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[ The challenge and teams | Result | Anoraks' diary | Hoselliers' diary | Science | Related links ]
The Anoraks speed to victory
After a long difficult build, The Anoraks and The Hoselliers were raring to go on the morning of the test. Even grumpy Anorak Lyndon cracked the odd smile.
Round one
The first round was a steep hill climb and Sifter gingerly levered himself into the cosy cockpit of The Hoselliers' sand-rail. The devious course incorporated a dog-leg, meaning the teams couldn't simply gun the throttle and get up the hill on momentum alone. It all proved no problem for the sleek sand-rail with its wishbone suspension and the team made it up the hill in 15 seconds.
The Anoraks already had a race on their hands but they were confident their six-wheel drive, suspension-free, skid-steer monster was equal to the task. Taking the driving seat for The Anoraks was Marc. As the whistle blew, the green machine, nicknamed ‘Six on Wheels', lurched forward, faster than anyone had predicted. As Marc shot up the first ramp, it looked like they were definitely going to give The Hoselliers a run for their money – until Marc suddenly came to a grinding halt. He was stuck in a sand hole and had to use his skid-steer brakes to try and manoeuvre him out of it. He ended up spinning two out of three axles on each side, no matter which way he turned.
Round one was over with The Anoraks incurring a one-minute penalty for failing to make the hill. Some urgent discussion ensued and the team decided their only chance was to let almost all of the air out of their tyres, leaving them flat.
Round two
Next up was a figure of eight sprint with Spanner driving for The Hoselliers' who took a fast but restrained time of 48 seconds.
The Anoraks stuck with driver Marc – a sensible idea given how difficult the machine is to learn to drive (it has two handbrakes for steering, a manual gear change and clutch and throttle to contend with). Marc hurtled round the course but couldn't quite match The Hoselliers' time, completing the course in 52 seconds.
Round three
This was the toughest round yet – an obstacle course complete with table-top jumps, berms (series of small steep hillocks) and a deep trench. The Hoselliers elected to go first, with Sifter driving. They were in the lead and feeling confident. Sifter set off for the first hairpin when disaster struck – one of the wishbone rods (and not their welds, they hastened to tell us!) snapped.
Undeterred, using a three-point turn to get round the bend, he set off for the berms and promptly grounded out for a 30-second penalty before limping home.
If The Anoraks' Marc could get their machine around the course in under two minutes, they would win. His determined drive left the Scrapheap set in shock. The near-vertical drop into the ditch left Marc shaken but not stirred as he sped his way back to the finish line. Had he been able to do it quickly enough? Neither team knew for sure as the champagne moment arrived and Lisa announced that, by just a few seconds, The Anoraks were the winners!