Steeplechase

The challenge This week it's a challenge to see who can build a steeplechaser with horsepower in the Scrapheap semi final: Steeplechase. They must build a vehicle capable of carrying the entire team over six 1.3-metre-high hurdles, without knocking them over. Nuzzling Badgers Country loving, tractor tinkering engineers from Devon, the Nuzzling Badgers (named after their similarities to the furry forager) are Steve Hill, Steve Johnson and captain Gary. These guys are passionate about tractors and have restored large and small, old and new, rusty and rustier tractors of all shapes and sizes, including vintage models right through to the large, shiny beasts that roam today's farmlands. They're jovial, straight-talking, capable and here to make an impression! Team expert George Wheeler from Bedfordshire is a chartered engineer and a fully qualified automotive mechanical engineer. He’s been working at Nissan for the last seven years, primarily in engine testing but also in engine design and project management. He once featured in Motor Caravan Monthly fitting a turbo to a motorhome. Beasts of Bodmin Mysterious and graceful, stealthy yet fast, well, these Beasts of Bodmin may not quite be. However, the classics lovers spend more than their fair share of time with that feline of the vehicle world – the Jaguar. Enthusiasts and restorers of classic Jags and motorbikes, captain Brian and his partners-in-crime Steve and Spencer enjoy nothing more than a spin across Bodmin Moor. Tons of experience and a steely determination to hunt down and tear apart their opposition, the Beasts could be ones to watch out for! Team expert Steve ‘Dewy’ Dewison from Essex is an automotive engineer and southern centre chairman for the Society of Automotive Engineers. He’s been designing in the business for 35 years. Steve builds his own racing sidecars and won three British Masters Sidecar Championships back-to-back (in 1987, 1988 and 1989). The judge This week’s judge is Brian Hanley, an expert in getting people over obstacles. As a biomechanics lecturer (at Leeds Metropolitan University School of Leisure and Sports Science), Brian has helped the country’s top athletes improve their technique. He is currently completing his PhD in the biomechanics of hurdling and is a competent long distance runner himself.