to have lost forwards drive, as it turned to the edge of Sir Killalot's CPZ, but couldn't get away, as it merely spun around. Behemoth drove in, pushing Stinger into the CPZ, but Sir Killalot pushed Behemoth back with his claw, so Behemoth backed away. Stinger could not take advantage of this chance to escape due to problems with its drive, and Sir Killalot grabbed it by the axle and picked it up, whilst Behemoth opened the Pit. Sir Killalot carried Stinger out of the CPZ, before dropping it down on the arena floor.

"I don't think Stinger has been immobilised yet, so Killalot couldn't push Stinger down into the Pit. No, he's had to let him go! Once I caught a fish alive! Why did you let him go? Because his... I've absolutely no idea where I'm going with this one, then. Sorry about that"

— Jonathan Pearce attempts, and fails, at an obscure reference

Behemoth rushed over to Stinger, and flipped it with its scoop, flipping it over. Behemoth tried to hit Stinger with the axe as it flipped it over, but missed. Stinger turned its axe against Behemoth's side, then started spinning as Behemoth backed away for another attack. Behemoth drove between Stinger and the arena wall, then pushed against Stinger, nearly pushing it into the Pit, but Stinger turned away as it neared the edge. Behemoth drove behind Stinger, which turned away. Behemoth turned around and got its scoop under one of Stinger's wheels, but Stinger turned away.

"Behemoth on the attack, pushing Stinger away from the Pit ironically, getting his body in the way of Stinger and the Pit, and allowing the Stinger mace to once again come haring down!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Behemoth pushes Stinger

Stinger turned back and forth, then drove away towards the side of the arena. Behemoth chased after it, catching up with it and getting the scoop underneath, but Stinger turned away. Stinger turned and hit Behemoth's side, so Behemoth reversed, then drove back at Stinger as it spun, pushing it to the arena wall, and as Stinger tried turning away, it turned into an angle grinder. Behemoth drove back at Stinger, getting its scoop under both wheels and used its axe and scoop together, lifting Stinger with the scoop and holding it with the axe. Holding Stinger up, Behemoth carried Stinger back across the arena, then turned around to face the Pit. Behemoth tried to drop Stinger into the Pit, but as it drove to the Pit, Stinger struggled against it, narrowly managing to get out from under the axe, and falling off the edge of the scoop, landing on the side of the Pit. Behemoth backed away, but Stinger failed to drive away. Behemoth drove back at Stinger, which turned away, but as it did so, it nearly drove into the Pit. Stinger stopped itself as it reached the edge, but this caused its axe to swing over, and it dangled over the Pit. Stinger tried to get away from the Pit, but couldn't move the axe, and when it tried to struggle free, it fell into the Pit.

"This was a great two-pronged attack by Behemoth – the drive, and then holding Stinger in place with the axe, and dragging it away, like some common bit of prey! ALMOST into the Pit, just surviving! And a wheely, wheely crazy end to it allllllllllll, just about… now! Down [Stinger] went. That was great fun!"

— Jonathan Pearce over replays of Behemoth’s final attack on Stinger

Stinger's challenge had therefore failed, and Behemoth kept the belt.

Craig Charles: "Stinger, you were shouting your mouth off, you were giving it the big 'un, you were giving it large. You were saying you were gonna have these boys, and where did you end up? The pit of oblivion! Talk me through it."

Tim Mann: "Well, we went in there, we got loads of side swipes, did you see the sparks coming off that bumper of theirs?"

Craig Charles: "We saw the side swipes, we saw the sparks, and however {sic} we did see them pick you up in their bucket and dump you in the pit! You wanted the Robot Wars Extreme Challenge Belt, and guess what? You haven't got it!"

— Post-battle interview

In its Mayhem, Stinger met Behemoth (again) and Thermidor 2.

Kevin Scott: "We're really looking forward to this fight, we've added some spikes on for this one, especially to get holes in that Behemoth, and as for the flipper and the pincher, no problem!"

Julia Reed: "Ha ha, you haven't face them before, have you?"

Kevin Scott: "None of them, it's gonna be a really good fight. We've never seen any of them in the arena, and it's gonna be... evil!"

— Pre-battle interview (This battle was filmed before, but broadcast after, Stinger's Challenge Belt battle with Behemoth)

Behemoth flips Stinger as it did in the Challenge Belt battle

As the battle started, Thermidor 2 immediately backed away whilst Stinger drove across the arena towards Behemoth and attempted to use its mace on it, but as it drove across the arena, Behemoth turned away, so Stinger missed its charge. Behemoth got its scoop under one of Stinger's wheels, but Stinger reversed off the scoop before Behemoth could lift it. Stinger drove into Behemoth's side, but as it reversed to swing over its axe, it reversed too far and missed Behemoth.

"Three terrific robots here, only one survives and goes through to our Annihilator, three of the very best though! Stinger, I love it! Just slams that great mace down..."

— Jonathan Pearce in the opening moments of the battle, as Stinger fights with Behemoth

Stinger keeps out of trouble as Behemoth is thrown out of the arena

Behemoth turned away from Stinger, and Thermidor 2 drove at its side, getting underneath and flipping it over. Behemoth rolled over, and Thermidor 2 turned away. Stinger charged down the arena at Behemoth, driving at its front and swinging its axe over, but the axe merely glanced off the side, and Behemoth flipped Stinger up with its scoop. Stinger drove away from Behemoth and started spinning, so when Behemoth drove into it, Stinger hit the side and turned away from the scoop. Behemoth turned away, which allowed Thermidor 2 to drive in behind it and throw it head-over-heels out of the arena. Stinger activated the Pit and drove into the arena centre. Thermidor 2 drove up the arena around Stinger, then turned to face it. Stinger drove at Thermidor 2, driving onto its flipper, and Thermidor 2 flipped it up, but being invertible, Stinger merely rolled away, then came straight back at Thermidor 2, which reversed away. Stinger reversed, and after a pause, the two machines cautiously drove at each other, and Stinger swung over the axe, but did it too soon and missed, and Thermidor 2 backed away. Stinger charged at Thermidor 2, this time hitting the top with its axe, but in doing so it drove onto the flipper, and Thermidor 2 flipped it up.

"Stinger's mace, Thermidor's lifter - who's gonna win this one?"

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger hits Thermidor 2, but gets flipped up

Thermidor 2 flips Stinger out of the arena

Stinger bounced back down, and as Thermidor 2 drove at it, began spinning, hitting Thermidor 2's flipper as it tried to get underneath. Stinger drove away, but drove by the arena wall. Thermidor 2 drove at it, and tried to get underneath, but Stinger drove off the flipper, driving into the arena wall. Stinger turned, driving back into the arena wall. As Thermidor 2 tried to pin Stinger against the wall, Stinger drove over one of its claws, slamming Thermidor 2's flipper with its axe as it drove over. However, Stinger appeared to slow, as it tried to swing the axe over twice, but didn't have enough momentum to swing the axe over.

"Stinger in on the side wall of the arena, tries to hop away from Thermidor, maybe just stay out of trouble!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger tries to stay away from Thermidor 2

Stinger joins Behemoth outside of the arena

Stinger stopped by the arena wall, and Thermidor 2 drove around it and tried to get its flipper under one wheel. It failed, so it turned away, then drove past Stinger to line up another attack. Stinger slowly drove away from the wall, and drove further down the arena, staying close to the arena wall. Thermidor 2 drove back at it, and as it tried to get its flipper underneath, Stinger swung over its axe, but as it did so it turned a little, so it missed. Thermidor 2 drove at Stinger's side, getting Stinger between the flipper and one of the claws, but as it tried to push it against the arena wall, Stinger drove over the claw, causing Thermidor 2 to miss with the flipper. Thermidor 2 reversed, but Stinger failed to get away, instead turning into an angle grinder. Thermidor 2 took advantage, charging at Stinger, slamming it into the arena wall, and flipping it up onto the wall, with Stinger also hitting a camera. Stinger landed on the wall with its wheels either side of the wall, and it fell over the fence and out of the arena, near to Behemoth. Thermidor 2 was therefore through to the Annihilator.

"Stinger's gone! They've got both of them out! Thermidor - last man standing, the only one in!"

— Jonathan Pearce

In the All-Stars, Stinger faced fellow Fourth Wars Grand Finalist Pussycat. This battle was the main event of the 8th episode of Robot Wars Extreme.

Julia Reed: "How are you gonna tackle the Pussycat challenge?"

Kevin Scott: "Well we designed this robot for the blade to go over the top, but Pussycat's got a vertical disc, and we're gonna do a lot of spinning, and we're gonna knock their blade sideways!"

Julia Reed: "Fighting talk! Take one of those 9 lives! Now do you think you can do it, 'cause they are the number 2, or they were, the number 2 seeds?"

Karl Skinner: "Yeah, but we're the third seed, and we're really chasing their tails now!"

— Pre-battle interview

Pussycat rips some stuffing from Stinger

The two robots charged at each other, with Stinger avoiding Pussycat's blade by driving into Pussycat's other side, then span around, hitting the back of Pussycat with its axe. Stinger span on the spot as Pussycat turned around. Pussycat held back until Stinger stopped spinning. Stinger stopped spinning, only to start spinning in the other direction. Pussycat charged at Stinger, driving into one of the wheels as it spun. Stinger continued to spin, but Pussycat dodged the axe and drove into Stinger's wheel again. The impact knocked Pussycat forwards, and its spinning disc became caught in the arena floor. Stinger stopped spinning, and swung its axe over at Pussycat, which pushed it free of the arena floor. Pussycat drove away as Stinger spun on the spot, then turned around and drove back at Stinger, which hit Pussycat's side with its axe. Pussycat reversed and held back until Stinger stopped spinning. Pussycat charged at Stinger, trying to hit its axe with its spinning disc, but Stinger reversed and turned away as it closed in, tipping itself over as it swerved away. Pussycat drove at Stinger, which spun and swung its axe over, getting ready to attack. As Pussycat closed in, Stinger swung the axe over, hitting Pussycat's top. Pussycat landed a blow with its spinning blade on one of Stinger's tyres, but Stinger reversed away by the Flame Pit. Pussycat drove after Stinger, but Stinger drove into Pussycat's side before it could attack with the cutting disc, then turned away as Pussycat turned and tried to use its cutting disc, driving around the Flame Pit. Stinger turned away to avoid the cutting disc, then slammed its axe into Pussycat's back, and Pussycat's charge caused it to drive into an angle grinder. Stinger spun on the spot as Pussycat turned around for another attack, and as Pussycat drove at Stinger, it tipped upwards, which allowed Stinger to hit its underside with its axe. Pussycat reversed for another attack, and Stinger started spinning in the other direction. As Pussycat drove back at Stinger, Stinger hit the side with its axe. However, Pussycat had managed to clip the top of Stinger's tyre, dislodging some foam.

"Stinger spinning crazily once again. Oh, is it too crazy? I think I saw some padding out of the tyre! Lets have a look to see if there is padding coming out of the tyre, because if there is...there is! It means the actual remote control aerial, which is in there, is suspect and maybe damaged!"

— Jonathan Pearce on Stinger's foam

Pussycat reversed, and Stinger started spinning again, in the other direction. Pussycat drove around Stinger, keeping away from the axe, and held back until Stinger slowed its spinning, driving into one of Stinger's wheels, but Stinger turned around, hitting Pussycat's back with the axe, so Pussycat drove away. Stinger stopped spinning as Pussycat turned around, and the two competitors drove into each other. As the two crashed into each other, Pussycat was knocked upright, and Stinger's axe swung over, but only glanced against Pussycat's side. Pussycat reversed, and Stinger charged at it, swinging over the axe and hitting Pussycat's top, then backed away before Pussycat could attack with the spinning disc.

"Are they out of control? We'll wait and see, or is it just good but superficial damage caused by the Pussycat blade? Well that's a controlled attack by Stinger, so I think you've got your answer."

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger fights back against Pussycat

Stinger tried driving back at Pussycat, but Pussycat hit one of the wheel covers with its spinning disc, and Stinger's axe missed as it swung over. Pussycat turned and drove away as Stinger started spinning, so Stinger quickly stopped spinning and swung its axe back and forth. Stinger drove past Pussycat as it charged at it, however Pussycat turned around and charged back at Stinger, hitting one of the wheels, causing sparks. Stinger turned away from the disc, hitting Pussycat's back with its axe. Pussycat drove past and turned for another attack, but when it drove at Stinger, Stinger turned away, so Pussycat missed its charge. Pussycat turned around and drove back at Stinger, but Stinger drove past as Pussycat got close, driving across the arena. Pussycat quickly turned to face Stinger, but as it tried driving at Stinger, Stinger swerved away, then started spinning. Pussycat turned and drove at Stinger, and as the two came together, Stinger hit Pussycat's underside with the axe, and Pussycat landed a glancing blow on Stinger with its disc. Pussycat reversed as Stinger began spinning again. Pussycat drove down the arena as Stinger drove at it, and Stinger swung its axe over. Stinger charged after Pussycat and soon caught up with it, hitting the top with its axe. Pussycat reversed away, but backed into Dead Metal. Stinger drove into Pussycat's front, and swung over its axe, but missed. Stinger reversed for another attack, then drove into Pussycat's side, but as it swung over the axe, Pussycat turned, so Stinger missed again. Pussycat tried to attack Stinger's tyre, but as it drove at Stinger, Pussycat rode up one of Stinger's wheels. Stinger reversed away, then charged back at Pussycat, but Pussycat turned at Stinger, hitting one of the tyres with its disc, tearing out some more foam from Stinger's tyre.

"This is too close for me to call...something's coming out of the tyre."

— Jonathan Pearce as the battle draws on

Stinger quickly reversed away across the arena, with Pussycat chasing after it. Stinger stopped and drove at Pussycat, swinging over its axe, then backed away. Stinger drove back at Pussycat, but drove straight into the disc, which cut into the wheel cover. Stinger drove against the side of Pussycat, turning itself over, then drove away from Pussycat. Pussycat drove after it, hitting a tyre with its disc. Stinger swung over the axe, but missed, so reversed away down the arena. Pussycat drove after it, and Stinger charged at it, swinging over the axe, hitting Pussycat's top. Stinger reversed and turned away to avoid Pussycat's disc, and started spinning, but was spinning slowly. Pussycat held back, driving around Stinger as it spun, then drove into the axe, stopping its spinning. Stinger turned away to avoid Pussycat, and drove away across the arena and into the CPZ just before the battle ended.

"Well, I wouldn't want to be one of those Judges for all the tea in China! Attack after attack, Pussycat causing damage, slicing down the wheel there, removing the stuffing. Stinger back, and in control. Down came the mace, once in underneath Pussycat, trying to spin to cause damage. Pussycat, good driving, good control, backing away. The big question maybe the Judges were asking "Was at any stage Stinger out of control?""

— Jonathan Pearce reviews the highlights

The Judges decided that Pussycat had done enough to go through to the Quarter-Finals.

Craig Charles: "I looked at the faces of the Stinger, they did not look pleased at losing that bout! They did, they looked definately cheesed off! Were you worried about fighting them, because it was a bit like a war of attrition."

David Gribble: "It's a real tough robot, we just don't know how to attack this thing, so we just went for it"

Craig Charles: "But its tyres seemed to be its weak-spot"

Alan Gribble: "It's his only weak-spot, we got his power links, we tried to get it, but we took some massive blows on top."

— After the battle

Stinger's final Extreme 1 appearance was the House Robot Rebellion, where it, Scorpion, and Plunderbird 5 faced Shunt and Dead Metal. Over the course of the episode, it was revealed that all three teams intended to take out the House Robots on their own before turning on their teammates.

Julia Reed: "Stinger, have you realised the damage you could take in this fight?"

Kevin Scott: "Damage?! This is what we've been waiting for! We're gonna go in there, and we're gonna kick House ro-butt!"

— Pre-battle interview

Plunderbird 5 lands on Stinger, having been thrown by the floor flipper

As the battle began, Shunt charged at Scorpion, missing the first attack with his axe. Whilst Shunt fought with Scorpion, Stinger drove at Dead Metal. Dead Metal attempted to grab hold of Stinger, getting its axe under one of his claws. Dead Metal pushed Stinger, but Stinger managed to pull its axe out from under Dead Metal's claw and drive across the arena, and as Dead Metal tried to chase after it, Plunderbird 5 drove into Dead Metal's side. Dead Metal turned his attentions to Plunderbird 5, grabbing it with his claws and pushing it to the Floor Flipper, which tossed Plunderbird 5, and it landed on top of Stinger.

"Sorry, didn't we tell you about that? Ha ha, too late now isn't it, to find up what we've got up our sleeve! We've got weapons like that and axle grinders and torches and goodness knows what! We're not going to lose this let me tell you!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Plunderbird 5 is flipped onto Stinger

Plunderbird 5 bounced off of the top of Stinger, and Stinger turned around and drove down the arena, as did Plunderbird 5. Dead Metal drove after Stinger, with Shunt driving after Plunderbird 5, and Stinger tried to fight back, charging at Dead Metal and hitting it with its axe, but it merely glanced off the side. Dead Metal got his claws around Stinger and pushed it into the CPZ, but before it could grab Stinger, Stinger turned away, tipping up on its side as it turned away from the House Robot. Stinger rolled back and hit the Pit release button, but as it turned away from the button, Dead Metal charged at it, pinning it against the arena wall. As Dead Metal turned, Stinger managed to escape his claws. Stinger charged up the arena, and drove into Refbot, swinging over its axe and hitting Refbot, who quickly backed away.

"Who had a go at the Refbot there? He's not part of it!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger tries to take the "safe" option

Stinger drove over to the side of the arena, whilst Shunt pushed the limping Plunderbird 5 into the Pit, putting it out of the running. Meanwhile, Dead Metal was attacking Scorpion, and as he reversed for another charge, Stinger drove into Dead Metal's side, hitting it with its axe. As Dead Metal turned its attention on Stinger, Stinger reversed away, driving over the Flame Pit. Stinger drove back at Dead Metal as he closed in, swinging over the axe, hitting one of his claws, then reversed away as Dead Metal tried to pin it against the arena wall, causing Dead Metal to drive into the arena wall. However, as Stinger tried to drive away, it drove into Scorpion, which had been axed by Shunt, and Shunt had kept it pinned and was pushing it around the arena. This blocked Stinger's escape, and Dead Metal took advantage, getting its claws around Stinger, whilst Shunt pushed Scorpion onto the Flame Pit

"Again, you see, we hold all the aces. Were you brave or were you foolhardy? Who volunteers these days for anything? You did! "Ha ha, we've got you now!" says Dead Metal."

— Jonathan Pearce as Dead Metal grabs Stinger and Shunt holds Scorpion

Despite having Stinger in his clutches, Dead Metal seemed to have problems driving it towards the Pit and Scorpion was resisting Shunt's attempts to pit it too. At that moment, however, the House Robots revealed their final trump-card, as Matilda entered the arena as a substitute, moments before Scorpion was finally pitted.

"And Stinger's all that's left, and there's little left of Stinger!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger is left in a 3-on-1 battle

Dead Metal had dragged Stinger towards the other end of the arena and he began using his saw on the wheels, causing sparks to fly. Shunt also attempted to axe Stinger's wheels. All three House Robots surrounded Stinger, which suddenly broke free and hit Dead Metal and Shunt with its spike during the last seven seconds, before driving away, just as 'Cease' was called.

"Down, down, go, go!" Only seven seconds for Stinger to survive. But we have our revenge! The House Robots came out to play, and they've enjoyed their picnic in the arena and how!"

— Jonathan Pearce as the Rebellion finishes

As Stinger was the only one of the three challengers still mobile at the end, it was given the victory.

"Let's hear it for Stinger! They took on 3 House Robots and survived!"

— Craig Charles after the battle

US Season 1[]

Rebecca Grant: "(In mock British accent) Stinger, are you going to put on a jolly old show for us US?"

Kevin Scott: "We're gonna put on a real humdinger of a show!"

Rebecca Grant: "And how are you going to do that?"

Kevin Scott: "We've got a really strong axlebot, with a sting on the tail!"

Rebecca Grant: "Uh, is that all you got?"

Kevin Scott: "That thing is going to go slamming over the top, it's going to go spinning around the sides and it's gonna knock the teeth out of Chompalot right back to the dentist!"

Rebecca Grant: "Alright, to be honest, there's something about them that scares me!"

— Pre-battle interview

Stinger fought in the War of Independence competition in Season 1 of Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors. In the first round, it fought General Chompsalot.

"There's the British entrant, Stinger, weighing less than General Chompsalot. He's got motors in his wheels, and he can't be flipped upside down, he'll work either way, but that spike is something to stay out of the way of."

— Stefan Frank describes Stinger before the battle

Stinger hits General Chompsalot in the mouth

Stinger charged at General Chompsalot, but General Chompsalot swerved to avoid it, so Stinger missed with its axe as it swung over. General Chompsalot turned around, and Stinger swung the axe back and forth. Stinger tried to drive at General Chompsalot and hit it with the axe, but General Chompsalot drove around Stinger, so it missed. Stinger drove down the arena a little and swung its axe over, then as General Chompsalot drove at it, Stinger spun, hitting General Chompsalot's side. General Chompsalot tried to turn away, and Stinger continued to spin, hitting the other wheel. General Chompsalot drove away and turned around, and Stinger continued to spin on the spot. General Chompsalot charged at Stinger, but Stinger hit the side of the jaw before General Chompsalot could attack. General Chompsalot turned away, and Stinger started spinning in the other direction. General Chompsalot charged back at Stinger, but Stinger turned away, so General Chompsalot missed. Stinger continued to spin, and General Chompsalot drove around it. General Chompsalot drove at Stinger as it spun, and Stinger hit the inside of the jaw. Stinger's axe became caught in the jaw, and General Chompsalot pushed Stinger towards the arena wall, until Stinger reversed, pulling the axe free of the jaw.

"Stinger's right into the mouth of Chompsalot, doing a little tonsillectomy, it looks like! Chompsalot is going try to get his mouth around Stinger."

— Stefan Frank as General Chompsalot holds Stinger in its jaw

General Chompsalot clamps down on Stinger

Stinger drove past General Chompsalot as it turned around, driving up the arena, by the Floor Flipper. General Chompsalot drove after Stinger, and Stinger spun, hitting one of the wheel. General Chompsalot drove over the axe, and tried to grab Stinger as it spun, but Stinger hit the inside of the jaw with its axe and pulled the axe free. General Chompsalot drove at Stinger, trying to get its jaw around Stinger, but Stinger turned away, driving into the arena centre. General Chompsalot charged at Stinger, but Stinger spun to avoid getting caught in the jaw, hitting the side, knocking off one of the decorative eyes.

"Oh! Is that an eye? I think General Chompsalot's lost an eye! Well the patch is always going to look good on a military man anyway."

— Stefan Frank after Stinger knocks off one of General Chompsalot's eyes

General Chompsalot holds Stinger in its jaw

As General Chompsalot turned around, Stinger hit the side, so General Chompsalot drove away for another attack. Stinger span on the spot, and General Chompsalot drove around it, and drove at it. Stinger hit the jaw of General Chompsalot, but this did not stop General Chompsalot, which got the jaw around one of the wheels. Stinger pushed against the jaw with its axe, then swung its axe over, which pushed Stinger free of the jaw. Stinger drove away, but General Chompsalot chased after it, and soon got the jaw around one of the wheels again. General Chompsalot pushed Stinger down the arena, and Stinger used its free wheel to try and struggle free. Stinger struggled in General Chompsalot's jaw, swinging over its axe, and managed to get free. Stinger reversed, and as General Chompsalot chased after it, it spun, so General Chompsalot drove around Stinger.

"Chompsalot gets his mouth around the wheel of Stinger! Doesn't really do any damage, but definitely incapacitates him for a minute. Great driving by General Chompsalot anyway, even though he's not doing huge damage."

— Stefan Frank as General Chompsalot holds Stinger

Stinger hits one of General Chompsalot's wheels

General Chompsalot drove at Stinger, which hit the inside of General Chompsalot's jaw as it spun, then pulled the axe free. Stinger span as General Chompsalot turned around for another attack, and as General Chompsalot drove at it, Stinger turned away. General Chompsalot turned and drove at Stinger, trying to get its jaw around Stinger, but Stinger reversed away, driving towards the Flame Pit. General Chompsalot drove by the Flame Pit, but Stinger swung the axe over, hitting one of the tyres and reversing up the arena. Stinger drove into the arena centre, and General Chompsalot drove at it, holding back as it spun, then driving onto its axe, pinning it down and pushing Stinger into the arena wall. Stinger got away, and time ran out.

"Now, this is a tough one to call just because nobody did any real damage. Maybe General Chompsalot lost an eye or something, but Stinger never really got in there with some damage, so my money'd have to be on General Chompsalot, who gummed his way through with a lot of style and control. Good driving!"

— Stefan Frank, reviewing the highlights

With both robots still mobile at the end, it went to the Judges, who went in favour of General Chompsalot on a very close decision. The Stinger team were unhappy with the decision, as they felt they had done more damage, but the decision still stood.

Mick Foley: "General, your staff was tremendous, your military expertise was unparalleled The British seem to think that they took it! Guys, what's your basis for that decision?"

Tim Mann: "Well, there are bits of General Chompsalot all over the arena!"

Tim Berghoefer: "The pieces they're talking about, scattered, is one foam eyeball, so I think, if we can get an optometrist to stick him back on, we'll be ready in a jiffy!"

— After the battle

Series 5[]

"The fiming of series 5 followed soon after the filming of Robot Wars Extreme and Stinger remained essentially the same for both events. Stinger hadn't performed so well for Extreme and had sustained some damage. There was a reliability problem with the batteries (they don't like being spun around after all) but there wasn't time to overcome this problem in time for series 5."

— Stinger website^[38]

In the Fifth Wars, Stinger was seeded number 5. Its first battle was against Hippobotomus in Heat C.

"Ranked number 5, and thankfully injecting a large dose of common sense and fighting fury to the field is Stinger. Always the bridesmaids, never the brides, Stinger look like they mean business!"

— Philippa Forrester at the start of the Heat

At the start of the battle, Stinger slowly approached Hippobotomus, which reversed, and turned around. As Stinger drove close to its opponent, it started spinning, but Hippobotomus held back. The two competitors drove together, but as Stinger swung over its axe, Hippobotomus turned to avoid it. Stinger swung the axe back and drove behind Hippobotomus, spinning and hitting the side of Hippobotomus, cutting a large gash in the plastic armour. Stinger started spinning in the opposite direction, but Hippobotomus reversed away, then drove up the arena. Stinger charged after it, and swung its axe, but missed again. Stinger reversed and swung the axe back, and Hippobotomus drove down the arena.

"On paper, you'd have to say there could be only one winner of this battle - the more experienced Stinger! Trying to wind up a fury with that bludgeoning device. Hippobotomus, made out of a child's sandpit essentially, but this is Robot Wars, and we've seen giant upsets in the past!"

— Jonathan Pearce in the early moments of the battle

Stinger charged down the arena at Hippobotomus, hitting the top with its axe. Stinger went up on one wheel as it drove into Hippobotomus, and rolled away to the centre of the arena. Hippobotomus drove after it, but Stinger was ready for it, and swung its axe over, hitting the top, then backed away to avoid Hippobotomus' weapon, and started spinning. Hippobotomus swung the spinning disc on a crushing arm back and forth, and did not drive at Stinger as it spun, so Stinger stopped spinning. As Hippobotomus drove down the arena, Stinger charged at it, hitting the head of the hippo sand pit and smashing a huge hole in it.

"Surviving the original onslaught but not the second one! Bits of the sandpit flew off there! They were hoping to 'cement' a place in the next round, but I don't think that's going to happen now!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger damages Hippobotomus

Hippobotomus turned away, and Stinger missed a swing with its axe. Stinger turned for another charge, then charged at Hippobotomus as it reversed up the arena, but Hippobotomus drove past and Stinger missed its swing of the axe. Hippobotomus dropped its spinning disc, and Stinger drove into the arm, swinging over its axe. Stinger reversed the arena, then charged back at Hippobotomus. It swung the axe at Hippobotomus, but the axe hit the arm, sliding down it and glancing off the top. Stinger backed away for another attack, then drove back at Hippobotomus, hitting the top with its axe, then reversed away as Hippobotomus tried to push it. Hippobotomus drove across the arena, and Stinger started spinning, but Hippobotomus drove up the arena, driving past Stinger and keeping a close distance from it. Hippobotomus quickly drove around Stinger, then drove down the arena.

"And it looks as if Stinger will go through, but look at the hippo, staying in there, turning away!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Hippobotomus avoids Stinger

Stinger comes under pressure from Sir Killalot in the closing seconds

Stinger charged after it, but missed its charge and hit the arena floor with the axe. Hippobotomus drove into Stinger, which reversed up the arena, its axe hitting the side of Hippobotomus, ripping off a piece of plastic. Hippobotomus pushed Stinger as it tried to get away, and Stinger rode up Hippobotomus' side. Hippobotomus carried on, driving into an angle grinder. As Hippobotomus turned away from the angle grinder, driving to the edge of an empty CPZ. Stinger charged at it, but missed with the axe. Stinger drove up on Hippobotomus' side, rolling over the side and turning itself over, getting away from the CPZ. Stinger spun on the spot, and Hippobotomus reversed into the arena, wall, but Dead Metal came over, pinning it against the arena wall and cutting into the top, whilst Stinger drove away towards the arena centre. Hippobotomus eventually managed to get free, but when it drove at Stinger, Stinger drove away. Stinger drove by Sir Killalot's CPZ, and Hippobotomus drove after it, soon catching up. Stinger tried to get away, but one of its wheels had stopped working due to a broken wire^[39], so it drove forwards, driving to the edge of Sir Killalot's CPZ and hitting the wall with its axe as it tried to stop itself. It then turned deeper into the CPZ, and before it could escape, Sir Killalot blocked it with his claw, and pushed it against the arena entry gate. Sir Killalot grabbed Stinger by the tyre, and picked it up, holding it aloft until time ran out, and the battle went to the Judges.

"Now could we yet see a surprise if Killalot grapples hold of Stinger? What a mistake to make! They reversed in there, and maybe the clock will save them! Sir Killalot hoists Stinger up! Well that was very nearly suicidal driving by Stinger, and they could just survive because it came about so late!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger is picked up by Sir Killalot

The decision was easy for the Judges, who gave the victory to Stinger. The victory from Stinger clearly upset the daughter of the Hippobotomus team, so Craig Charles encouraged the audience to boo the Stinger team, and to make up for it, the Stinger team gave her a cardboard replica of Stinger's weapon, which she then used to prod them with in revenge, after advice from her brother.

Craig Charles: "She's in tears lads!"

Tim Mann: "Yeah, it's a shame, isn't it? It's got to be done, and they put up a great fight, they did so well. We were almost dead meat in there for a while!"

Craig Charles: "You're seeded 5, which is a very high seeding, and to be seeded 5 and to almost come unstuck... by a children's sandpit!"

Kevin Scott: "It's a bloody good sandpit!"

— Post-battle interview

Stinger's next match was against General Carnage 2.

Kevin Scott: "They can't do a lot to us, the flippers, it bounces back, it just comes back for more, and we hope to get them with the tail!"

Philippa Forrester: "So, you think you're completely impervious to flipper-ing?"

Kevin Scott: "Well, if we keep away from the edge..."

— Pre-battle interview

Stinger spins and hits the side of General Carnage 2

At the start of the battle, the two competitors slowly drove at each other, and Stinger pulled its axe back, ready for an attack, but before it could swing the axe over, General Carnage 2 got underneath, flipping the invertible Stinger over the side. Stinger drove past, then spun on the spot as General Carnage 2 turned around. General Carnage 2 held back, so Stinger drove past General Carnage 2's front, hitting the side with its axe. Stinger pushed against the side with its axe, then quickly span in the opposite direction, hitting General Carnage 2's other side as it turned and reversed away. Stinger turned, and as General Carnage 2 drove towards it, Stinger charged at it, driving over the flipper, then swung over the axe, hitting General Carnage 2's top. Stinger reversed away, and as General Carnage 2 drove after it, Stinger tried to swerve around it and hit the side, but as it did so, General Carnage 2 got underneath with the flipper. Stinger swung over the axe, hitting the side, and General Carnage 2 flipped Stinger over, though as it did so, Stinger spun the axe, hitting the underside of General Carnage 2's flipper.

"There you can see, the spinning power. 81 kilos there, spinning madly, with the spike on the end of that great bludgeoner! Not causing problems, and this has been a worry for Stinger in the past, and General Carnage looks patient and measured out there. The aggression is from Stinger, should it eventually go to the Judges!"

— Jonathan Pearce

Stinger spun on the spot, hitting General Carnage 2's side, and General Carnage 2 reversed for another attack. The two competitors drove at each other, and Stinger swung the axe over, but the axe fell over General Carnage 2's side, and General Carnage 2 flipped Stinger again. Stinger backed away and swung its axe over, and the two competitors drove at each other again, but General Carnage 2 got its flipper under Stinger. Stinger swung its axe over, missing, and General Carnage 2 tried to flip Stinger, but Stinger reversed, so General Carnage 2 only managed to flick it up a little bit. Stinger charged back at General Carnage 2, hitting the top with its axe, but General Carnage 2 flipped Stinger over. General Carnage 2 drove against Stinger, but as it turned, trying to get the flipper underneath, Stinger spun, hitting the "fin" on top of the flipper, and as it spun, it turned off the flipper just before General Carnage 2 fired.

"Neither side at the moment causing any great damage...."

— Jonathan Pearce

Stinger holds back as General Carnage 2 sits motionless

General Carnage 2 suddenly became immobile after this flip, so Stinger stopped spinning and drove at General Carnage 2's front, swinging over the axe, but missed with the axe. Stinger reversed for another attack, then turned and drove onto General Carnage 2's flipper, swinging over the axe over, but only managed a glancing blow on the side. Stinger swung back the axe and tried again, this time hitting the top. Stinger reversed, then drove back at General Carnage 2, turning and hitting the side with the axe, but then tried spinning, but the axe merely glanced over the flipper. Stinger stopped, then turned the other way, hitting General Carnage 2's side. Stinger drove away for another attack, and whilst Refbot began to count General Carnage 2 out, Stinger charged back at it, slamming its axe down on the front flipper. Stinger drove over the flipper, rolling over the side. Refbot finished his count, and Stinger spun in celebration as General Carnage 2 was attacked by the House Robots. General Carnage 2 was thrown by the Floor Flipper, then dropped into the Pit by Sir Killalot.

Craig Charles: "You're ranked 5 in the UK, that was fairly easy, wasn't it?"

Tim Mann: "Well, anything can happen in that arena, and it usually does, but only time will tell as how far we'll get, but we will go as far as we can to honour those that we've beaten."

Craig Charles: "But yours is such a difficult robot to beat, I mean you can't really do anything with it unless you flip it out of the arena!"

Karl Skinner: "You're right, yeah. I was hoping we'd bludgeon them to death, we don't know, maybe something did drop off, but we weren't looking forwards to fighting them, because it's a powerful robot and hard to beat. You know, there's a lot of armour on there and I think we'd have been struggling to sort of get through and damage it badly!"

— Post-battle interview

In the Heat Final, Stinger met S3.

"He's very, very tough. We're gonna have a job beating it, but we're gonna try our best, we're gonna see what we can do, and watch this space!"

— Tim Mann on S3 before the battle

Stinger started by driving into the arena centre, and S3 also drove into the arena centre, but did not charge at Stinger, instead swerving so its disc was facing away. The two robots both spun on the spot, then as S3 turned to face Stinger, Stinger reversed, pulling its axe back. S3 turned away and drove down the arena as Stinger drove at it, and though Stinger drove at S3 and tried swinging its axe at it, S3 drove down the arena before Stinger could hit, causing it to miss with the axe. S3 turned to face Stinger as it drove after it, but as Stinger got close, S3 swerved away, causing Stinger to miss its charge. After slamming down the axe, Stinger turned and drove up the arena for another attack. Stinger charged at S3, slamming into its back, but as it tried to swing the axe over, it reversed, causing it to miss with the axe.

"Stinger, attacking, spinning. Will try and stay out of reach of that hugely powerful, 1000 RPM, 20 Kilo, 18-inch diameter "snatch weapon"."

— Jonathan Pearce on Stinger's early attacks

Stinger reversed and swung the axe back for another attack, then charged at Stinger, driving into the body to avoid the spinning disc. Stinger flipped itself over as it slammed into S3, and kept pushing against its body, but S3 turned, hitting Stinger with the disc and flipping Stinger over. Stinger rolled over, and tried to drive at S3 and swing the axe at it, but missed. Stinger then drove into one of S3's wheels and swung the axe over, but S3 turned away to avoid the axe. As Stinger pulled the axe for another attack, S3 drove away up the arena, so Stinger's swing at S3 was too late. S3 turned around to face Stinger, which started spinning on the spot. S3 cautiously drove at Stinger, hitting the axe as it spun around, stopping it spinning. Before Stinger could get away, S3 hit the axe with the disc again, flipping it aside. Stinger began spinning again, hitting S3's body, so S3 turned away for another attack. After turning around S3 drove back at Stinger, which hit the body near the wheel as it closed in, but this did not stop S3 hitting Stinger with the disc, throwing it against the arena wall in an empty CPZ.

"S3 pursuing here, Stinger towards the arena side wall. Stinger, as we know it can, spins away, but look at the weight there behind the attack!"

— Jonathan Pearce as S3 chases Stinger into a CPZ

S3 drove into the CPZ as well and hit Stinger's axe, causing sparks. Stinger tried to spin, but Shunt charged into the arena, pinning Stinger against the arena wall. Stinger rolled off of Shunt's scoop, and as Shunt reversed, Stinger started spinning, hitting Shunt's scoop a couple of times, but Shunt pinned Stinger against the arena wall. Stinger pulled its axe away and reversed away from Shunt, who hit Stinger's wheel with his axe as it reversed, but it merely glanced off the side. Stinger slammed into the Pit release button, rolling up on the button and turning itself over, then drove around the Pit and charged at S3, hitting the disc and stopping it spinning, then drove into the disc before it could get back up to speed. Stinger reversed away, which allowed S3 to get its disc back up to speed. Stinger drove into one of S3's wheels to avoid the disc, swinging over its axe, but missing. As Stinger tried to get away, S3 hit it with its disc, flipping it over. Stinger reversed away, then started spinning. S3 drove at it, but as Stinger span, it turned to avoid the disc, hitting S3's body just beside the disc and clipping one of the wheels with the axe. Stinger kept spinning, and S3 turned and drove into Stinger with its disc, tipping it up on its side, then turning it over.

"S3 looks purposeful, menacing, relentless in its pursuit of its quarry. Stinger, still trying to get the bludgeoning mace down."

— Jonathan Pearce

S3 kept after Stinger as it tried reversing away, keeping in close pursuit, and suddenly Stinger came to a halt by the Flame Pit due to a collapsed battery^[40]. S3 hit one of its tyres, and Stinger regained mobility, reversing over the Flame Pit, swinging over its axe and hitting S3 as it did so. However, it backed into an angle grinder and stopped again, and S3 closed in, hitting it with the disc and knocking it against the arena wall. S3 turned and hit one of Stinger's tyre, but this caused the disc to slow to a stop. S3 turned, got its disc back up to speed, then turned back at Stinger, turning it over. Refbot came in and started to count Stinger out, and S3 held back from attacking. Once Stinger was counted out, Sir Killalot came over, grabbing it by the axe with his claw and picking it up, then took it to the Floor Flipper, which tossed Stinger down the arena. On landing, Stinger regained some movement, spinning around and spinning its axe over, but it was already eliminated.

"No disgrace in defeat to the very good machine. I don't think Stinger deserves that, not at the end, been a very good and worthy competitor on Robot Wars, but we love our little final flourish."

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger is thrown by the Floor Flipper

S3 was therefore through to the Semi-Finals, whilst Stinger went out of the competition. S3's disc had caused a lot of damage; the tail was bent and almost ripped from its mountings, and one of the axles was pulled out of its bearing^[41].

Tim Mann: "Somewhere in there, there's something come loose, but the flip seemed to bring it back to life again!"

Craig Charles: "I tell you what, you came out hammering, didn't you!"

Tim Mann: "It's not how you start, it's how you finish, as they say, and these guys finished on top, so... go all the way for us guys!"

Craig Charles: "Very gracious, very gracious."

— Post-battle interview

Series 6[]

"Grand Finalists in Series 4, unpredictable, but I love 'em"

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger enters the arena

Stinger returned for the Sixth Wars, and was granted the number 11 seed, making it one of only two seeds in Series 6 to have not reached the Semi-Finals of the previous series. Stinger was placed in Heat F of the main competition, and was drawn up against newcomer Chompalot, the new and improved 13 Black, and faced Thermidor 2 for the second time.

Philippa Forrester: "So, the lobster right, reckons you're going out of the arena!"

Kevin Scott: "The lobster doesn't know what he's talking about, we're going to chop his...flipper off and take his claws away!"

— Stinger pre-first round interview

Stinger locks up Thermidor 2's wheel (top-left)

At the start of the battle, Stinger initially held back as 13 Black and Chompalot charged at each other, and Thermidor 2 charged across the arena at the two of them. The three robots came again, with 13 Black hitting Chompalot's side with its front flywheel, and Thermidor 2 and Chompalot turned away from 13 Black. Stinger charged across and down the arena at Thermidor 2, which was by an empty CPZ. Thermidor 2 turned to face Stinger as it charged in, and as Stinger swung over its axe, hitting Thermidor 2's wheel, Thermidor 2 flipped it over. However, Stinger's blow to the top had hit a drive motor directly underneath the armour, bending the motor down and locked up the drive up on one side on the right-hand side^[42].

"So, are we watching for 13 Black here, or Thermidor 2, or the seeded Stinger? Great battle! ... Meanwhile, Stinger, top left there, getting in early action with Thermidor 2."

— Jonathan Pearce in the early moments of the battle

As Thermidor 2 turned back and forth, Stinger drove over its flipper, tipping itself up on its side, and it hit 13 Black as it drove down the arena, slamming into the Pit release button. Stinger drove at 13 Black, swinging over the axe, but lost control for a moment, causing it to swerve away as it got close to 13 Black. 13 Black drove away from the arena wall, and Chompalot charged at Stinger, but Stinger turned away. Chompalot drove away, and the Pit opened, with Stinger turning dangerously close to the edge of the Pit. Instead of driving away to safety, Stinger spun on the spot, which brought it even closer to the edge. 13 Black drove towards it, but Stinger hit its front flywheel with the axe as it span, so 13 Black drove away. Stinger managed to stop itself from falling into the Pit as it stopped spinning.

"Stinger, you never know what to expect with them, and just on the edge! It is difficult to control and 13 Black nearly took the initiative there and the advantage, and very nearly shoved Stinger down!"

— Jonathan Pearce as 13 Black narrowly fails to pit Stinger

13 Black charged at it, but Stinger drove away from the pit, so as 13 Black drove into it, it rode up over the flywheel, briefly getting its axe under 13 Black's side as it rolled over 13 Black's side. Stinger went up on its side, then drove up the arena. Chompalot reversed after it, but then went after 13 Black. Chompalot rammed 13 Black against the wall, and Stinger charged behind Chompalot, swinging its axe at it. Stinger reversed for another charge, then charged back at Chompalot, swinging over its axe, but Chompalot turned as it pulled 13 Black away from the wall, causing Stinger to miss. Stinger drove after Chompalot, which let go of 13 Black, turning its attention to Stinger. Chompalot grabbed Stinger by the tyre, and 13 Black drove behind Stinger, hitting the other wheel with its rear flywheel. Meanwhile, Thermidor 2 was counted out by the Refbot. Chompalot let go of Stinger, and 13 Black charged into Chompalot's side with its rear flywheel, then turned and hit the front corner with the front flywheel, breaking one of the connections for the self-righting wings. Stinger drove at 13 Black as it attacked Chompalot, hitting the rear flywheel with its axe, but it merely glanced off. 13 Black's attacks had left Chompalot immobilised, and it continued to attack, whilst Stinger held back. On the other side of the arena, Thermidor 2 drove into the Pit to escape the House Robots. 13 Black drove past Chompalot's lifeless body and charged at Stinger with its flywheels spinning, which caused Stinger to stop moving, its batteries having failed^[43].

"13 Black certainly the one to watch, and Stinger throughout, just ponderous here, look. The ponderous pendulum, has stayed out of trouble."

— Jonathan Pearce as 13 Black immobilises Chompalot, then Stinger

Stinger is immobilised by 13 Black, but qualifies nevertheless

As 13 Black went back to attacking Chompalot, Stinger rolled up the arena, into Refbot, who pushed it away, causing it to roll back down the arena, until it hit Dead Metal, which had driven at 13 Black. Fortunately for Stinger, Chompalot had been immobilised first, so Refbot counted it out. Chompalot was put on the Floor Flipper by Sir Killalot and Dead Metal, then pushed into the Pit, which put 13 Black and Stinger through to Round 2.

In the second round, Stinger was drawn against Fluffy.

Kevin Scott: "Fluffy, it sounds nice, but it's got a bit of a a hammer!"

Philippa Forrester: "It's not very nice, is it really? But they're a bit worried about you, necause they said "There's nothing to get hold of!" and I said "Well you don't wanna worry about that!""

Kevin Scott: "I don't know what to say! But they got those big hammers that are whizzing around quite fast, we can do the same with our tail, or we can come over the top and hit them on the bodywork."

— Team Stinger's reaction to being told they were to fight Fluffy

Fluffy comes in for the attack which momentarily damaged Stinger's drive

Stinger started by driving at Fluffy, but as the two competitors charged towards each other, Fluffy swerved to avoid Stinger, getting its blade up to speed. Stinger turned after Fluffy as it drove around it, but this caused it to tip up on one wheel. Fluffy turned around, and as Stinger tipped back down, Fluffy drove at it. Stinger turned away, and both competitors spun on the spot, then Stinger turned away. Fluffy turned around to try and hit Stinger's wheel, and though Stinger tried to drive away, Fluffy caught up with it, hitting one of the wheels with its spinning bar. Stinger rolled over the spinning bar, swinging over its axe, but missing. Stinger quickly turned around to swing the axe at Fluffy again, but turned too far and missed. Fluffy drove away across the arena, then turned around and charged back at Stinger. Stinger tried to get away, but Fluffy clipped it with its spinning bar, the impact flipping Stinger over. Stinger span around, and as it regained control, it charged back at Fluffy, but Fluffy hit its side with the spinning bar, knocking it aside. Fluffy and Stinger turned away from each other, and held back, waiting for the right moment to attack. Fluffy started driving at Stinger, but Stinger started spinning, so Fluffy turned, and waited until Stinger stopped spinning. When it did, Fluffy hit Stinger's axe with its spinning bar. Fluffy turned and drove down the arena for another attack, but Stinger was only turning around on one wheel.

"Fluffy, waiting its moment to come onto the attack. Stinger is going around in circles, that's just about it. Fluffy's first attack really, of this second round clash, caused so much damage."

— Jonathan Pearce, just before Stinger's wheel begins working again

Stinger takes a come-from-behind victory

Fluffy got its spinning bar up to top speed, and drove back at Stinger. Fluffy hit one of Stinger's wheels, but did no damage, and Stinger rode up on Fluffy's side. Fluffy turned and drove away, and Stinger continued to spin on the spot. As Fluffy turned around and approached Stinger again, Stinger regained mobility in both wheels, and it drove around to Fluffy's side, driving into the spinning bar, bringing it to a halt, then swung over its axe, striking Fluffy's top. Fluffy reversed away as Stinger pulled its axe back. Stinger drove after it, and Fluffy turned to avoid Stinger, but in doing so it drove onto the Flame Pit. Fluffy managed to drive off the Flame Pit as Stinger drove at it, and Stinger swung over the axe, clipping the top. Fluffy turned away, and its spinning bar was no longer working after driving onto the Flame Pit. It drove at Stinger, which turned and started spinning, hitting Fluffy's side a couple of times. Stinger turned away, but Fluffy could not get away, and Stinger drove back at Fluffy, swinging its axe over and hitting Fluffy's top.

"Fluffy, with the steel frame, difficult to penetrate, very destructive as well, but taking punishment from Stinger. I don't know how much destructive punishment. Down comes the mace again. Bang! Slam! Where's Fluffy going now?"

— Jonathan Pearce as Fluffy endures blows from Stinger's mace

Fluffy weakly reversed away, and as Stinger turned around for another attack, Fluffy drove back at Stinger, but Stinger spun around, hitting Fluffy's side with the axe, then spun in the other direction, hitting the back of Fluffy. Fluffy struggled away, but drove into an empty CPZ, and Mr. Psycho came over and hit it with his hammer. Fluffy managed to escape the CPZ, but it could do nothing as Stinger charged back at it. Stinger swung its axe over, narrowly missing. Fluffy pushed Stinger, which reversed away. As Fluffy drove forwards, Stinger drove at it, swinging its axe over, but missed. Stinger drove into Fluffy's side, hitting the top with its axe. Fluffy stopped moving, and Stinger repeatedly hit the top with its axe. Stinger backed off, and Refbot came over to count it out, and it was placed on the Floor Flipper by the House Robots and thrown across the arena.

"Stinger here now very much on top! You wouldn't have thought that a couple of minutes ago! Down comes the mace again! Kevin Scott, the captain, slamming down with the mace. It looks like a mighty pendulum and the pendulum of this battle has certainly swung towards Stinger!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger's blows cause Fluffy to slow down, then break down

Despite having lost drive on one wheel, Stinger had come from behind to win.

Craig Charles: "They're {the Fluffy team} disappointed, and I think rightly so!"

Tim Mann: "Yeah, we were very lucky on that round."

Craig Charles: "I thought they had you!"

Tim Mann: "Absolutely! But then, something gives and you take advantage of it, and a lot of that happens in there!"

— Post-battle interview

Stinger had progressed to the Heat Final, but Fluffy's bar had bent Stinger's axle, and it had to be bent back into shape before the next battle.

" It bent our axle , but they died (it ripped out of their frame) - & we limped out. - That was straightened under a press (40m away) for a fight the next day. Production were nervous that we'd not make it back. ... He stopped, I think the spindle broke, maybe the blade took themselves out? We limped out with major bend in our big axle."

— Kevin Scott remembers the battle between Stinger's and Fluffy^[44]

Stinger was repaired in time for the Heat Final, where it was placed up against 13 Black once again.

Philippa Forrester: "Double spinning discs of doom, 13 Black, what can you do to them?"

Kevin Scott: "We're hoping to whack 'em straight on top of the discs and stop them spinning, and hence stop them doing damage to us! That's the plan."

— Pre-battle interview

Before the battle, Jonathan Pearce backed Stinger to win, but Craig Charles predicted 13 Black would win.

"Those spinning discs, very innovative you say, but very, very powerful. Awesome, destructive! And I think its going to get hold those rubber tires, and start peeling the rubber off those tires!"

— Craig Charles gives his prediction to Jonathan Pearce

Stinger drove towards 13 Black, but swerved away as 13 Black drove forwards with its discs spinning. The two competitors turned to face each other, then Stinger turned and drove away down the arena. 13 Black drove after it, and Stinger started spinning. Stinger landed a blow on 13 Black's side as it closed in, but this did no damage, and 13 Black drove around Stinger, and tried to hit one of the wheels whilst avoiding the axe. Stinger hit 13 Black as it span, but the axe merely glanced off. 13 Black drove into the arena centre, and Stinger swung its axe over as it reversed. 13 Black swerved at Stinger, so its rear spinning disc was facing it. Stinger drove at the rear spinning disc, but as it swung its axe over, 13 Black turned to avoid it, hitting Stinger with its front flywheel. Stinger reversed, and as it drove back at 13 Black, 13 Black drove towards the side of the arena. Stinger cautiously approached, and 13 Black drove around Stinger. Stinger turned to face 13 Black, then drove at it, swinging over the axe and hitting 13 Black's body between the flywheels, causing sparks. 13 Black turned around to use its flywheels, but Stinger backed away, then drove forwards as 13 Black drove at it. 13 Black hit one of the tyres, and as it turned around for another attack, Stinger swung its axe back and forth, and managed to hit 13 Black between the flywheels again as it drove past.

"Down comes mace, see the sparks fly there as it caught on the side of 13 Black! Again a slam, but no damage done to that main body of 13 Black."

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger lands blows on 13 Black's top

13 Black rips some rubber off Stinger's wheels

13 Black turned around and hit one of Stinger's wheels, and Stinger swung over the axe, hitting 13 Black's top, then reversed. 13 Black drove at Stinger and tried to push it into Dead Metal's CPZ, but Stinger turned, causing 13 Black to drive forwards into the CPZ. 13 Black quickly got out, whilst Stinger drove towards the arena centre. 13 Black drove at Stinger, swiping at it with its front flywheel, then turning away, and the flywheel ripped off part of the wheel.

"Oh something's come off Stinger there! You can just see it lying on the arena floor, what is it? Anything vital, or superficial? They came in, looking for the tyres, and certainly something came off Stinger there. We'll wait and see if that has damaged its manoeuvrability, it doesn't seem so yet."

— Jonathan Pearce as 13 Black rips off part of Stinger

13 Black pushes Stinger against the arena side wall

As 13 Black drove past, Stinger swung over its axe, but it merely glanced off the side. 13 Black drove to the side of the arena, then reversed at Stinger, and Stinger turned around to get ready to attack as 13 Black closed in. Stinger charged at 13 Black, but rode up on the rear flywheel, flipping over. Stinger drove away, then drove towards 13 Black, swinging over its axe. 13 Black drove at Stinger, hitting the right wheel with its front flywheel, and Stinger drove up onto the disc and over 13 Black's side. 13 Black turned around, hitting Stinger with the front flywheel, the impact flipping it up on one wheel. Stinger fell back down, and reversed as 13 Black drove at it, swinging its axe over at 13 Black's flywheel, but this did nothing to stop 13 Black, as it pushed Stinger against the Disc of Doom button, then pinned it against the arena wall. 13 Black reversed into the arena centre, and Stinger drove away from the arena wall. 13 Black charged at Stinger, hitting it with the front flywheel, knocking it towards the arena wall. Stinger drove arena wall, and tried to avoid 13 Black's flywheel, 13 Black landed a glancing blow on Stinger's side as it drove past, and as Stinger turned around to attack, 13 Black spun on the spot.

"The Stinger team are up against it here, they simply can't get any damage done."

— Jonathan Pearce

Stinger turned away, but drove onto the Disc of Doom, which forced Stinger away. Stinger regained control, and the two machines drove at each other. 13 Black turned too far as it drove at Stinger, missing with the front flywheel, and Stinger span, clipping 13 Black's side with its axe. 13 Black turned, but Stinger continued to spin, hitting 13 Black's side just under the flywheel, so 13 Black drove away up the arena. Stinger held back as 13 Black tried to drive back at it, but it drove onto the arena spinner, which turned it away from Stinger. Stinger swung the axe back and forth as 13 Black drove around the arena spinner, but was not moving forwards. 13 Black charged at Stinger, but Stinger turned away. Stinger spun on the spot, so 13 Black drove around it. 13 Black turned and tried to hit the wheels whilst avoiding the axe, but Stinger hit 13 Black's side. Stinger continued to spin, and hit 13 Black's front flywheel as it tried to attack.

"Stinger again, trying to work up some sort of momentum to get the mace at its finest and most destructive, but it's not getting any purchase on 13 Black."

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger's axe glances off 13 Black's flywheel

Sir Killalot holds Stinger up on the arena wall

13 Black drove away, then charged at Stinger, which swung over its axe, but 13 Black hit Stinger with the flywheel, knocking it aside and causing its swing to miss. Stinger swung its axe back and forth, and 13 Black tried to attack again, but drove onto the Disc of Doom and was pushed away. Stinger drove around the Disc of Doom, and 13 Black hit its axe with its rear flywheel, but this had no effect. 13 Black drove down the arena as Stinger drove at it, swinging its axe back and forth. 13 Black turned away, but drove onto the Flame Pit. Stinger drove at it as 13 Black drove over the flames, but Stinger turned away to narrowly avoid it, going up on one wheel. Stinger drove to the bottom of the arena, but in doing so, drove dangerously close to an empty CPZ. 13 Black drove after it, so Stinger charged at the rear disc, driving on top of it stopping it spinning. As Stinger drove up on 13 Black, 13 Black carried it into a CPZ, which Sir Killalot drove over to. In the last few seconds, Sir Killalot grabbed hold of Stinger's mace with his claw, and picked it up. Sir Killalot held it over the arena wall. Dead Metal also came over to the CPZ, and pinned 13 Black against the side wall, but time ran out, so the battle went to the Judges.

"Stinger now coming in, perhaps they sense that something's gone wrong with 13 Black. Has the fight turned? Oh Stinger, in trouble! Drove into the CPZ, Sir Killalot has them, has them by the mace! Cease is called, they may have been saved by that, but not perhaps by a Judges' decision! We'll wait and see!"

— Jonathan Pearce in the last seconds of the battle

The Judges' decision went in favour of 13 Black, and Stinger once again fell in the Heat Final.

Craig Charles: "The eleventh seeds, you've gone out!"

Kevin Scott: "Well, what can you say? It was a terrific fight, you know, we couldn't have gone down to a better team, it was fabulous, all the way through, and I wouldn't have wanted to be a judge!"

Craig Charles: "No, it was difficult, a difficult call. I tell you what, your robot is so difficult to get hold of! Even though, I think the Judges reckon that 13 Black was more aggressive, it won on aggression, but they didn't really do much damage to you."

Karl Skinner: "No, you probably saw that disc come off, that's just there to protect the tyres a little bit, it's not really that serious, so they didn't really do that much damage, I don't think."

— Post-battle interview

Extreme 2[]

Philippa Forrester: "What have you got that the others haven't?"

Kevin Scott: "We've got go-faster stripes! I mean, what more do you want?!"

— Kevin Scott on Stinger's decorations

Stinger's only appearance in Extreme 2 was in the Tag Team Terror, where it teamed up with Nasty Humphrey. In the first round, they fought Steel Avenger and newcomer Lightning.

"Basically, we've worked together quite closely, we've fought each other on a number of occasions at other wars, and I think we're a good team, really. What he lacks, I've got, and I haven't got, he's got!"

— Mick Kerfoot on the Tag Team partnership

Nasty Humphrey and Lightning started out in the arena, and Lightning easily got under Nasty Humphrey, and pushed it into Mr. Psycho. Nasty Humphrey escaped, but couldn't do anything against Lightning, which continued to get underneath it, so Nasty Humphrey tagged Stinger. Stinger charged out of the CPZ and swung its axe over, hitting Lightning's top. Lightning turned around, and as it drove close to Stinger, Stinger began to spin on the spot. Lightning held back to avoid the axe, then turned away, so Stinger stopped spinning.

"You never quite know with Stinger, rotates very quickly, flails like some whirling dervish, difficult to control, has exposed tires."

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger comes out

Lightning tagged Steel Avenger as Stinger drove towards it, and Steel Avenger drove out to the middle of the arena. Stinger charged at it, but Steel Avenger drove away and turned around Stinger as it got close, so Stinger missed as it swung the axe over. Steel Avenger turned to exposed its side to Stinger, but as Stinger drove at it, Steel Avenger turned to avoid it, so Stinger missed with the axe again.

"Very heavy that sort of mace/axe blade at the end of the flailing arm, and taking on Steel Avenger!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Stinger swings its axe at The Steel Avenger

The Steel Avenger pits Stinger and itself

As Stinger tried to reverse, Steel Avenger got against its side and fired the axe, but as it did so, it turned too far and missed with the axe. Stinger spun a little, and Steel Avenger reversed away. Stinger drove over the Disc of Doom, then turned to avoid Steel Avenger as it charged at it, and started spinning. The axe hit the front of Steel Avenger, but had no effect, and Steel Avenger pushed Stinger onto the Disc of Doom. As Steel Avenger rammed into Stinger, one of its drive motors stopped working^[45]. Stinger turned away, and Steel Avenger reversed for another attack. Stinger turned back and forth and swung its axe, but could not drive forwards due to the broken motor. Steel Avenger charged back at it, and Stinger turned away. Steel Avenger drove down the arena and opened the Pit. The Steel Avenger nudged Stinger towards the Pit, and turned away for another charge as Stinger swung its axe over. Stinger could not get away due to having lost drive on one wheel, and it span around close to the Pit. Steel Avenger took advantage, driving between the two wheels, and pushed Stinger into the Pit, but in doing so, it drove too far, and over-balanced into the Pit itself.

"Stinger on the brink! And down! Oh, and Steel Avenger follows through and goes down into the Pit as well!"

— Jonathan Pearce

Although Stinger was now out of the battle, its team-mate Nasty Humphrey fought Lightning head-to-head for a chance at victory, although Nasty Humphrey's axe was proving ineffective against Lightning. Lightning got underneath Nasty Humphrey again, and managed to flip it onto its side. Time ran out before Nasty Humphrey was deemed immobile, but the Judges ruled that Stinger and Nasty Humphrey had lost. This battle was Stinger's final appearance on Robot Wars.

Philippa Forrester: "So in hindsight, what you have done differently, could you have?"

Tim Mann: "Cheat! Cheat big time, I think! Just go for it!"

Philippa Forrester: "What, both of you in there together!"

Tim Mann: "Yeah!"

Philippa Forrester: "Yeah, you'd've had a lot more fun, wouldn't you?"

Tim Mann: "Absolutely, yeah!"

— Post-battle interview

Results[]

STINGER - RESULTS
UK Series
Series 3
The Third Wars - UK Championship Heat, Round 1
Heat A, Round 1	vs. Mace 2	Lost
Series 4
The Fourth Wars - UK Championship 30th Seed, Third Place
Heat J, Eliminator	vs. Bulldog Breed 2, Spikasaurus	Qualified
Heat J, Semi-Final	vs. Hammer & Tong	Won
Heat J, Final	vs. Bulldog Breed 2	Won
Semi-Final 2, Round 1	vs. MouseTrap	Won
Semi-Final 2, Round 2	vs. Panic Attack (4)	Won
Grand Final, Eliminator	vs. Chaos 2 (1)	Lost
Grand Final, Playoff	vs. Hypno-Disc (2)	Won by default
NOTE: Hypno-Disc was forced to withdraw from the playoff due to damage sustained in the previous round.
Pinball Warrior Tournament Equal Twelfth (with Banshee)
Pinball	75 pts	12th
Northern Annihilator Fifth
Round 1	vs. Chaos 2, Dominator 2, Killerhurtz, Spikasaurus, Suicidal Tendencies 2	Qualified
Round 2	vs. Dominator 2, Killerhurtz, Spikasaurus, Suicidal Tendencies 2	Eliminated
Extreme Series 1
All-Stars Round 1
Round 1	vs. Pussycat	Lost
Challenge Belt Failed Challenge
Challenge	vs. Behemoth	Lost
Mayhem
Mayhem	vs. Behemoth, Thermidor 2	Lost
Other Battles Vengeance, Wild Card Warriors, House Robot Rebellion (with Scorpion and Plunderbird 5)
Vengeance	vs. Tornado	Lost
Wild Card Warriors	vs. Ajjay	Won
House Robot Rebellion	vs. Dead Metal & Shunt	Won
NOTE: Stinger was given the victory for being the only contestant robot to survive the full 5 minutes.
Series 5
The Fifth Wars - UK Championship 5th Seed, Heat Final
Heat C, Eliminator	vs. Hippobotomus	Won
Heat C, Semi-Final	vs. General Carnage 2	Won
Heat C, Final	vs. S3	Lost
Series 6
The Sixth Wars - UK Championship 11th Seed, Heat Final
Heat F, Round 1	vs. 13 Black, Chompalot, Thermidor 2	Qualified
Heat F, Round 2	vs. Fluffy	Won
Heat F, Final	vs. 13 Black	Lost
Extreme Series 2
Tag Team Terror Competing with Nasty Humphrey, Round 1
Round 1	vs. Lightning & The Steel Avenger	Lost
US Series
Season 1
War of Independence Representing the United Kingdom, Eliminator
Eliminator	vs. General Chompsalot (USA)	Lost

Wins/Losses[]

UK Wins: 12
UK Losses: 10
US Wins: 0
US Losses: 1

Stinger's default victory over Hypno-Disc is not counted as a win.

Series Record[]

UK Series[]

Main Series	Stinger Series Record
The First Wars	Did not enter
The Second Wars	Did not enter
The Third Wars	Heat, Round 1
The Fourth Wars	Third Place
The Fifth Wars	Heat Final
The Sixth Wars	Heat Final
The Seventh Wars	Did not enter
Series 8	Did not enter
Series 9	Did not enter
Series 10	Did not enter
Robot Wars Extreme	Appearances
Series 1	Entered
Series 2	Entered

US Series[]

US Series	Stinger Series Record
Season 1	War of Independence, Round 1
Season 2	Did not enter
Nickelodeon	Did not enter

Gallery[]

Outside Robot Wars[]

The "S2" Team[]

Live events[]

Stinger being tested at Wilson's Day 2000

Stinger fights Tornado at Wilson's Day 2000

In July 2000, Stinger attended the Wilson's Day "Robots@War 2000" event in Wilson's School in Croydon, equipped with the new weapon and new speed controllers. It fought Tornado^[46], but the speed controllers proved not to be powerful enough. One week later, it would appear at the Somerset Steam Spectacular, equipped by custom-built speed controllers and power bricks, which proved much more effective.

"Stinger was taken to Wilson's Day with 4QD NCC-70's controller/drivers on board - and was absolutely outclassed. This is due to the fact that Stinger needs enormous bursts of power to swing the tail and the protection circuit (current limiting) on the NCC-70's just couldn't meet Stinger's extreme requirements. The very next week Stinger was taken to a terrific weekend at the Somerset Steam Spectacular with the in-house controllers and power-bricks installed. This time performance was magnificent and people were staggered at the transformation. Stinger was ready for The 4th Wars and as they say "The rest is History"."

— The Stinger Website^[47]

Stinger in battle with Behemoth and Hypno=Disc at Oundle Mill in 2001

Stinger vs 8645T vs Humphrey 3 vs T-Bone vs Tornado at ALSTOM Power, 2001

Stinger competed in the Debenham Robot Rumble event in 2000, where it fought other well-known robots such as Wheely Big Cheese, Bigger Brother and Suicidal Tendencies, also winning the morning session of the event by defeating Dominator 2.

In October 2001, Team Stinger organized a live event at the ALSTOM Power open day, at the Firth Road site where they had built Stinger. Chaos 2, T-Bone Tornado, Humphrey 3, 8645T, Velocirippa and Hammer & Tong 2 also attended the event. Stinger first fought Tornado and lost, then fought T-Bone, and was lifted up by Hammer & Tong 2 in a demonstration of its weapon, as it was unable to fight in a battle due to engine problems). In the last battle of the day, it fought a five-way melee with Humphrey 3, T-Bone, 8645T and Tornado, which Tornado won.

Stinger fights Tiberius 2 at the Dutch Robot Games in 2001 — Stinger fights Tiberius 2 at the *Dutch Robot Games* in 2001

Stinger travelled to the Netherlands to compete at the Dutch Robot Games in 2001^[48], where it entered in both the UK and international brackets. It was unsuccessful however, being knocked out of the UK bracket by Tiberius 2, and losing its International bracket match to Lizzard. Stinger also fought M2 in an exhibition match, losing the Judges' decision, and finally conceded a three-way melee to Tiberius 2.

Stinger fighting G-Man at War of the Wolds in November 2002 — Stinger fighting G-Man at *War of the Wolds* in November 2002

A dismantled Stinger at Debenham 2003, showcasing its unique drive system

After its last Robot Wars appearance in Extreme 2, Stinger took part in the War of the Wolds event held in Louth in November 2002, battling several robots including M2, Dantomkia, Terrorhurtz, Storm 2 and G-Man amongst others.^[49] Stinger then fought at the Red Nose Robot Fun Days show in March 2003, battling Mighty Mouse and Thor in one battle and then a rumble with several others.^[50] The Stinger team made their final competitive appearance in June 2003 at the Newark Kit Car Show, an event Kevin Scott himself organised, where Stinger had one fight against Kan-Opener and Thor.^[51]

Retirement[]

Stinger (second from right), amongst robots on display at a Colchester live event in 2006

After deciding not to enter Series 7 series of Robot Wars, the team moved on to newer interests, retiring from robot combat.^[52] Stinger did make occasional appearances on display at live events, such as in Colchester in 2006^[53]

Kevin Scott demonstrates his monowheel at RoboNerd in 2018

In 2012, the Stinger team started making a Monowheel. Kevin Scott managed to break a World Record by being on the fastest one wheeled motorcycle in September of 2015^[54]. Kevin Scott and Tim Mann would bring the Monowheel to RoboNerd in 2018^[55], a rare return to the world of robot combat after selling Stinger.

John Findlay[]

Stinger_robot_wars_first_drive_! — Stinger robot wars first drive !

Stinger is test driven in 2010

After several years in retirement as a static display robot for charity events, Stinger was bought by John Findlay of Team Roaming Robots in early 2010, and participated in the 2010 UK Championships, where it fell in the Qualifying Stage after losing all of its Qualifiers; to Ripper EVO at Nottingham, against Meggamouse and Pressure at Burgess-Hill, then against Toon Raider at Brentwood, Tilly 2 Evo at Norwich, then finally Iron-Awe 5 at Guilford. It did manage to earn a couple of victories in the Annihilator, where it finished fourth. The next year, Stinger was due to fight Big Nipper, Toxic 2 and St. Hammer at the Fighting Robots UK Championships, but was forced to withdraw due to technical difficulties.

Stinger has also been a semi-regular competitor at the Mechatrons events in Dublin. In 2017, it won a comeback victory against Photon Storm^[56], despite losing mobility to one wheel in the early stages of the fight, though it was eliminated by Halo. It also travelled to Russia in 2016 and 2017, to compete in Bronebots.

In 2019, Stinger was upgraded with new lithium polymer batteries to keep it up to date with modern robot combat standards. The robot was also polished and repainted ahead of that year's live season.

Stinger made two combat appearances in October 2024, at RoboRiots in Dublin (5-6 October) and Extreme Robots Maidstone (19-20 October). At RoboRiots, it fought and lost to Ripper 5 in the main heavyweight competition,^[57] and fought both Immersion and Leviathan in separate head-to-heads.^[58]^[59] Stinger's appearances at Extreme Robots Maidstone were confined primarily to 'Fight Club' matches, facing live event regulars ThunderChild and Audacious alongside Belgian flipper Hades.^[60]

In September 2025, Team Roaming Robots confirmed via a Facebook Reel that Stinger would return to RoboRiots on 4-5 October the same year. Stinger was one of five heavyweights brought by the team, alongside the returning Ripper 6, the 2025 build of Axel, and the brand-new Ripper 8 and Hungry Boar.^[61]

Robot Wars Live Events[]

Stinger returned to combat again for the new Robot Wars live events in 2014, the first being the Colchester event. Since then, Stinger has managed to achieve victories at the live events against such robots as Ka-Pow! and Apex.

After these fights in the main competition, Stinger was relegated to mainly competing in "retro fights", where it battles other robots that took part in the TV show, such as Schumey Too and The Steel Avenger.

Stinger with its broken mace at Barnsley 2015

At a July 2015 Robot Wars live event in Barnsley, Stinger's mace was completely snapped off following a "Retro Robots" fight against The Steel Avenger, Bulldog Breed and Mr Nasty, despite Stinger having won the same matchup on a Judges' decision at an event the day before.

In 2016, Stinger was mostly reserved as a robot to drive for the special feature for VIP audience members at the end of shows at the first Robot Wars event of 2016 at Manchester - where the audience members got to have a shot at fighting with it against other Robot Wars veterans in the form of Bulldog Breed, The Steel Avenger & DTK.

It did fight in the main show at Portsmouth. Its first battle it fought against Behemoth where it managed to hit Behemoth a few times before its opponent flipped it towards the already descending pit where it ended up. It also fought in a 3-way melee where despite being an old robot, managed to win its fight against Earthquake and the similarly designed Gabriel. Next it fought in a 4-way melee against Bullfrog, Weird mAlice & Cherub, here it did well landing hits on the other three robots until it broke down. Stinger next appeared at Guildford where in the majority of its fights got flipped out the arena. In Gloucester, Stinger was flipped out of the arena by Ripper.

Appearances in Merchandise[]

Trivia[]

Stinger had lots of its electronics donated by Farnell, a fire extinguisher system from Firetrace, brake linings from Friction Bonding & Lining Limited, the NiMH batteries were provided by SAFT, and X-P provided the battery chargers and a AC-DC converter used in the receiver electronics^[62]
Stinger was the first robot to lose to Chaos 2 via a judges' decision.
Like Hypno-Disc, Stinger's prototype was a LEGO model.

"Some were not convinced it would even swing the tail, so Kev borrowed his lads Lego and the wheels from a remote controlled car to make a simple model. He took it into work and proudly smashed the tail every time it flipped overhead. This proved that a weedy little motor and lightweight wheels could really hammer a tail over the top - it also demonstrated that the thing would try to self-destruct."

— The Stinger Website on the prototype^[63]

The robots that beat Stinger in the heat finals in Series 5 and 6 became the seventh seed in the following series.
Series 4 was the only series in which Stinger's seeding was an even number.
Stinger in Series 4 was the lowest seed ever to win a heat.
Stinger was the only robot to be seeded thirty.
Stinger in Series 4 was one of only three robots to be seeded despite having never won a main series battle at that point. The others were Killerhurtz, also in Series 4, and Storm 2 in Series 7 (although Storm 2 had fought in and won the New Blood Championship in Extreme 2).
Stinger's increase from the thirtieth seed in Series 4 to the fifth seed in Series 5 was the highest increase in seeding, as well as the largest seed jump of any robot, not counting robots that lost their seeding entirely. By comparison, Mortis' seed gap of twenty-one is smaller.
Kevin Scott was part of The Steering Committee.
Stinger was one of four robots to have been seeded despite losing in the first round of the previous series. The others were Killerhurtz (in Series 4), Plunderbird 4 (in Series 4) and Thermidor 2 (in Series 7).
- Stinger was involved in a battle with those other three at some point (it fought alongside Plunderbird in the Extreme 1 House Robot Rebellion, battled Killerhurtz in the Series 4 Northern Annihilator and battled Thermidor 2 in their Extreme 1 Mayhem and the first round of their heat in Series 6).
Stinger was the only eleventh seed which was unable to reach the first round of the Semi-Finals in the series in which it was seeded as such, losing in the Heat Final of Series 6.
Stinger appeared in the first episode where the statistics boards featured Weight, Dimensions, Clearance, Power, Weapons and Notes (Series 3, Heat A) and the first episode where the statistics boards featured Weight, Dimensions, Power, Weapons, Strengths and Weaknesses (Extreme 1, Episode 1).
- On both occasions, Stinger was the first robot to be introduced in the episode. Therefore, Stinger is the only robot to be the first robot introduced in the first episode of two different series.
Throughout the series that it appeared in, Stinger never shared the arena with Growler.

"Tornado won on a Judges' decision, Stinger got trashed, but they had a great time!"

— Robot Wars: The Ultimate Guide

In Robot Wars: The Ultimate Guide, the Stinger team listed their best moment as the Vengeance battle in Extreme 1 against Tornado. The two teams spent the evening after the battle together, eating pizza and drinking beer^[64].

However, in a correspondence in 2025, Kevin Scott would cite his favourite battle as the Grand Final battle with Chaos 2.

"Fave battle - losing to Chaos 2 in S4(?) Semi Final - we knocked off his rear cover. Were we robbed?"

— Kevin Scott on his favourite battle with Stinger, asked in 2025^[65]

Both video games that Stinger appeared in were games for the Gameboy Advance.
Stinger is one of four machines Thrown Out of the Arena by both a competitor and a house robot (Thermidor 2 and Sir Killalot respectively). It shares this with Vader, Napalm and King Buxton.
In the Italian dub of Episode 8 of Extreme 1 , Stinger was erroneously referred to as "Sting" on the battle board for its All-Stars battle against Pussycat. This mistake was not repeated on its statistics board however.
Stinger is one of two robots to be thrown out of the arena by a House Robot and still win a battle, the other being Rick.
- Both robots were thrown out of the arena by the same House Robot - Sir Killalot.
Stinger's first and last appearances saw it pitted.

Honours[]

Nominations

Best Engineered Award - Robot Wars: The Fourth Wars
Most Original Entry - Robot Wars: The Third Wars

References[]

↑ Stinger website - Tail (Archived)
↑ Ultimate Real Robots magazine, issue 26, page 15
↑ Stinger website - Inner Wheel (Archived)
↑ Stinger website - Chassis (Archived)
↑ Heat J Swedish Robot Wars Dub Series Four on YouTube
↑ Ultimate Real Robots magazine, issue 26, page 15
↑ Ultimate Real Robots, Issue 27, Page 13
↑ Stinger website - Chassis (Archived)
↑ Stinger website - Series 4 (Archived)
↑ Ultimate Real Robots magazine, Issue 28, page 15
↑ Stinger website - Stinger: The Early Years (Archived)
↑ Private correspondence between Drop Zone mk2 and Kevin Scott via the UK Monowheel Team Facebook page, February 2025
↑ Private correspondence between Drop Zone mk2 and Kevin Scott via the UK Monowheel Team Facebook page, February 2025
↑ Robot Wars Extreme: The Official Guide
↑ Stinger website - Extreme 1 (Archived)
↑ Stinger website - Series 6(Archived)
↑ Stinger website - Specifications (Archived)
↑ Private correspondence between Drop Zone mk2 and UK Monowheel Team Facebook page, February 2025
↑ [1]
↑ Private correspondence between Drop Zone mk2 and Kevin Scott via the UK Monowheel Team Facebook page, February 2025
↑ Robot Wars - Series 4, Heat J. (Swedish Dub) on YouTube
↑ Ultimate Real Robots magazine, Issue 26, Page 13
↑ Infernal Contraption website - Infernal Contraption: Report (Archived)
↑ Stinger website - Stinger: The Early Years (Archived)
↑ Stinger website - Kevin (Archived)
↑ Stinger website - Karl (Archived)
↑ Stinger website - Tim (Archived)
↑ Stinger website - The Stinger Team (Archived)
↑ Stinger website - Jim(Archived)
↑ Stinger website - Brian (Archived)
↑ Stinger website - The Stinger Team (Archived)
↑ Stinger website - Stinger: The Early Years (Archived)
↑ Private correspondence between ToastUltimatum and Kevin Scott
↑ Private correspondence between RobotManiac and Simon Harrison of King Buxton, February 20, 2022
↑ Stinger website - Stinger: The Early Years (Archived)
↑ Private correspondence between Drop Zone mk2 and UK Monowheel Team Facebook page, February 2025
↑ Team Tornado website - Diary, Extreme 1
↑ Stinger website - Series 5 (Archived)
↑ Stinger website - Series 5 (Archived)
↑ Stinger website - Series 5 (Archived)
↑ Stinger website - Series 5 (Archived)
↑ Team Lobster website - Diary (archived)
↑ 13 Black website - Series 6 (Archived)
↑ Private correspondence between Drop Zone mk2 and UK Monowheel Team Facebook page, February 2025
↑ Robot Wars Commentary 1 of 5 Tag Team Terror 1st round - YouTube
↑ Team Tornado website, Charity Events - ROBOTS @WAR 2000
↑ Stinger website - Stinger: The Early Years (Archived)
↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20060128030110/http://www.dutchrobotgames.nl/cgi-bin/pda
↑ War in the Wolds | Roaming Robots (Archived)
↑ Red Nose Robot Fun Days | Roaming Robots (Archived)
↑ Newark Kit Car Show | Roaming Robots (Archived)
↑ Private correspondence between ToastUltimatum and Kevin Scott
↑ YouTube - RoboNerd 2018
↑ Lincolnshire Echo
↑ YouTube - RoboNerd 2018
↑ Mechatrons Dublin 2017: Stinger Vs Photon Storm
↑ 'RoboRiots Dublin 2024: Full Heavyweight Competition', TEAM IRONCLADS (YouTube), uploaded 12 October 2024
↑ 'RoboRiots Dublin 2024: Stinger Vs Immersion', TEAM IRONCLADS (YouTube), uploaded 5 October 2024
↑ 'RoboRiots Dublin 2024: Stinger Vs Leviathan', TEAM IRONCLADS (YouTube), uploaded 6 October 2024
↑ 'Extreme Robots Maidstone 2024: Audacious Vs ThunderChild Vs Stinger Vs Hades', TEAM IRONCLADS (YouTube), uploaded 20 October 2024
↑ https://www.facebook.com/reel/805348079111623
↑ Stinger website - Links (Archived)
↑ Stinger website - Stinger: The Early Years (Archived)
↑ Team Tornado website, Build Diary - Extreme 1
↑ Private correspondence between Drop Zone mk2 and UK Monowheel Team Facebook page, February 2025

External Links[]

Navigation[]

[1] Stinger website - Tail (Archived)

[2] Ultimate Real Robots magazine, issue 26, page 15

[3] Stinger website - Inner Wheel (Archived)

[4] Stinger website - Chassis (Archived)

[5] Heat J Swedish Robot Wars Dub Series Four on YouTube

[6] Ultimate Real Robots magazine, issue 26, page 15

[7] Ultimate Real Robots, Issue 27, Page 13

[8] Stinger website - Chassis (Archived)

[9] Stinger website - Series 4 (Archived)

[10] Ultimate Real Robots magazine, Issue 28, page 15

[11] Stinger website - Stinger: The Early Years (Archived)

[12] Private correspondence between Drop Zone mk2 and Kevin Scott via the UK Monowheel Team Facebook page, February 2025

[13] Private correspondence between Drop Zone mk2 and Kevin Scott via the UK Monowheel Team Facebook page, February 2025

[14] Robot Wars Extreme: The Official Guide

[15] Stinger website - Extreme 1 (Archived)

[16] Stinger website - Series 6(Archived)

[17] Stinger website - Specifications (Archived)

[18] Private correspondence between Drop Zone mk2 and UK Monowheel Team Facebook page, February 2025

[19] [1]

[20] Private correspondence between Drop Zone mk2 and Kevin Scott via the UK Monowheel Team Facebook page, February 2025

[21] Robot Wars - Series 4, Heat J. (Swedish Dub) on YouTube

[22] Ultimate Real Robots magazine, Issue 26, Page 13

[23] Infernal Contraption website - Infernal Contraption: Report (Archived)

[24] Stinger website - Stinger: The Early Years (Archived)

[25] Stinger website - Kevin (Archived)

[26] Stinger website - Karl (Archived)

[27] Stinger website - Tim (Archived)

[28] Stinger website - The Stinger Team (Archived)

[29] Stinger website - Jim(Archived)

[30] Stinger website - Brian (Archived)

[31] Stinger website - The Stinger Team (Archived)

[32] Stinger website - Stinger: The Early Years (Archived)

[33] Private correspondence between ToastUltimatum and Kevin Scott

[34] Private correspondence between RobotManiac and Simon Harrison of King Buxton, February 20, 2022

[35] Stinger website - Stinger: The Early Years (Archived)

[36] Private correspondence between Drop Zone mk2 and UK Monowheel Team Facebook page, February 2025

[37] Team Tornado website - Diary, Extreme 1

[38] Stinger website - Series 5 (Archived)

[39] Stinger website - Series 5 (Archived)

[40] Stinger website - Series 5 (Archived)

[41] Stinger website - Series 5 (Archived)

[42] Team Lobster website - Diary (archived)

[43] 13 Black website - Series 6 (Archived)

[44] Private correspondence between Drop Zone mk2 and UK Monowheel Team Facebook page, February 2025

[45] Robot Wars Commentary 1 of 5 Tag Team Terror 1st round - YouTube

[46] Team Tornado website, Charity Events - ROBOTS @WAR 2000

[47] Stinger website - Stinger: The Early Years (Archived)

[48] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060128030110/http://www.dutchrobotgames.nl/cgi-bin/pda

[49] War in the Wolds | Roaming Robots (Archived)

[50] Red Nose Robot Fun Days | Roaming Robots (Archived)

[51] Newark Kit Car Show | Roaming Robots (Archived)

[52] Private correspondence between ToastUltimatum and Kevin Scott

[53] YouTube - RoboNerd 2018

[54] Lincolnshire Echo

[55] YouTube - RoboNerd 2018

[56] Mechatrons Dublin 2017: Stinger Vs Photon Storm

[RoboRiots24-HW-57] 'RoboRiots Dublin 2024: Full Heavyweight Competition', TEAM IRONCLADS (YouTube), uploaded 12 October 2024

[ImmersionVsStinger-58] 'RoboRiots Dublin 2024: Stinger Vs Immersion', TEAM IRONCLADS (YouTube), uploaded 5 October 2024

[LeviathanVsStinger-1-59] 'RoboRiots Dublin 2024: Stinger Vs Leviathan', TEAM IRONCLADS (YouTube), uploaded 6 October 2024

[StingerMaidstone-24-1-60] 'Extreme Robots Maidstone 2024: Audacious Vs ThunderChild Vs Stinger Vs Hades', TEAM IRONCLADS (YouTube), uploaded 20 October 2024

[61] ttps://www.facebook.com/reel/805348079111623

[62] Stinger website - Links (Archived)

[63] Stinger website - Stinger: The Early Years (Archived)

[64] Team Tornado website, Build Diary - Extreme 1

[65] Private correspondence between Drop Zone mk2 and UK Monowheel Team Facebook page, February 2025

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