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"Ah, might have a girl's name, but nothing ladylike about our T.R.A.C.I.E., made of welded steel with deadly spikes and a very low centre of gravity – only twenty centimetres high!"
Jonathan Pearce introduces T.R.A.C.I.E.

T.R.A.C.I.E. (standing for Terrestrial Robotic Artificial Computerised Intelligent Engine, also spelt by the KEGS School team as TRACIE[1]) was a competitor robot which fought exclusively in the first series of Robot Wars. It reached the Grand Final in its only appearance, ultimately losing to Roadblock after getting itself beached on the featherweight Cunning Plan during the battle.

The KEGS School team would later build a similar robot, S.H.A.R.O.N., for Series 3, which they named after a remark made by Jeremy Clarkson about T.R.A.C.I.E. throughout its appearance. However, S.H.A.R.O.N was not selected to compete despite reaching the second stage of the auditioning process.

Design[]

TRACIE Crop

Rear view of T.R.A.C.I.E.

T.R.A.C.I.E. was a low rectangular-shaped robot constructed out of welded steel, with two-wheel drive, two sets of castors at either end, and armed with a pair of long steel spikes as its weapons. It was notable as being the first invertible robot to appear in Robot Wars, and had top castors to help it run upside-down as well as a low centre of gravity of only 20cm. Its spikes were mounted at the front, and while proving cumbersome and prone to getting the robot wedged in confined spaces, they were effective in enabling T.R.A.C.I.E. to stab and spear through opponents when it rammed into them at high speed. This allowed the spikes to get hold of opponents as it pushed them around, as well as causing considerable damage to their armour and tyres.

Tracieinsides

T.R.A.C.I.E. without its spikes or top armour

T.R.A.C.I.E. proved generally fast, aggressive and durable, but also had an average turning circle, intermittent drive problems during its Gauntlet run and a low ground clearance of 5cm; the latter ultimately resulting in it getting stuck on the wedge of Cunning Plan during the Grand Final.

The Team[]

KEGSTeam

The King Edward VI Grammar School team with T.R.A.C.I.E.

The robot was built by students from King Edward VI Grammar School (often shortened to KEGS School) in Chelmsford, Essex, including actor Joe Thomas, who is best known for portraying Simon Cooper in the British TV sitcom The Inbetweeners. The televised team members included captain Andrew Rockliffe, alongside Christopher Handscombe, David Hall and Mark Taylor, although Mark Taylor was uncredited on the statistics board. The KEGS School team would also go on to create the popular Tectonic Robot Wars website, with David Mountjoy as webmaster.

Robot History[]

Series 1[]

Traciegauntlet

T.R.A.C.I.E. steadily negotiates past Sergeant Bash in the Gauntlet

T.R.A.C.I.E. competed in Heat F, and was the third robot to traverse the Gauntlet in that heat. It steadily drove off the turntable and headed for the right-hand route, briefly being nudged by Sergeant Bash before driving into the wall. T.R.A.C.I.E. backed away and hesitated as Sergeant Bash kept shooting flames at it, although his flamethrower was unable to reach its low bodyshell. It made steady progress until it suddenly stopped at the half-way point, where it was attacked by Sergeant Bash and Dead Metal and pushed into an overturned skittle as time ran out.

"Oh dear, should have called it 'Sharon'. Could've been better, right, but there we are!"
Jeremy Clarkson summarises T.R.A.C.I.E.'s Gauntlet run

In untelevised footage in Robot Wars: The First Great War, the team were shown repairing the robot after the Gauntlet, and they revealed to another team that the control bolts got caught underneath the microswitches and jammed the servos that controlled the microswitches, leaving the robot unable to move[2]. Even so, T.R.A.C.I.E. still managed to cover a distance of 8.70m, enough for it to finish fourth on the leaderboard and qualify for the Trial stage.

In more untelevised footage from The First Great War, the team subsequently discovered problems with the robot's speed controllers, and they feared they would have to withdraw, which would have allowed Elvis (which had the worst run at that point) to go through. The T.R.A.C.I.E. team eventually managed to get the robot working, albeit with reduced power, so Elvis was eliminated.[3].

Philippa Forrester: "Pete, what's happened to T.R.A.C.I.E., because you don't look like you're in a go mode, and it's not long 'til you're on!"
Peter: "We've tried all day, and it's just not ready, but we're gonna give it a go."
Philippa Forrester: "When you say "not ready", what does that mean?"
Peter: "We need more power, and we just can't find any more power, so it's gonna be very slow! So we're just gonna have to hope they're gentle with us!"
Philippa Forrester: "The House Robots are never gentle, you should know that by now."
Peter: "No, I know. Can we not bribe them?"
Philippa Forrester: "(Laughs) They're not susceptible to bribery either! Aw, listen, good luck. I hope it works, you've done so much work on it."
Peter: "Yeah, it's the lads that I feel sorry for, 'cause they're gonna be so disappointed, but we'll give it a go"
— An interview only included in The First Great War, as T.R.A.C.I.E. is fixed
Tracie stuck

T.R.A.C.I.E. wedged against its own Snooker pocket

Along with the other four surviving robots, T.R.A.C.I.E. fought in the Snooker Trial, with no modifications to its chassis or weapons. It immediately got itself stuck trying to turn out of its pocket, and struggled to get to the balls as its spikes continued getting impaled against the side rails and nets.

"…and I wonder, what’s happened to T.R.A.C.I.E.? Impaired on that side fence, it would seem!"
Jonathan Pearce as T.R.A.C.I.E. is unable to free itself from its pocket

T.R.A.C.I.E. appeared to have lost mobility at this point, despite being close to a lot of balls, most of which were scooped up and potted by Prince of Darkness. It ended up scoring no balls at all by the time 'Cease' had been called, but progressed to the Arena stage anyway as stock robot Eubank the Mouse was deemed to have 'irreparably broken down' due to it not being allowed to progress. This was despite Eubank the Mouse being mobile for considerably longer than T.R.A.C.I.E..

TRACIE vs prince of darkness

T.R.A.C.I.E. attacks the wheels of Prince of Darkness

In its Semi-Final, T.R.A.C.I.E. faced Prince of Darkness, which had been repainted and fitted with a set of spikes for this battle. Both robots collided with each other in the opening moments, with T.R.A.C.I.E. using one of its spikes to push Prince of Darkness towards a grille, only to spin around after being pushed back. T.R.A.C.I.E. then rammed Prince of Darkness side-on, spearing through its opponent's left-hand tyre with the other spike.

"In comes the spike, like a dagger to the heart, of the Prince of Darkness boys!"
— Jonathan Pearce as T.R.A.C.I.E. punctures Prince of Darkness’s tyre

Both robots separated, then T.R.A.C.I.E. charged into Prince of Darkness again, catching it by the wedge and piercing through its left-hand tyre a second time. It then pushed Prince of Darkness from the right-hand side, spearing the other tyre and causing it to tip slightly as the two robots became stuck together, now open to attack from Sergeant Bash, Dead Metal and Matilda. Eventually, they were separated, with T.R.A.C.I.E. ending up on a grille and Prince of Darkness crawling along the arena floor on its punctured tyres until 'Cease' was called. Despite being technically immobile, T.R.A.C.I.E. was still declared the winner, much to Jeremy Clarkson’s delight.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you for removing the most miserable robot from the equation!"
— Jeremy Clarkson congratulates the KEGS School team for eliminating Prince of Darkness
Tracie skarab

T.R.A.C.I.E. spears Skarab

In the Heat Final, T.R.A.C.I.E. faced Skarab for the sixth and final place in the Grand Final. Both robots moved slowly towards each other, until T.R.A.C.I.E. rammed into Skarab's side, spearing through its fibreglass armour and forcing the House Robots to come out of their CPZs and attack the pair. Once separated, T.R.A.C.I.E. drove around Skarab, tearing off part of its armour as it backed away, before driving under Skarab's mace and ramming it again from the front.

"And up against it that mace, is like a little schoolground conker against a juggernaut!"
— Jonathan Pearce as T.R.A.C.I.E. drives round and spears Skarab again

T.R.A.C.I.E. drove round Skarab again before charging across the arena, slamming into the side of Sergeant Bash and piercing through his wheelguards. It was briefly pinned between Sergeant Bash and the side bars, but drove away after an intervention from Shunt, and rammed Matilda after she attempted to cut Skarab's radio control mast cut off with her chainsaw. T.R.A.C.I.E. rammed Sergeant Bash again just as time ran out, and the battle went to a Judges' decision. The decision went in favour of T.R.A.C.I.E., allowing it through to the Grand Final, which was shown immediately at the end of Heat F.

In the Grand Final, T.R.A.C.I.E. fought fellow heat winners Roadblock, Recyclopse, Robot The Bruce, Cunning Plan and Bodyhammer in a six-way melee to decide the first UK Champion.

Philippa Forrester: "First of all, well done, but you're obviously very aware that you have to stay in the arena now for the final melee"
Peter: "Yes... we're just a bit worried, we don't quite know what damage has been sustained, but she's a tough old girl, she'll be okay!"
Philippa Forrester: "You did very well, you got some aggressive moves in there on Sergeant Bash as well!"
Peter: "Yeah, I mean the House Robots have been giving people grief all day, so we thought we had to get one back for the lads!"
— An interview only included in The First Great War video, between the Heat Final and Grand Final, with the team justfying their attacks on the House Robots[4]
Recyclopse roadblock tracie

Roadblock intervenes as T.R.A.C.I.E. spears Recyclopse

It immediately turned towards Bodyhammer before slamming into Recyclopse, spearing through the latter's bodyshell as Roadblock attempted to drive underneath both robots. With Rex Garrod's machine firmly embedded in its spikes, T.R.A.C.I.E. dragged Recyclopse back before both separated near the side bars. Next, it attempted to spear Bodyhammer and Roadblock simultaneously before weathering a side-on ram from Robot The Bruce.

"...and T.R.A.C.I.E.'s up... on... Cunning Plan, and both of them are out, immobilised!"
— Jonathan Pearce as T.R.A.C.I.E. and Cunning Plan are jointly eliminated
Tracie Cunning Plan

T.R.A.C.I.E. beaches itself on Cunning Plan

Cunning plan vs tracie vs recyclopse vs bodyhammer offcial

T.R.A.C.I.E. and Cunning Plan remain stuck as the other Grand Finalists fight on

T.R.A.C.I.E. pirouetted around before proceeding to drive up the wedge of Cunning Plan. This effectively immobilised both robots at once, with T.R.A.C.I.E. being too heavy and its ground clearance too low for either of them to back out and break free. While this would have normally resulted in both robots being separated, as per the Robot Wars rules, no House Robots were available in this battle to do so, and the battle was not paused in spite of this. As a result, T.R.A.C.I.E. was instantly eliminated from the Grand Final, ultimately losing the battle - and the First Wars - to Roadblock.

"Who knows what would have become of T.R.A.C.I.E. had the rules been observed."
— David Hall laments T.R.A.C.I.E.'s demiseCitation?

Results[]

T.R.A.C.I.E. - RESULTS
Series 1
The First Wars - UK Championship
Grand Finalist
Heat F, Gauntlet 8.70m (4th) Qualified
Heat F, Trial (Snooker) 0 Balls (4th) Qualified
Heat F, Semi-Final vs. Prince of Darkness Won
Heat F, Final vs. Skarab Won
Grand Final vs. Bodyhammer, Cunning Plan, Recyclopse, Roadblock, Robot The Bruce Lost

Wins/Losses[]

  • Wins: 2
  • Losses: 1

NOTE: T.R.A.C.I.E.'s successful Gauntlet and Trial runs are not included

Series Record[]

Series T.R.A.C.I.E. Series Record
The First Wars Grand Final
The Second Wars Did not enter
The Third Wars Not selected with S.H.A.R.O.N.
The Fourth Wars Did not enter
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[]

  • T.R.A.C.I.E. was the very first invertible robot to appear on Robot Wars, and the only invertible robot to compete in the First Wars.
  • KEGS School was one of only three teams in the UK series to feature four televised team members prior to 2016; T.R.A.C.I.E. and Leighbot were seemingly permitted to by Series 1's rules, while Team Berserk was allowed extra space for a translator.
  • T.R.A.C.I.E. is the only Grand Finalist to featured spears as a weapon (when excluding Tornado's interchangeable spear, which was used only once in Series 6 and not in the Grand Final).
  • T.R.A.C.I.E. was the only Grand Finalist from the First Wars not to complete the Gauntlet during its heat.
  • T.R.A.C.I.E. is one of only three robots that did not return for another series after reaching a Grand Final. The others are TR2, which was not selected to compete in Series 9, and Series 7 champion Typhoon 2, whose driver still competed in Series 8 without his former team.
  • Footage of T.R.A.C.I.E.'s construction, taken from the team's video diary, was shown as part of The Making of Robot Wars, along with clips of other team's video diaries.
    • Including in those clips were some of the design sketches for T.R.A.C.I.E., which show that the robot was originally intended to have four wheels instead of two, a chainsaw running vertically along the shell of the robot, and a pair of ladies' eyes painted on the front.
  • At just 52.9kg, T.R.A.C.I.E. was one of the lightest heavyweights to compete in Series 1. Under modern combat rules, it would technically be classified as a middleweight.
  • In 2017, local news site EssexLive included a picture of the T.R.A.C.I.E. team in a gallery of photos from KEGS School, although the accompanying text gave the wrong year for when they competed, claiming it had "been featured in the national Robot Wars competition in 2003".[5]

References[]

External Links[]

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