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The 2014 GCC Body & Paint Technicians Skills Grand Prix took place this week at the Toyota Training Centre in Sitra.
The event, aimed at improving Toyota technicians’ skills and efficiency, saw participants from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE compete in two disciplines: Body Category and Paint Category.
It was a very successful day for Bahrain as both of the kingdom’s representatives emerged as winners, in the process earning themselves a gold plaque, a gold medal, a large trophy and $500 prize money.
Roderic Gabion, 36, a certified pro body technician with four years of experience, delivered the best results in the Body Category panel repair and welding tests to secure the title. The Filipino native said: “I am very happy to win. I was very nervous to start with but after the competition got underway I focussed my mind and thankfully the judges liked my work.”
The Paint Category, consisting of colour matching and top coating practical tests, was won by Bahraini Hasan Mahdi Yusuf Husain, 30. Hasan, who has been a licensed pro paint technician for nine years, said: “I have been training really hard for six months to prepare for this competition, and I am so happy that I won. The standard was very high, it was really tough.”
Michael Goode, chairman of the GCC Skills Grand Prix Committee and general manager of Service for EK Kanoo, the distributor of Toyota in Bahrain, said the event had been a resounding success.
“Six months ago, these guys won the national competition and never rested on their laurels. They immediately started working harder after that to improve themselves, and now they are GCC champions,” he added.
