Hiab Crowns World's First Crane Champ
Hiab, part of Cargotec, declared Johnny Jensen from Denmark as the first ever World Crane Champion. The Competition was held today at the Commercial Vehicle Show in Birmingham, U.K. with a winning time of 2 minutes 18 seconds. Mr Jensen is taking away a prize of €25,000.
The first runner up was Tobias Bergström from Sweden, with a finishing time of 2:30, and Martin Utpatel from Germany came in third place, with a time of 2:37.
To become World Crane Champion, Johnny Jensen manoeuvred a state-of-the-art HIAB X-HiPro 192 through a series of obstacles. The aim of the competition was to try and beat a time set by the anonymous crane pro 'Eric' - Hiab's very own The Stig - on a challenging course which included toppling water-filled drums with a load whilst keeping the crane below a crossbar.
"I am absolutely thrilled and happy to win this prestigious competition and delighted about my time," said Mr Jensen. "The atmosphere was so fantastic today!"
Carl Gustaf Göransson, Senior Vice President, Sales and Markets at Hiab, said: "The enthusiasm for the World Crane Championships has been tremendous, with people flying in from all over world, and a staggering amount of interest from the media and spectators. There is no better way to show off our fantastic HIAB cranes than with the world's best crane drivers."
"The success of this event means that we are committed to doing this annually, and I am pleased to announce that the 2016 World Crane Championships will be staged in Germany at the IAA Exhibition. So I would like to say to all the skilled crane drivers around the world: we look forward to seeing you next year, in our search for the Hiab World Crane Champion 2016."
