Team MAD, known in 2015 as Team Chronic and in 2020 as Team Apollo, are a British team which attended BattleBots World Championship I with Chronic as a reserve and were accepted for World Championship V with Orion. The team also applied for World Championship VI and VII with the latter.
The team are led by brothers Alan and Dave Young, though Dave was not present with the team for the 2015 BattleBots season. Team MAD have enjoyed a successful career in the British and Chinese scenes, winning televised competitions in both countries with their pneumatic flipper designs. They have also hosted and competed in various live events, notably taking their heavyweight event, Robots Live!, to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2021. Robots Live Ltd. also sponsored Chronic for BattleBots World Championship I.
The team were accepted for the original 2020 season roster, even revealed as such to Facebook Supporters, but were forced to withdraw due to international travel restrictions enforced by the COVID-19 pandemic which soon followed.
Outside BattleBots[]
Following the team's rejection from World Championship II in 2016, Team MAD opted to prioritize domestic competition and built a second version of Chronic for Robot Wars called Apollo. There, Team MAD reached the Grand Final of Series 8 and won the championship, defeating Carbide in the title decider.
Returning for Series 9, Apollo again made it all the way to the Grand Final episode courtesy of receiving a wildcard to advance despite suffering a loss. Apollo lost its group battle against future champion Eruption and Aftershock and fell at this stage.
In Series 10, Apollo comfortably sailed through its Round 1 and 2 opponents before losing out to veteran builders Behemoth in the heat final. Apollo featured in a ten-robot rumble which served to decide the final place in the Grand Final, but this was won by Eruption, who ultimately won the series outright.
Vulcan strikes the underside of Saber.
Apollo made one final appearance in the Robot Wars: World Series special, where it captained Team UK. Adorning the Union Jack, Apollo led its team to victory after defeating Dutch and Belgian opposition in TMHWK and Cobra in a Round 1 team battle, and then taking out Diotoir in the final.
Vulcan takes out Boxing Champion during King of Bots II.
In between Robot Wars series, Team MAD also competed in the Chinese shows King of Bots and This is Fighting Robots as Team Robots Live! with an axe-wielding robot named Vulcan. In Season 1 of King of Bots, it fell early on to Saber after getting flipped over. Vulcan returned for a Tag Team battle alongside fellow Brit Tánshè, where it defeated Saber and Greedy Snake.
Vulcan returned for This is Fighting Robots, where the axebot won its first battle but lost a 2v2 fight to crash out of the competition. It was later reinstated and picked up several more wins, including one over veteran shell spinner Megabyte. Though it fell short in a rumble won by Team Carbide's Tungsten, Vulcan still advanced to the final eight where it was ultimately knocked out by Shrederator Tiger Claw.
In King of Bots II, Vulcan received a design overhaul which saw it much more closely resemble their highly successful wedge-shaped flipper design. This season, Vulcan went undefeated in battle against opponents such as Boxing Champion and Spectre to become King of Bots champion.
A 30lb version of Apollo entered the King of Bots UK International Championships and placed third overall.
Team Members[]
Alan Young[]
Captain of Chronic in 2015 and Team MAD captain outside of televised competition, Alan Young formed part of the technical crew for Series 8 and 9 of Robot Wars, meaning he could not formally compete as part of the team. Alan was given the opportunity to drive Apollo during the ten-robot rumble in Series 10, but Apollo was not successful in making it to the Grand Final on that occasion.
Alan Young's first televised appearance came during Robot Wars: Extreme 2, where he fought in the second antweight championship with Chroma, and drove Flybot in the featherweight competition that same episode. Neither robot, however, advanced beyond their qualifying round.
Dave Young[]
The younger brother to Alan, Dave Young captained Team MAD throughout their Robot Wars appearances. Dave's first televised appearances came at the controls of smaller robots during special episodes of Robot Wars, as was the case with his brother. Then a student, Dave Young competed in the same antweight and featherweight championships of Robot Wars with Hades and Gladiator. Gladiator advanced to the finals and Dave Young was reunited with Alan, but they lost out at that stage to Argh!.
He also drove the robot during their title-winning campaign in Series 8. With Apollo representing the UK during the Robot Wars: World Series special, Dave Young became captain of Team UK. Dave Young was not present with the team as they competed in Chinese competition for unknown reasons.
Robots[]
| Robot | Weight Class | Season |
|---|---|---|
| Chronic | Heavyweight | World Championship I (Reserve) World Championship II (Not selected) |
| Orion | Heavyweight | World Championship V (Withdrew) World Championship VI (Withdrew) World Championship VII (Not selected) |
Win/Loss Record[]
- Wins: 0
- Losses: 1