Hmm. Well, Im a great fan of Typhoon, and Gary has presented himself on this forum as an admirable and impeccable member of the roboteering community, but I cant help but be a bit dissatisfied by the finals.

*Let the rant begin*

Im flummoxed as to why a robot which has stopped its own weapon by driving itself into the wall should be allowed to spin up again before the fight is restarted. X-Terminator, while losing badly, had Typhoon lined up to be shoved into a CPZ and its weapon stopped after the first wall damage.

Id always felt that pinging Typhoon into a wall was a valid strategy (you get hit once, and then a slide across the arena; T2 gets one impact off you and another off the wall). If T2 is allowed to spin up again, so much for that theory (or shoving it into a wall without stopping the spinner, for that matter).

As for the pit - it did seem to be slightly lowered when Tornado climbed out - I presumed theyd just left it in a hurry and it had lowered behind them. Their ramp was the right way round to let them ride out over a bump. As for what RefBot was doing lowering the pit in the first place I dont know (although I did think Ed should have done it himself).

The final itself; first, what exactly happened to Storm? It looked as though one of T2s hits dinged the edge of the panel which came loose, and presumably weakened the bolts(?) holding it in place. Always felt that corners and spinners dont mix - Im surprised that Storm isnt more rounded at the edges, although thats hard to do. I did think uh-oh when that happened, though - good driving by Gary/bad driving by Ed to let it happen. If that was the instigator, blaming the quality of welding seems a bit harsh.

After that it looked like it was either T2 getting stuck on the edge of the pit while Storm rammed it, or Storm hitting the wall in the CPZ, which actually caused the panel to give. Didnt look like a spike got it, at least.

Ed - thats just a spectators viewpoint; can you add detail with more knowledge of the failed components, or tell me Im talking nonsense?

Im still a bit dubious that T2 was allowed to spin up after giving itself a time-out from ramming the wall, but it didnt seem to make much difference. Im more incensed that the director had clearly told the house robots not to get involved, again. This policy has left Razer wedged under an angle grinder while being attacked by Tornado, Tornado suspended so Razer wouldnt take damage, and now Matilda running away where Storm was clearly expecting some help either in the form of a flywheel or some flipping tusks. Not getting involved even when there are robots in the CPZ seems a bit much, and clearly someone is aware that the house robots are unfairly influencing fights - if theyre not allowed to be involved, they shouldnt be in the arena.

I think Ed was a bit unwise to concentrate on ramming a shock-mounted steel ring in the hope of breaking something inside. Once it was clear T2 wasnt going to get flipped or OOTAd and the house robots werent going to help, Id have thought hed concentrate solely on getting T2 in the pit. Storm was clearly ahead on points. Beyond that, though, I think Ed did a sterling job with every attack mechanism available to him.

Gary - how intact *was* T2 at the end of that fight? Were the battery problems keeping you out of the world championships anything to do with the fight? Was the weapon fully working (belts stretched? seemed slow to spin up) or just hot/you were conserving fuel?

Im also curious in what precise manner Typhoon was judged to be ahead on style, but each to their own.

Anyway, well done Gary for building a machine so capable of withstanding damage (although the remit to stick a big lump of steel round the outside probably helps...) and, especially in the Atomic fight, for most definitely having the luck needed to become champion! And well done Ed for a most impressive performance.

Mentorn, on the other hand, remain in my bad books. (And what *is* the point of showing that Jayne is actually interested in whats going on, rather than showing the fight?)

Still, it gives us something to talk about!

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Fluppet