Out of 10 technicians who participated in the preliminary rounds of the Yamaha United States Technician Grand Prix (USTGP), three top technicians emerged to compete in the final round of the competition that was held in June at Yamaha’s Southeastern headquarters in Kennesaw, Georgia.
The USTGP is an intense, two-day, hands-on technical skills challenge that pits dealership technicians from around the country against each other in a battle that tests all aspects of their mechanical aptitude.
In the competition, technicians face challenges that incorporate such areas as precision measuring, fuel injection and electrical troubleshooting, customer interview skills and service information gathering.
The finalists were graded by Yamaha Technical Training staff on the following real-world metrics:
1. Approach to the problem
2. Overall attitude and work habits
3. Final diagnosis of the problem
After the competition, the three finalists were escorted to Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, for a private tour of the facilities during the AMA Pro Racing National that was held at Barber on the same weekend. An awards dinner was held where the final results were announced.
Top three technician finalists:
1st place – Eric Romanowicz of Mondus Motorsports – Hudson, WI
2nd place – Bryan Harner of Yamaha of Camp Hill – Camp Hill, PA
3rd place – Tom Blackwell of Le Bard & Underwood – La Habra, CA
The contestants also attended Round 5 of the AMA Pro Road Racing series at the Barber Motorsports Park and were given VIP treatment by the Monster Energy Graves Motorsports Yamaha and Yamaha Extended Service/ Pat Clark Racing/ Graves Yamaha race teams with full access to the team paddock and hot pits.
For more information about Yamaha, visit www.yamaha-motor.com.
