Kevin Lampert from Liechtenstein is the winner of the Daimler Buses BusTech Challenge 2017.
The 30-year-old vehicle mechanic won against competitors from 16 European countries in the competition between the Daimler Bus branded Omniplus service outlets held in Germany.
Michel Hoeve from the Netherlands secured 2nd place, and the bronze statue went to Joris Keymeulen from Belgium.
A total of 768 participants, 216 of them from Germany, entered the Olympiad for bus technicians last summer.
That figure represented 80 service employees more than in the previous competition, which is organised every two years by Omniplus.
In three preliminary rounds of the contest, the employees had to answer a catalogue of online questions at their sites on various aspects of buses and coaches and their function, maintenance and repair.
During the final round, the 16 individual national winners demonstrated their practical skills.
At different stations, they performed tasks such as diagnosing faults, rectifying malfunctioning door controls, exchanging high-pressure fuel pumps and painting body parts – all under the scrutiny of service specialists, who set a strict time limit for each task.
Ulrich Bastert, Head of Marketing, Sales and Customer Services Daimler Buses, says the BusTech Challenge motivates the employees all over Europe.
“The competition was fair, and showed that our employees are happy to take on the daily challenges in servicing buses and coaches,” says Bastert.
“With the tasks we set they were able to deepen their knowledge much further. Our operations and, in turn, our customers, feel the benefit of this,” he says.
“I was surprised to take first place. But I’m honoured and now even more motivated to continue offering the bus operators first-class service,” says Lampert.
Omniplus offers comprehensive services for Mercedes-Benz and Setra buses and coaches.
More than 500 customer service and parts employees and more than 200 service locations all over Germany ensure high availability of buses and coaches right around the clock.
With more than 600 authorised service centres, the brand offers the largest bus-specific service network in the whole of Europe.
The service brand also trains bus and coach drivers all over Europe in handling safety, economic efficiency and driving proficiency.
