Australia’s best Isuzu technicians finished in second at the annual challenge
Isuzu Australia Limited (IAL) has finished second in the 2016 Isuzu World Technical Competition held in Tokyo, Japan last week.
Known as the I-1 Grand Prix, the annual competition gathers the best Isuzu technicians from around the world to go head-to-head in a range of challenges, such as measurement accuracy, vehicle inspection standards, fault identification, repair ability and theoretical understanding.
Now in its 11th year, the competition is divided into two categories – one for those who work with vehicles above the Euro IV emissions level and another for those below.
Sitting in the former category, the Australian team battled teams from eight other Isuzu distributor nations to eventually take out second place behind locals Japan, with Hong Kong coming in third.
After winning their way into the team in July, Gold Coast Isuzu’s Matthew Kempnich – who was crowned the top Australian Isuzu technician – and Victorian-based Ty Jenkins from Westar Trucks in Campbellfield were coached by IAL Victorian and Tasmania service manager Jason Leckie at the event.
The truckmaker’s national training manager, David Smith, says the second placing shows just how gifted Australian Isuzu technicians are.
“We know we have some of the best technicians in the industry and this result overnight just validates that,” he says.
“IAL has enjoyed a lot of success over the past few years, winning the ‘I-1’ in 2011 and finishing second in both 2013 and 2014, and these boys worked hard to get back onto the winners’ podium this year.
“The competition is getting more and more challenging and fiercely contested, so with every passing year it continues to set the bar in terms of mechanical skills challenges worldwide.
“We couldn’t be happier with this year’s result.
“I think it gives our customers excellent peace of mind knowing the level of skill our technicians possess, and that their purchase is being extremely well looked after.”