GUNTER Dewit from Belgium has been crowned the winner of the EAME (Europe, Africa and Middle East) semi-final in the Caterpillar Global Operator Challenge (GOC).
Gunter and runners up (Nicolai Have Thomsen from Denmark and Sebastian Behr from Germany) will now advance to the final round of the competition, which will be held during CONEXPO-CON/AGG in Las Vegas in March 2026.
20 top machine operators gathered in Malaga, Spain for the EAME event, having already won local Cat dealer competitions to qualify.
The overall champion was Gunter Dewit, representing dealer Bergerat Monnoyeur Belgium. He finished the four GOC events with the lowest points total of 983, which is a combination of time and penalties. At the same time, Nicolai Thomsen from Denmark, representing dealer Zeppelin Denmark, completed the challenges with 1,048 points, emerging as the first runner up and Sebastian Behr from Germany, representing dealer Zeppelin GmbH with 1,101 points was second runner up.
The Touchdown Challenge saw competitors using a Cat 320 hydraulic excavator fitted with 3D GPS to pick up two rugby balls consecutively and drop them in a nearby basket. Contestants then needed to touch two targets using the machine’s 3D GPS technology.
In celebration of Cat’s 100th anniversary, the Centennial Push Challenge had operators put a D4 dozer through a pre-determined course within a specified time-frame. Operators were able to use optional aids via Steer Assist and Slope Assist, which are built into the machine to help with precision manoeuvres.
Featuring a Cat 938 small wheel loader, the Loader Labyrinth Challenge highlighted the agility and adaptability of operators as they navigated a dual-phase course. Starting with a bucket, participants loaded and hauled material along a marked path before dumping it into a Cat off-highway truck. The challenge then shifted to precision handling, where operators had to swap their bucket for forks and transport a pipe across a designated route and place it accurately on the ground. After reversing the process and reconnecting the bucket safely, operators reversed through the course to the original starting position. It was a test of speed, control, and seamless equipment transitions.
The Articulator Challenge featured the recently announced next generation 730 articulated truck where competitors manoeuvred the machine through a designated course. Operators had to avoid obstacles along the way before safely and precisely reversing to a pre-determined dumping area where they had to safely lower the truck body completely before returning to the travel position and coming parking correctly under a wheeled loader at the end position.
