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Wednesday 25 January 2012
Yves Jans from Belgium received the winner's trophy and cheque from Volvo Group President Olof Persson.
As the Volvo Ocean Race competitors prepared to leave Europe on the first leg of the round the world race, two dozen construction equipment operators from across the continent headed to Alicante to compete in a trial of skill and precision – the European Operators Club Final 2011.
Volvo Construction Equipment’s Operators Club started about 10 years ago in Germany and has grown considerably since then with Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands all now participating. Indeed, at this year’s final there was also a representation from Spain, and in the last 24 hours Italy has committed to starting the Club in 2012. All machine operators are welcome in the club, no matter if they operate Volvo machines or those manufactured by competitors’.
There are today about 9000 members that get benefits like free entrance to trade fairs, factory visits, merchandise and of course the chance to compete for the European title, which not only carries great kudos, but also comes with a cheque for € 1,000.
“The operators are most often not our customers”, says Carl Gindahl, project coordinator for the final in Alicante. “But the operators often have a very strong impact on what machines to buy.”
“And by having the operators closer to us, we can listen to their needs for future machines.”
The Operators Club is based on a series of national competitions, often held in association with trade shows or demonstrations, where the skill and precision of eligible operators is tested. Winners of these national competitions then go through to the annual European final.
Project Manager and Corporate Communication Manager for Volvo CE Region Europe, Steve Skinner said: “We are working closely with Volvo CE dealers throughout Europe to ensure that operators from every country have access to the Club.”
“Hosting this year’s final in connection with Volvo Ocean Race has been an incredibly positive experience and has really raised the level of awareness about the Club. I am confident that at the 2012 Final even more countries will be represented, and a greater number of operators will get the chance to experience the high quality, efficient and dynamic machines available from Volvo CE.”
Sandra Teichmann from Volvo CE in Germany has worked with the competition for several years. This year’s final had three stages she explained: “We started in a cement quarry outside Alicante where the contestants used a Volvo EC250D excavator and a Volvo L110G wheeled loader.”
“With the excavator challenge the 22 finalists had to move three baseballs balanced on top of three poles to an identical set of poles 3 m away, and all against the clock. Meanwhile, with the wheeled loader challenge they were again against the clock, as they negotiated an extremely tight and uneven slalom course, picking up time penalties if they hit any of the marker poles.”
“These operators are highly skilled and at the controls of some of the most innovative construction machines available the challenges were deliberately tough,” said Steve Skinner.
The third and final discipline of this year’s Final was held in front of the main stage in the Volvo Ocean Race village, so not only were the operators’ faced with a challenge, but also the pressure cooker environment of competing before a sizeable crowd!
Here the contestants had to operate an EC18C compact excavator, fishing for floating Volvo Ocean Race plastic ducks with a hook on the end of a chain that was attached to the excavator bucket.
Completing the day’s three challenges in the fastest time overall was Yves Jans from Belgium and as he received the winner’s trophy and cheque from Volvo Group President Olof Persson his excitement and delight was clear for the whole crowd to see.
“These guys are such good operators and to beat them is absolutely fantastic,” he said. “And to do it here in the middle of this amazing Volvo Ocean Race environment is beyond words!”
This was Yves’ first Operators Club Final and as if to demonstrate the day-to-day skills of all of the operators present he said: “I didn’t do any special training for this. I spend all my working days in my excavator. There I get all the training I need.”
