18.10.2005

Telehandler the most difficult

Dutchman Peter Van Schaik has won the eighth annual Caterpillar Operator Challenge competition held in Malaga, Spain earlier this month.. Fellow Dutchman Ton Verdam, winner of the three previous competitions, was this year runner up last year's silver medalist Jerome Pignot of France came in third.

Van Schaik scored 526.37 points in the overall event and also took first place in the wheeled excavator test. Verdam's final score was 515.25 points and Pignot's 510.05 points. Overall, there were 12 different tests on 12 different types of machine.
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Peter Van Schaik

Tests included large and small wheel loaders, telehandler, track-type tractor, face shovel, mini-excavator, hydraulic excavator with grapple, hydraulic excavator with scrap handler, wheeled excavator, multi-terrain loader, backhoe loader, and articulated truck.

“The most difficult test for me was the telehandler. But I scored a lot of points with the wheeled excavator; I work with that machine every day. It was the first time it was part of the competition so it was a big advantage for me.” Said Van Schaik.

The country competition was won by Finland for the second consecutive year followed by France in second place and the Netherlands in third place.

The event was the largest so far with 65 participants from 27 countries. The finalists came from Belgium, Bosnia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Mongolia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, and were selected through hundreds of local events in which more than 5,000 professional operators participated.

Overall results
Position Operator Country Points
1 Peter Van Schaik The Netherlands 526.37
2 Ton Verdam The Netherlands 515.25
3 Jerome Pignot France 510.05
4 Hannu Jantunen Finland 505.47
5 Timo Honkaniemi Finland 501.08
6 Anders Stalberg Sweden 498.10

Country league results

Position Country Points
1 Finland 479.90
2 France 474.74
3 The Netherlands 469.56
4 Sweden 462.63
5 Germany 422.86
6 Denmark