Wellington technician for Subaru world final

Media Information August 16, 2007

Wellington technician for Subaru world final

Rick Wheeler from Armstrong Subaru in Lower Hutt will represent New Zealand at the World Subaru Technician competition to be held in Japan in November.

Wheeler won his place in the final after competing in regional competitions at Subaru Australia’s new National Technical Training facility which is based at the Eastern Creek Raceway in Sydney’s western suburbs.

Together with Craig Packard from Winger Subaru Hamilton and Fraser Smith of Armstrong Subaru Christchurch, Wheeler won through to the Sydney competition after local eliminations.

Australia’s leading technicians were also competing at Sydney at the same time as the three Kiwis. The New Zealanders showed yet again our smaller country is no impediment to competing against the “West Island”.

The competition included tests on vehicle fault finding; mechanical assembly; diagnostic interpretation and an interview with senior Subaru technical staff.

Wheeler is the service foreman at Armstrong Subaru, where he has worked for the last three years. Now in his 20th year in the motor trade, the 36 year old is looking forward to his first trip to Japan.

He has a wide range of experience with the brand, including working with several rally teams, including former national champion Joe McAndrew.

“Rallying teaches you to think quickly because you never seem to have much time to fix things,” said Wheeler.

It was the first time Wheeler has competed in the Subaru Star Awards Technician of the Year competition.

The local competitions were designed to be as similar as possible to what Wheeler will face in Japan with representatives from Subaru importers and distributors world wide.

The Subaru World Technical Competition is designed to recognise the expertise of technicians within the worldwide network, and follows in the spirit of Subaru's competitive nature and continuing drive for excellence.

Wheeler will head for Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru’s parent company) Technical Facility in Tokyo in the first week of November.

ENDS

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