Patrick Doheny of Australia–by way of Ireland–is the winner of the Caterpillar Global Operator Challenge! Doheny competed all day on Tuesday, March 14 in a battle for the top operator prize, a trip for two to anywhere in the world where there is a Caterpillar facility. Doheny said in an exclusive interview with ForConstructionPros.com that he plans to go to Italy for his grand prize trip.
Doheny particularly excelled in the wheel loader challenge, using a Cat 950 wheel loader to build a tire tree precisely and quickly.
"I think the wheel loader was probably my favorite, even though it's probably my weakest," Doheny said immediately after being crowned the winner of the Caterpillar Global Operator Challenge. "But it just went very well. It was my first one off this morning, so it was a good start today."
Patrick Doheny, right, of Australia took home the largest trophy as the world champion of the Caterpillar Global Operator Challenge at 2023 CONEXPO.Erica Floyd
Keep an eye out for an exclusive podcast with Doheny on our Digging Deeper podcast channel.
In second place was Matt Ferris from the United States, and third place was awarded to Łukasz Mokrzyński from Poland.
Other awards presented were:
- Wheel loader challenge winner – Patrick Doheny from Australia
- Backhoe loader challenge winner – John Schiedeck from the United States
- Excavator challenge winner – Łukasz Mokrzyński from Poland
- Highest-scoring team: Team Americas (Fernando Do Nascimento from Brazil and Matt Ferris and John Schiedeck, both from the United States)
The Nine Finalists
Representing Europe, Africa, and the Middle East:
- Sebastian Behr – Germany (placed third in the 2019/2020 Caterpillar Global Operator Challenge) with 35 years as an operator
- Pontus Ericksson – Sweden with 11 years as an operator
- Łukasz Mokrzyński – Poland with 15 years as an operator
Representing the Americas were:
- Fernando Do Nascimento – Brazil with 28 years as an operator
- Matt Ferris – United States (Arizona) with 20 years as an operator
- John Schiedeck – United States (Texas) with 16 years as an operator
Representing Asia-Pacific were:
- Patrick Doheny – Australia with 25 years as an operator
- Masato Imai – Japan with 20 years as an operator
- Nick Thompson – Australia with 15 years as an operator