The international Young Car Mechanic contest brings together the best young mechanics from all over Europe every year. It is a chance for them to verify their skills and compete for valuable prizes. This year's final was held in Lithuania, where competitors from ten countries met. Who proved to be the best?
4 days full of emotions
The final stage of the "Young Car Mechanic" International Contest which was held in Lithuania and lasted for four days ended with great success for Poland. The winner of this year's edition was Oliwer Jeger, who represented the country at the International Final. Second place went to Latvian representative Egils Ausejs, and third place to Lithuanian representative Sebastijonas Benediktas Čečkauskas. This year, young car masters from ten countries where Inter Cars operates competed in the final stage.
The prizes in the contest were as impressive as the participants' skills. In addition to the cash prize, the winner, Oliwer Jeger, received workshop equipment that will certainly be useful for his further career development. Cash and in-kind prizes also were given to the second and third-place winners.
Oliwer Jeger, the winner of the contest, shared his thoughts on the preparations: "Education at the highest level at school, for which I thank Mr. Mark, was crucial. I also participated in numerous training courses that were rewards for my previous achievements, such as a several-day training course on electric-powered vehicles at the VW center in Poznań and a three-day training course in Eindhoven organized by DAF. My passion for motorization began thanks to my Dad, who is a mechanic with 25 years of experience - we often work on cars together. I recommend everyone to try their skills in this contest, it's worthwhile to aim high!"
His teacher, Mr. Marek Pacion, also pointed out the role of the support he provided to the students: "The most important form of support I gave Oliver and other students at the school was free access to my car lab, where they could work on their ideas and projects without restrictions and under my supervision. I believe that we learn the most by experiencing various complications and issues during a chosen task. Finding a solution and solving a problem is a valuable experience that gives a lot of satisfaction."
Armands Umbrasko, the manager responsible for the Young Car Mechanic project, emphasized the importance of the contest: "When we talk about the level of participants, we should look at each country individually. It is much more meaningful to compare the average performance of each country year by year. When the top ten young mechanics from ten countries meet during the final, we have to remember the great importance of personal factors - stress level, mood, language barriers, and others. Every year we increase the level of the competition which is great! “
Everyone can be a car mechanic
This year, in addition to the official participants, it is important to mention the participation of two young girls who study car mechanics in Lithuania. Both ladies showed deep understanding and a high level of skills in the same tasks as boys. Through this contest organizers would like to encourage more girls from all participating countries to take an active part in all contest stages and and challenge the boys!
Additional attractions
During their visit to Vilnius, the contest's teachers had the opportunity to learn how the Vilnius Auto Mechanic and Business School functions. A school representative gave the guests a tour of the facility, explaining the educational principles and methods for preparing young mechanics for the profession. They also had the opportunity to taste traditional Lithuanian dishes, visit the museum of old cars (Auto Muziejus Vilnius), admire Vilnius during a ride on a roofless bus, listen to stories about the history of the city and the country, and take part in a go-kart race together with the students.
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New Old Car project
A new twist in the Young Car Mechanic project was added this year - the New Old Car project. The idea is to give a second life to used cars by putting together efforts of contest participants, their teachers, project Partners, and organizers.
The car chosen for this was the 2016 Hyundai i20 and all involved specialists did a series of significant improvements on the car – new brake discs and pads installed, changed engine and gearbox oil, belts, and exchanged light bulbs and wipers.
“This is an excellent way to create practical value during the skill contest. This work will not just go to evaluation sheets of contest tasks, but the car will be renovated and improved to be given to charity and live its second life!”: concluded the main organizer of the International Final in Lithuania Andrius Zilenas.
About contest
The next edition of the International Final of Young Car Mechanic will be held in Zagreb, Croatia. We can expect modern tasks related to new technologies in the automotive industry, as well as tasks on trucks, which maintain their position on the contest's agenda.
Young Car Mechanic is a competition dedicated to young, talented auto mechanics, which is aimed to promote the profession and develop participants' practical and theoretical skills. This year, more than 8200 students from 460 technical schools competed. The total prize pool for the competition was worth €75,000 and was divided among students, teachers, and schools.
The organization of the contest has been supported by renowned automotive companies such as ZF Group, Bosch, Schaeffler, Meyle, Shell, Febi, Continental, Elring, Filtron, Varta, Valeo, NRF, Milwaukee, Delphi, and MotoRemo.
Please visit youngcarmechanic.com. for more information about the contest.