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Mick Pearce: "We like to think it's the most powerful robot that we've seen so far, we've the fattest tyres you can get, and the biggest motors with the biggest power."
Richard Drayson: "Also, this robot features a very powerful pneumatic ram, it can flip up the opponent and do them real serious damage..."
— Team Hampshire Hog introduce their machine

V-Max (alternatively formatted as VMax) was a one-time competitor that competed in Series 4 of Robot Wars. It was a reserve robot, brought in when Onslaught had to withdraw. V-Max reached the second round by flipping the seeded Cerberus, before being ripped apart by Hypno-Disc.

Design[]

"Our late substitutes, with a pneumatic flipper. It's powered by two industrial motors, bodywork is aluminium, the frame is tubular steel. They begged and borrowed for some of the parts."
Jonathan Pearce introduces V-Max
V-maxofficial image

Front view of V-Max

V-Max was a wedge-shaped robot constructed around a tubular steel frame and was armed with a front-hinged flipping arm as its weapon, similar to Cassius and the original Firestorm. The robot had two Go-Kart wheels filled with foam, two Bosch 750W GPA drive motors, and the weapon was powered by a Festo 320mm ram, powered by a 20oz paintball gun canister. The robot was relatively quick and the flipper was powerful enough to throw other robots over, although its thin aluminium armour led to its downfall.

The Team[]

TeamHampshireHog

Team Hampshire Hog

V-Max was entered by Team Hampshire Hog, a team from Romsey in Hampshire, consisting of engineers Mick Pearce and Richard Drayson. Mick Pearce operated the robot, with Richard Drayson being the "co-pilot" according to Mick Pearce.

Construction of the robot began on 15 March 2000, when the team drew their plans for the design on the back of a cigarette packet whilst at the local pub.

Qualification[]

"We won our first bout against "5 of 7", convincingly bashing him against the wall of the arena. Next up was an entry from Scotland "Bravehard" who beat us fair and square in a power tussle (our fuses blew!), followed by yet another bout, courtesy of two other robots failing to start, against a robot from Southampton. Unfortunately, they beat us hands down as they flipped us and we couldn't get back upright (srimech needs some more work)"
— The V-Max website's summary of the Series 4 qualifiers.
V-MaxUnpainted

V-Max before being painted

At the Series 4 qualifiers, V-Max lost two of its three qualifier battles. In the first, it defeated 5 of 7 by slamming it into the arena wall. Afterwards, V-Max lost to the Scottish robot Bravehard after being overpowered by its opponent in a battle where V-Max's fuses blew. V-Max's third battle was only held after other robots withdrew from the qualifiers as they would not start, but V-Max's final opponent flipped it over, and V-Max could not self-right at this early stage of development. As a result of this track record, V-Max failed to qualify. However, it was selected as a reserve robot and was brought into the main series as a substitute in the final Heat after Onslaught broke down and withdrew.

Robot History[]

Series 4[]

Julia Reed: "Now this is just a bonus for you really, isn't it? You didn't think you'd be here!"
Mick Pearce: "Oh yeah, I love it! Yeah, it's brilliant!"
Julia Reed: "Well do some damage!"
— Pre-battle interview as V-Max gets called to compete

V-Max was brought in as a last-minute reserve for the Fourth Wars, as Onslaught had suffered irreparable mechanical problems just before it was due to enter the arena for the final heat. V-Max was brought into battle against the number 18 seed Cerberus and fellow newcomer Terror-Bull.

"Interesting to see how the substitutes go here. They say they're bigger, better than the other robots, we shall see!"
— Jonathan Pearce at the start of the battle
Terror-Bull VS V-Max

Terror-Bull attempts to lift V-Max

V-Max started by driving down the arena, then turned and charged at Cerberus, but Cerberus drove past V-Max as it got close. The two competitors turned around, and as Cerberus drove towards the top of the arena, V-Max charged towards it, but missed its charge and drove into the top arena wall. V-Max backed into Matilda as it reversed away from the wall, but turned and drove out of the CPZ before the House Robot could attack. V-Max drove in front of Terror-Bull which got its flipping head under V-Max's side and tried to flip, but as it did so, V-Max turned and slipped off the edge of the flipper. V-Max drove past Terror-Bull, charging down the arena away from its opponents, but then reversed back up to the top of the arena. As V-Max turned around, Cerberus charged straight at it, but this proved to be a mistake, as it rode up the wedge, allowing V-Max to flip it over. V-Max drove into the arena side wall, then backed into Cerberus, pushing it against Terror-Bull.

"V-Max backing away to have a run, against Cerberus - and toppling Cerberus, the number 18 seeds! Now can they right themselves, Cerberus?"
— Jonathan Pearce as V-Max flips Cerberus over
V-max cerberus

V-Max takes out Cerberus

V-Max drove away, driving towards the arena wall, then backed over the flame pit. As the House Robots closed in around Cerberus, V-Max charged up the arena, straight into Sir Killalot's front. V-Max tried to drive past, but Sir Killalot blocked it with his claw, and though V-Max tried pushing past, Sir Killalot continued blocking it. Sir Killalot reversed and attacked the overturned Cerberus. Whilst the House Robots attacked Cerberus, V-Max chased after Terror-Bull but accidentally drove onto the flame pit after missing a charge.

"V-Max down there, just staying out of trouble, or are they? Get off that flame pit! What on earth are you doing?"
— Jonathan Pearce as V-Max drives onto the flame pit

V-Max reversed off and drove under Terror-Bull's side. V-Max pushed Terror-Bull across the arena, but then stopped, allowing Terror-Bull to slip off. Meanwhile, Sgt. Bash pitted Cerberus, ending the battle, so V-Max went through to the next round along with Terror-Bull.

With this victory, V-Max was brought up against the number 2 seed Hypno-Disc in the second round of the heat.

Julia Reed: "What did Hypno-Disc do to the other robots in the melee?"
Rich Drayson: "Trashed them."
Julia Reed: "Trashed 'em. I just had to hear you say that."
Rich Drayson: "Its trash, bash, mash in this game, isn't it? We came for it anyway."
Julia Reed: "Yeah? Well you're a braver team than I am."
— Confidence from V-Max before the fight
V-max hypno-disc

V-Max's side panel is ripped away

Vmax vents steam

V-Max vents gas

At the start of the battle, V-Max charged at Hypno-Disc, as Hypno-Disc turned and tried to drive away. V-Max drove into Hypno-Disc's side, but Hypno-Disc turned around to V-Max's side, clipping the side with its disc and driving past. Hypno-Disc turned around and drove into V-Max's side, ripping a side panel so it was hanging loose.

"But dancing away, V-Max, has done well so far, coming into the even very late on... oh goodness me! the first attack leaves a shard of metal on the arena floor."
— Jonathan Pearce as Hypno-Disc rips one of V-Max's side panels off
Vmax vs refbot

V-Max rams Refbot as it attempts to get away

Vmax vs hypnodisc

V-Max's armour peels off after a second attack by Hypno-Disc

Hypno-Disc turned around, and V-Max tried reversing away, but Hypno-Disc slammed into the other side, the impact knocking the loose panel off, and causing Carbon Dioxide to start leaking from inside V-Max, leaving it without a weapon. Hypno-Disc chased after V-Max, which tried turning to avoid it, but Hypno-disc hit the side, knocking V-Max aside, but then drove straight into Shunt. Meanwhile, V-Max charged away down the arena, straight into Refbot. It quickly reversed, but as it turned, it drove straight into the arena wall, then drove into an arena spike as it tried to get away. Hypno-Disc took advantage, charging at V-Max, slamming into the side with its disc and ripping off the other side panel.

"Poor old V-Max, came in late, leaving early! Isn't that always the way at the best parties? And here, Hypno-Disc is enjoying one on the arena floor!"
— Jonathan Pearce after Hypno-Disc rips off the other side panel
VMaxramsHypnoDisc

V-Max rams Hypno-Disc across the arena

Hypno-disc v-max

V-Max lies dormant after heavy damage from Hypno-Disc

V-Max reversed, backing into Sgt. Bash's CPZ, but drove away before the House Robot could attack. V-Max made a brave charge at Hypno-Disc, getting under the side and ramming Hypno-Disc across the arena, slamming it into the arena side wall. Hypno-Disc drove off, unaffected, and V-Max reversed away from the wall. As Hypno-Disc chased after it, V-Max charged straight at it, with Hypno-Disc deflecting off. V-Max nearly drove into the arena side wall, and though it turned away from the wall, it turned around again and drove straight into the wall. As it turned away from the wall, Hypno-Disc clipped the side with its disc but did no damage. V-Max drove away but stopped moving by the pit, and Hypno-Disc closed in, attacking the exposed side of V-Max, tearing out some of the internals, including the battery.

"And poor old Mick Pearce and Richard Drayson just want V-Max to come home in one piece - you've got no chance boys!"
— Jonathan Pearce as Hypno-Disc rips out V-Max's battery
V-max battery

The dislodged battery

VMaxattackedbyHouseRobots

V-Max is attacked by the House Robots

With V-Max now immobilised, the House Robots came in. Shunt attacked with its axe, and V-Max withstood a couple of axe blows, then Dead Metal grabbed hold of it, getting one of his grabbing arms inside due to its front panels being ripped off, and cut into its armour with his saw. Dead Metal then pushed V-Max up the arena, onto the arena floor flipper where it was thrown. Dead Metal grabbed it again and cut into it before Cease was called.

"There is no life left in "V-Minimum". V-Max to give it its real name, but it was minimum problem for Hypno-Disc to dispose of the late substitutes ... V-Max have played a minimal role in the Robot Wars history!"
— Jonathan Pearce as V-Max is attacked by the House Robots and flipped by the floor flipper

With this, V-Max was eliminated from the competition.

Craig Charles: "You knew from the melee that it wasn't going to be easy..."
Mick Pearce: "I wish we hadn't made that really confident speech earlier!"
Craig Charles: "I mean, you couldn't surely have been confident."
Mick Pearce: "Oh yeah, we knew that if we could flip them, we'll have 'em, we knew had a good flipper."
Craig Charles: "You nearly got him over at one stage, didn't you?"
Mick Pearce: "If you notice the first impact, it was the CO2 went, and the flipper didn't work after that. Much as I tried, I couldn't, that was it. So all I could do was try to battle up against him, and I wasn't very good at that, was I?"
— After the battle

Despite the damage, both team members claimed they had a "brilliant" time when interviewed by Craig Charles. Rich Drayson suggested to Julia Reed that he would use the remains of the robot as "an interesting garden ornament perhaps", as most parts could not be salvaged, though both team members stated their intention to return.

Julia Reed: "Are you gonna start again for the next wars?"
Mick Pearce: "Oh definitely, yeah. We've learnt a lot, so we know what not to do next time."
Julia Reed: "And I think you have had the toughest opposition."
Mick Pearce: "We know what not to do next time, and that's build a robot, really!"
Julia Reed: "Well I think anybody that follows Robot Wars would be very, very proud to have gone out to Hypno-Disc, and we'll see you in the next wars we hope!"
Mick Pearce: "Yeah, definately!"
— Post-battle interview

Results[]

V-MAX - RESULTS
Series 4
The Fourth Wars - UK Championship
Heat, Round 2
Heat P, Eliminator vs. Cerberus (18), Terror-Bull Qualified
Heat P, Semi-Final vs. Hypno-Disc (2) Lost

Wins/Losses[]

  • Wins: 1
  • Losses: 1

Series Record[]

Series V-Max Series Record
The First Wars Did not enter
The Second Wars Did not enter
The Third Wars Did not enter
The Fourth Wars Heat, Round 2
The Fifth Wars Did not enter
The Sixth Wars Did not enter
The Seventh Wars Did not enter
Series 8 Did not enter
Series 9 Did not enter
Series 10 Did not enter

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

Official website wallpaper

An official screensaver wallpaper featuring Hypno-Disc fighting V-Max

  • V-Max was sponsored by "Go-Karting for Fun Indoor Karting Centres".
  • V-Max was the only competitor that is known to have pulled from the reserves to compete in Series 4, in contrast to Series 3, where four robots were taken from the reserves. Charybdis and Killer Carrot are also known to have been chosen as reserves, but neither got a chance to compete.
  • On the statistics board, Richard Drayson's name was misspelt as "Rich Dramson".
  • In its introduction, V-Max had a sticker from the Official Sticker Collection on its front, but this was not present in the arena.
  • Due to its status as a Reserve robot, V-Max was omitted from the Robot Wars Battle Cards, and was not profiled in Robot Wars: The Official Robot Guide. In both cases, Onslaught was included, despite having to withdraw from the main competition of The Fourth Wars.
  • The V-Max team were the only team from Heat P of Series 4 to only appear in said episode, despite Mick Pearce claiming that they intended to return in the post-battle interview with Julia Reed.
  • On the official website, a screenshot of V-Max's fight with Hypno-Disc was available for screensaver wallpaper.

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