Aftermarket October 2022

Above: The Top Technician semi- finals were a hive of activity, where techs were demonstrating their skills 18 AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2022 TOP TECHNICIAN AND TOP GARAGE www.toptechnicianonline.co.uk TOP TECHNICIAN 2022: SEMI FINAL All the action from the Top Technician 2022 live semi-final E arly September saw Top Technician 2022 get to the live stages, and the top tier of contestants that made it through the three online rounds had the chance to test their skills in the semi-final. The venue was the Delphi Technical Training Centre in Warwick, which will also be hosting the final on 1 October, as well as the final for Top Garage. The semi-finalists for Top Technician 2022 were Andrew West, James Leach, Oliver Hayward, John Hall, Simon Parkinson, John Fountain, Gary Birse, Bryan Swales, Nigel Spalding, Kelvin Tuttle and Nigel Yardley. The group included a number of regular participants and a few new faces. As is customary, a morning group and an afternoon group faced the various challenges set up by the judges. Leading them as usual was Ian Gillgrass, ably assisted by regular judge Glenn Cutter, Pico’s Steve Smith, Wilf Goodman from Technical Topics and JLR’s Rob Lewis. Expectation As the first cohort limbered up for the challenge, Ian Gillgrass set the scene: “There are six tasks to do. They are all 20 minutes long. Good luck.” Looking to the tasks, there was a Land Rover Discovery with a horn not working. Then there was a Audi eTron where there was a need to disable and reinstate the high voltage system. Next up a Ford Fiesta needing a vehicle health check, a broken-down Toyota Prius and a Nissan Leaf with a non-functioning heated rear windscreen. Lastly, Top Technician and Top Garage 2022 sponsors Motul had set a task where the contestants needed to identify the correct oils for a number of components on a BMW M3 E46. Glenn Cutter added: “These are normal logical tasks. The only reason they will seem hard is because you have a timescale.” As they got ready, some of the contestants had comments. As far as regular contestant Andrew West was Sponsored by: