CablePrice placed first in Isuzu I1-GP NZ round

Four of the top five spots were taken out by CablePrice Wellington technicians, with Luke Heesterman placed first, at this year’s Isuzu Trucks I1-GP national technical skills competition.  

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, this year’s competition was held in a new format. All competition tasks had to be completed remotely at dealerships and the contestants were supervised by their service managers. This year saw 11 contestants from two dealerships: CablePrice Wellington had four participants and CAL Isuzu Hamilton had seven.

Left to right: Marty Leigh, Wengyee Chan, Luke Heesterman, and Luke Nicholson

The competition consisted of two parts: Theory Exam and Practical Scenarios.  

During the Theory Exam, each contestant had to answer 25 general mechanical knowledge questions in 75 minutes.  

For the practical part, contestants had to troubleshoot two real breakdown situations seen in New Zealand earlier this year. For the first scenario, it was necessary to troubleshoot a DPD (Diesel Particulate Diffuser) fault, and for the second they had to identify a faulty component in an electrical system. Contestants had to not only identify the malfunctioning component but also explain the mechanism of the failure and describe how the faulty part affects the operation of other systems in the truck. Luke scored top points from the practical section, while Paul Everson from CAL Isuzu Hamilton was the best in the theory exam. 

"CablePrice Wellington has a strong record with three technicians attending the world finals over the past five years, including Luke attending the 2017 world finals. Now he’s back again to give the 2020 Isuzu I1-GP e-Competition a shot," says Matthew Dittmer, CablePrice Wellington branch manager. 

Luke Heesterman