ISUZU truck technicians Matthew Kempnich from Gold Coast Isuzu and Ty Jenkins from Westar Trucks in Campbellfield, Victoria, have won a silver medal in the commercial vehicle leg of the 2016 Isuzu World Technical Competition held this month in Japan.

The Australian team, coached by Isuzu Australia Limited (IAL) service manager (Victoria/Tasmania) Jason Leckie, took out Category A – covering markets selling vehicles with emissions levels above the Euro 4 standard – which included eight other countries.

The home-favourite Japanese team took gold in the 11th annual competition, widely known as the ‘I-1 Grand Prix’, while the third place on the podium went to Hong Kong.

Mr Kempnich won the Australian national championships in July, with Mr Jenkins finishing second from the field of 10 technicians – enough to earn him a place on the Aussie team to compete in the global final.

Mr Jenkins is also a former winner of the national competition, winning the domestic final in 2015.

Assessment in the global final comprised a series of challenges including measurement accuracy, vehicle inspection standards, fault identification, repair ability and theoretical understanding.

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IAL national training manager David Smith said the result validates the company’s belief that it has “some of the best technicians in the industry”.

“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,” he said.

“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.”

The Australian team’s result has attracted plenty of interest on social media, with Westar Truck Centre (part of the Patterson Cheney group) congratulating both technicians – “The team put in a fantastic effort during the competition against the world’s best Isuzu technicians” – and sparking comments that their success reflects the high level of expertise among auto technicians in Australia.

As GoAuto has reported, Isuzu Ute Australia’s (IUA) team finished fourth in the light-commercial leg of the I-1 Grand Prix held in Thailand last month.

Representing IUA was Anthony Wood from Wagga Wagga Isuzu Ute in New South Wales and Tim Haag from Blue Ribbon Isuzu Ute in Ipswich, Queensland, with IUA trainer and fleet care manager Sam Junuzovic also participating as coach.

By Terry Martin