Express News Service By

CHENNAI : A bike mechanic from the Temple Town was awarded the best technician award at Yamaha’s World Technician Grand Prix — a global competition with participants from 18 countries. Shy, soft-spoken Meenakshi Sundaram, a mechanic who has been working with Alageson Motors in Madurai was the man who bagged that honour at the competition held last week in Japan, “I was given the task of fixing a faulty fuel injection pump in 90 minutes, but I managed it in under an hour,” says the mechanic who is overwhelmed with all the attention.

This is a huge boost for students who take courses in the Yamaha Technical Academies across the country. Every two years, they participate in a national grand prix and the champion is then sent to the global competition to represent India. Masaki Asano, managing director, Yamaha Motor India Sales, said, “Yamaha Motor Company organises the WTGP contest in Japan once in two years to select the world’s No 1 Yamaha service technician. It was earlier dominated by European countries winning the top spot in the championship. We are indeed glad to see India coming forward and winning the title this time. This was the second time Yamaha Motor India was a part of WTGP 2014 and this win by Meenakshi Sundaram makes us very proud indeed.”

Describing himself as a ‘simple’ mechanic who toiled away in a mechanic shop since 1998, Sundaram says that if it hadn’t been for his owner’s commitment in sending him for these courses and workshops, he would never have gotten this far.

Speaking at the event to felicitate the winner, Ravinder Singh, vice president - Strategy and Planning, Yamaha Motor India Sales, said, “We have shown to the world that we are no less in any field, and today we have proved that we have the best motor technicians as well. We have had 3,831 mechanics pass through our academies till this July and for most of them it has been life changing.”

With six academies already functioning, he added that four more were to be opened by the end of the year — one of these is at Chennai, while two are in Kerala and another is in Bhubaneswar. “We are on the verge of entering into an agreement with Don Bosco to set up an academy here, so we will be able to help several youngster who are unable to complete their education,” he added.