Caterpillar presents its Global Operator Challenge finals

Over 10 000 operators from 30 countries participated in local operator challenges held by 70 Cat dealers worldwide. Fewer than 100 semifinalists proving their mettle at the local level met on four different continents to compete in the regional championships, held in late 2019. In the end, nine showed their superior mastery of not only the machines, but also of the technology onboard, to earn a spot in the finals.

The finals of Caterpillar’s year-long Global Operator Challenge took place on Tuesday, 10 March 2020, inside Operator Stadium at the Caterpillar outdoor CONEXPO-CON/AGG Festival Grounds exhibit. Broken into three teams of three – Team Americas, Team Europe and Team Asia – the nine finalists competed individually and as teams as they faced three different skills challenges.

The event kicked off  with the Load & Carry challenge, where each operator used the Cat 962M wheel loader with production measurement technology to load and move material through specified locations in the course. The Control to a Tee challenge began with operators teeing off using a Cat 302 mini excavator, then navigating a course before sinking a putt with a golf ball. During the final In the Trenches challenge, operators showed off their trenching skills using a Cat 325 excavator equipped with Grade with 2D technology.

Finals scoring consisted of speed, accuracy and operating best practices, with penalties imposed for errors. Awards were presented to the overall event champion, the individual with the lowest time in each skills challenge and the team with the lowest combined score.

Championship awards

In the end, Canadin Jaus Neigum, the Americas West champion, was crowned the Global Operator Challenge Champion, with an overall low-time score of 16:28 for all three events.

“I’m walking on air right now,” he says. “This was absolutely amazing. What a great experience and Caterpillar should be so proud with what they’ve done here today. They made history.”

In second place, with a combined time of 18:02, was Ireland’s Thomas Murphy, Europe ehampion. Third place was awarded to Sebastian Behr of Germany, the Europe champion, with a combined time of 20:30.

Other awards presented included:

• “Load & Carry” winner – Jaus Neigum, the Americas West region champion, with a time of 3:31.
• “Control to a Tee” winner – Thomas Murphy, the Europe champion, with a time of 4:16.
• “In the Trenches” winner – Jaus Neigum, the Americas West champion, with a time of 6:48.
• The Team Europe champion, consisting of Sebastian Behr,Bruno Grossen and Thomas Murphy, with the lowest combined team average time of 20:49.

The nine finalists 

Team Americas

• Ben Sandy – Americas East champion, with 14 years as an operator.
• Jaus Neigum – Americas West champion with 20 years as an operator.
• Marcio Verissimo – South American champion, with nine years as an operator.

Team Europe

• Bruno Grossen – Europe champion, with 28 years as an operator.
• Sebastian Behr – Europe champion, with 38 years as an operator.
• Thomas Murphy – Europe champion, with 16 years as an operator.

Team Asia

• Hiroyuki Harada – Asia champion, with 24 years as an operator.
• Wilfren Jimenez – Asia champion, with 12 years as an operator.
• Yuji Tanaka – Asia champion, with 20 years as an operator.

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