Aussies eye Scania Top Team finals

Scania Australia's Prestons dealership in Sydney is on track to claim its third consecutive Scania Top Team crown, after the five-strong crew of workshop experts took top honours in the Asian regional finals held in China last weekend (September 19-20).

The team dubbed 'the Wizards of Aus' comprises Frank Muscat, Logan Hoser, Chris Nobbs, Benn Jeffery and Phil Sage, and they're contesting the latest Scania Top Team competition under the guidance of National Technical Support Manager Jason Grech and his National Technical Support colleague, Steve Watson.

Scania Top Team sees teams from over 1600 Scania workshops around the globe battle it out in a supreme test of technical knowledge and expertise. Teams go up against each other and the clock in an effort to take top honours on a world stage.

The Prestons team has previously tasted that victory not once but twice, winning the ultimate prize in both 2013 and 2011. Now, having conquered the regional finals in Guangzhou, China, the Wizards of Aus – which comprises members from both the 2011 and 2013 teams – will head to Sweden at the end of the year in an effort to put on a 'three-peat' performance.

On a humid 35-degree day the team completed 10 exercises to finish 24 points clear of China, which in turn finished ahead of the United Arab Emirates.

Jason Gretch said the team's consistent results got them over the line.

"We maintained a solid scoring rate throughout the challenges and that gave us the momentum we needed to secure the outright win, which is very gratifying," he said.

"The competition kicked off at 7.30am and ran through to 5.00pm and covered five primary stations and five support stations, where a variety of tasks tested our guys across a series of technology and fault diagnosis issues.

"Knowledge of dedicated customer service, Vehicle Related Services, parts, communications, uptime, vehicle inspections and safety were all probed during the testing.

Michael Weber, Scania Regional Executive Manager for NSW, said the team had put on a superb display of skill and knowledge.

"All of us at Prestons Branch are delighted with the performance of this very experienced Wizards of Aus team," he said.

"Not only have they all been involved in winning Top Team previously, but they have worked very hard to maintain their edge.

“We all congratulate them on winning the regional round and look forward to them repeating this in Sweden in December."

The Scania Top Team World Finals will see 12 teams fight for the crown at Scania headquarters in Sodertalje, Sweden, over December 3 to 5.