- "The Team's motto is "Unlucky for Something""
- — Robot Wars: The Official Magazine[1]
Team 13 are a team from Leicestershire who competed on Robot Wars starting with Series 2 when they entered with Limpet, before finding their biggest success during Series 6 with 13 Black. They later returned for Series 9 with Heavy Metal.
The Team[]
Denny and Freeman in 1999 with Limpet
Team 13 is captained by John Denny, an engineering technician by trade, who founded the team and went on to compete in every series that the team took part in. In Series 2, he was joined by John Freeman, and together they entered Limpet. For Series 3, they upgraded the robot to become Limpet mk2, but it was not selected to compete.
- "Watched the first series and me and a couple of mates decided we would have a go, we built Limpet for a total of £10 by scrounging around and finding scrap parts. Limpet 2 got abandoned due to time."
- — John Denny on entering Robot Wars[2]
After not entering Series 4 due to being busy with other commitments[3], the team returned for Series 5 with a new robot, 13 Black.
- "I only got back into it again because two people at work (Richard M and Ken W) both asked me on the same day if I was still building robots and by chance I had just been sent the application form for series 5, so we got together and came up with what eventually was 13Black. Even then we nearly didn`t get on because royal mail returned the (well addressed) application form a day before the deadline!"
- — John Denny on entering 13 Black[4]
Team 13 Black in Series 6
With John Freeman having left the team, John Denny was joined by two new team members, two work colleagues of his from the Motor Industry Research Association[5].
- "Colleagues John, Richard and Ken from Hinckley in Leicestershire designed and built the machine between them, and all share interests in electronics, machinery, and as they happily admit "smashing things up"!""
- — Robot Wars: The Official Magazine on Team 13 Black[6]
Team 13 Black in 2003
The team entered 13 Black into Series 5, 6, 7 and Extreme 2, reaching the Semi-Finals of Series 6. Ken Wilson left the team after Series 6, and his place on the team was taken by John Denny's daughter Tasha.
When competing on Robot Wars from Series 5 onwards, the team was known as Team 13 Black, but this was shortened to Team 13 while the show entered its hiatus. When the show was rebooted, John Denny was contacted about entering again.
- "Got a call from the people setting it up asking if I’d be interested."
- — John Denny on Facebook[7]
Team 13 entering the arena in Series 9
Team 13 applied to enter Series 8 with Heavy Metal, but were not selected to compete, instead competing in Series 9, although they were not selected for Series 10 either. For Series 9, the team was made up entirely of John Denny's family, including wife Cath, son John Jr. and daughter Tasha. John Denny Jr had driven all of Team 13's robots on the live circuit during the show's hiatus, developing much recognition for his driving ability, and became the driver of Heavy Metal in Series 9.
- "This family-of-four team have put on hold major renovations on their house in order to fund the building of Heavy Metal for this series. ... this is his first time competing with his family, which makes it extra special."
- — The Robot Wars website on the Heavy Metal team[8]
However, the team did not appear in Series 10 despite sending in an application.
- "Heavy Metal will not be in the next series of Robotwars. It's mixed blessings really, yes we would have loved to be doing it all again but there is so much work involved and so little time available (about four weeks left) not to mention the cost (we don't have any sponsorship deals), it will be better to take more time and get it working much better and apply for series 11. I think the design has real potential and needs to be got right. I can also finally spend some time on the smaller robots again."
- — Team 13 Robots Facebook page[9]
Team Members[]
John Denny[]
- "My day-to-day job is a crash tester, I crash cars. From that job, I think I'll bring a natural like for destruction!"
- — John Denny in Series 9
John Denny, interviewed in Extreme 2
The original founder, John Denny was the only ever-present member of the team, John Denny was the captain in all the team's appearances.
- "Mr John Denny just happened to catch an edition of the BBC's "Robot Wars" in February, and as the final credits rolled, there was an appeal for contenders for the next series... I saw the appeal for contenders in February and I though we would give it a go," Mr Denny explained "We did not expect to do very well"""
- — The Hinckley Times, 1998 on John Denny
He built Limpet in his garage, doing the welding himself.[10] As well as building all of the team's robots, he was also the driver of Limpet and 13 Black.
Outside Robot Wars, John is an engineering technician, working as a crash tester for Motor Industry Research Association.
John Freeman[]
The Limpet team in Series 2
Only a member of the team in Series 2, John Freeman was a friend of John Denny[11], and like Denny, was an engineer. Together, they formed the original team, and built Limpet.
- "The intrepid duo from Hinckley wanted to try and put Limpet together on a shoe-string and so many of the parts were "recycled""
- — The Hinckley Times on the original team [12]
In his only appearance, he did not drive Limpet, but he did do the speaking in Limpet's introduction and shared speaking roles with John Denny in the interviews. However, he left the team after the team did not qualify for Series 3, due to being too busy with other things[13].
Richard Morris[]
Richard Morris in Series 6
Joining the team when they entered 13 Black, Richard Morris would appear in all of 13 Black's appearances. A work colleague of John at the Motor Industry Research Association, he had a degree in mechanical engineering from Leeds University and worked as a Crash Engineer. The team's materials specialist, Richard Morris created the discs of 13 Black[14]
Despite not being team captain, he did most of the speaking in the team's introductions and interviews.
Ken Wilson[]
Ken Wilson (centre) is interviewed by Philippa Forrester in Series 6
A work colleague of John and Richard at MIRA, where he worked as a Vehicle Test Engineer[15], Ken Wilson competed in Series 5 and 6.
In Series 6, he was present for Round 1 and the pre-battle interview before Round 2, but was absent for the Round 2 battle, the Heat Final and Round 1 of the Semi-Finals, before re-joining the team for the Losers' Melee.
After Series 6, Ken Wilson left the team, being too busy with other things[16].
Tasha Denny[]
Tasha Denny in Extreme 2
Tasha Denny with Heavy Metal in Series 9
John's daughter, Tasha joined the team after Ken Wilson left. Only being 9 years old at the time, she quickly became a focus of the team's introductions and interviews, being interviewed by Philippa Forrester before Round 1, and by Craig Charles after Round 2 and the Heat Final.
Tasha returned for the rebooted series, when the team, now consisting of John's family, entered Heavy Metal. According to the official Robot Wars website, her roles in the team were "Helper and Clothing"[17], she organised the teams outfits, colour co-ordinating them to match the robot.
Cath Denny[]
Cath Denny in the team's VT in Series 9
The wife of John Denny and mother of Tasha and John M. Denny, Cath was only part of the on-screen team with Heavy Metal. According to the official Robot Wars website, her role in the team was "Helper", though John Denny expands on this, revealing that she helped to build the robot's tyres[18] and had supported the team since their earliest Robot Wars appearances.
John M. Denny[]
John M. Denny in the team's VT in Series 9
John Denny's son, John M. Denny took over his father's role as driver. He was an experienced driver, having competed at live events with the team's featherweights. As a child, John M. Denny had watched his father competing on the original series, and got into Robot Wars through that. He first drove one of the team's featherweights at the age of 7, when he drove Plan B at a Roaming Robots event (See Outside Robot Wars)[19] and later became the consistent driver of the beetleweight Limpet which would bring it great success.
Whilst competing with Heavy Metal, John M. Denny wore a silver skull mask.
Robots[]
| Name | Weight Class | Series |
|---|---|---|
| Limpet | Heavyweight | Series 2 |
| 13 Black | Heavyweight | Series 5-7, Extreme 2 |
| Heavy Metal | Heavyweight | Series 9 |
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 8
- Losses: 7
NOTE: Limpet's Gauntlet and Trial runs are not included
Series Record[]
All of Team 13's robots, past and present
| Main Series | Team 13 Series Record |
|---|---|
| The First Wars | Did not enter |
| The Second Wars | Heat, Trial with Limpet |
| The Third Wars | Not selected with Limpet Mk 2 |
| The Fourth Wars | Did not enter |
| The Fifth Wars | Heat, Round 1 with 13 Black |
| The Sixth Wars | Semi-Finals, Round 1 with 13 Black |
| The Seventh Wars | Heat, Round 2 with 13 Black |
| Series 8 | Not selected with Heavy Metal |
| Series 9 | Heat Round 2, Third Place with Heavy Metal |
| Series 10 | Not selected with Heavy Metal |
| Robot Wars Extreme | Appearances |
| Series 1 | Did not enter |
| Series 2 | Entered with 13 Black |
Outside Robot Wars[]
13 Black as a display at the 2011 Robots Live! UK Championships
While Robot Wars was on hiatus, Team 13 preserved both of their competitors. Limpet still remains in once piece, but has long been retired. 13 Black briefly fought in the Roaming Robots circuit after Robot Wars entered its hiatus, but due to safety reasons was not allowed to run its discs. 13 Black was then retired from combat but has attended several live events on static display since. One of its flywheels was sold as part of Team Toon's charity auction.
Some of Team 13 have also competed in lower weight classes. In 2003, the team build the featherweight ChocBloc, which competed at the Roaming Robots event at Malvern Classic Car Show[20]. In 2004, the team built a new featherweight, Plan B. Originally, the team intended to build a featherweight version of 13 Black, but a lack of time, coupled with the weight limit, forced them to make a different robot, hence the name Plan B. Plan B competed at the Roaming Robots event at Newark Kit Car Show, where it finished 3rd out of 8 featherweights[21].
They later built Clank, a featherweight armed with a full pressure flipper which won the 2016 UK Championship Annihilator. Team 13 also built antweight robots named Ant Ratchet and Ant Clank - all the aforementioned robots are based on characters from the video game series, Ratchet & Clank. Ant Ratchet has reached the Finals of AWS 54, 55, 57, 60 and 63. Ant Clank has been less successful, but made the Final of AWS 41, but lost on a replay to Void. Team 13 have also created a variety of other robots for smaller weight classes;
- Limpet XXT, an antweight version of Limpet
- K-9, an antweight that fought at AWS 44 and 45.
- Ant Sweet Tooth and BiollANTe, antweights that fought at AWS 45
- Ant Dimitri, an antweight with a drum spinner (formerly a rear-hinged lifter or flipper) that has fought at 5 Antweight World Series; 48, 53, 55, 57 and 60.
- Ant Shadow The Hedgehog, which fought at AWS 49, but lost both its battles
- ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha, which fought at AWS 49 and 50, losing in the Group Stages each time.
- The Joker, an antweight spinner that fought at AWS 50, but lost both its battles.
- No Parking, an antweight that fought at four Antweight World Series, between AWS 55 and 58.
- Jaxpanna, an antweight that fought at AWS 57 and 58. It reached the final of AWS 57, but lost to Ant Ratchet, another Team 13 robot, but lost in the Group Stages of AWS 58
- Bitter Lemon, an antweight that fought at AWS 63 but lost its only battle.
- Zoni, a fleaweight.
- Mr Zurkon a nano weight, again based on the Ratchet & Clank series.
Team 13 have stated intentions to build Double Zero[22] and Limpet XL, featherweight versions of 13 Black and Limpet respectively. Their most successful robot is Limpet XS, a beetleweight champion.
Honours[]
Nominations
- Most Original Entry - Robot Wars: The Fifth Wars
- Sportsmanship Award - Robot Wars: The Fifth Wars
Trivia[]
- Although all the team members who created 13 Black worked together at the Motor Industry Research Association, MIRA was not involved in the build at all, providing no sponsorship, and the team used none of their equipment[23].
- Just like the other three teams in Series 9 to debut in Series 2 (Team Make Robotics, Team Supernova and Team Hurtz), Team 13 finished third in its heat during Series 9.
- Alongside Team BEAST and Leveller 2's team, Team 13 is one of very few teams where two members share the same name.
- Although the team were not selected for Series 8, they still attended the filming, as members of the audience[24]
References[]
- ↑ Robot Wars: The Official Magazine, Issue 3, Page 21
- ↑ John Denny on the FRA Forum
- ↑ Private correspondence with Wiki user User:Drop Zone mk2, February 2023
- ↑ John Denny on the FRA Forum
- ↑ Ultimate Real Robots Magazine, Issue 69, Page 13
- ↑ Robot Wars: The Official Magazine, Issue 3, Page 21
- ↑ Private correspondence with Wiki user User:Drop Zone mk2, February 2023
- ↑ Heavy Metal on the official Robot Wars website
- ↑ Team 13 Robots Facebook page - April 12th 2017
- ↑ The Hinckley Times, 1998
- ↑ Private correspondence with Wiki user User:Drop Zone mk2
- ↑ The Hinckley Times, 1998
- ↑ Private correspondence with Wiki user User:Drop Zone mk2, February 2023
- ↑ Ultimate Real Robots magazine Issue 69, page 13
- ↑ YouTube - In the pits of Robotwars Series 5 - home camcorder footage from the 13 Black team
- ↑ Private correspondence with Wiki user User:Drop Zone mk2, February 2023
- ↑ Robot Wars website: Series 9 Competitors, Heavy Metal
- ↑ Hinckley Times - Hinckley family gear up for Robot Wars appearance
- ↑ 13 Black website - Plan 'B' (Archived)
- ↑ Ultimate Robot Archive wiki, Roaming Robots - Malvern Classic Car Show 2003
- ↑ 13 Black website - Plan 'B' (Archived)
- ↑ Team 13 Robots Facebook page - December 8th 2016
- ↑ Private correspondence with Wiki user User:Drop Zone mk2, February 2023
- ↑ Team 13 Robots Facebook page - July 25th 2016
See Also[]
External Links[]
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