AUSTRALIA’S Patrick Doheny has been crowned the winner of the Caterpillar Global Operator Challenge.
More than 5,500 operators from around the world have been competing in the competition since last spring. Patrick Doheny triumphed out of nine finalists who made it to the final round in the Cat Operator Stadium in Las Vegas.
The challenge is one of the largest construction industry events, with operators from nearly three dozen countries participating.
“Caterpillar created this competition to celebrate machine operators who build our world, advocate and drive awareness for their trade, and highlight solutions that address jobsite challenges,” said Jason Hurdis, Caterpillar Global Operator Challenge execution lead and global market professional. “All of the competitors – and especially our nine finalists – showed tremendous skills and abilities operating the latest Cat construction machines and technologies, manoeuvring through some difficult challenges and showing the world the invaluable role they play in infrastructure creation.”
The final round saw the participants grouped into teams of three – Team Americas, Team Europe, and Team Asia. The nine finalists competed individually and as teams, as they faced three challenges in a specially constructed stadium featuring stands, fans, big-screen TVs, and play-by-play announcers.
The finals kicked off with the ‘Fork ‘n Loader’ challenge, where each operator used the Cat 950 wheel loader with Payload technology to load and move material through specified locations. The ‘Backhoe Services’ challenge had operators using both ends of the Cat 420 XE backhoe to open a small box and place small objects inside. This challenge was designed by Jaus Neigum, the 2020 Caterpillar Global Operator Challenge World Champion. During the final ‘Trench Run’ challenge, operators showed off their trenching skills using a Cat 315 excavator equipped with Grade technology.
Final scores were based on skill, efficiency, and competence in executing a variety of tasks, with penalties imposed for errors.
Patrick Doheny prize was a trip for two to a location where Caterpillar has one of its worldwide production facilities.
“I am beyond thrilled to have earned the title of the best Caterpillar machine operator on the planet,” he said. “Kudos to Caterpillar for hosting such an incredible event to highlight the importance of our profession. It is truly a dream come true to see your life’s passion be rewarded in such an amazing way.”
In second place was Matt Ferris from the United States, and third place was awarded to Łukasz Mokrzyński from Poland.
