Scania: Lars Sondergård Wins Scania’s Young Truck Driver Competition

Lars Sondergård from Denmark won the exciting Young European Truck Driver final. The competition was decided in Södertälje, Sweden, on Saturday afternoon and attracted close to 10,000 spectators. Lars Sondergård, who participated in the YETD final for the second time, beat 25 other talented young professional drivers from countries throughout Europe.

"I can’t belive it, the competition was very tight,” says Lars Sondergård.

"It has been fantastic to see how concentrated and focused the drivers have been during the competition,” says Erik Ljungberg, Senior Vice President and head of Scania Corporate Relations. "There is only one who can call himself the best young truck driver in Europe but I think all 26 can call themselves winners.”

When it was time for the final exercise, the Super Z, the only three combatants left with a shot at the first prize were Patrick Schildmann, Germany and runner ups Thomas Knüsel from Switzerland and Lars Sondergård from Denmark.

The first prize in the competition is a brand new truck from Scania, at a value of 100,000 euro.

A total of more than 22,000 young truck drivers under age 35 from 26 European countries competed in Scania Young European Truck Driver.

The final took place over a two-day period and included such tests as Defensive and fuel-economy driving, Cargo securing, Check before driving, Fight the fire, Safe manoeuvring and the classic Knock the King. The contestants in the final had to prove that they had the skill and attitude of responsible heavy truck drivers as they completed a programme consisting of complex manoeuvring and obstacle tests.

Scania Young European Truck Driver is a major part of a global initiative for responsible, safe driving that Scania started in 2003. By highlighting the role of the driver, Scania also wants to attract more young people into the driving profession.

"The driver is absolutely the most important factor in heavy vehicle transport,” says Erik Ljungberg. "Vehicles and infrastructure are obviously of major significance, but fuel-efficient and safe driving is primarily a matter of human behaviour. Through YETD, Scania wants to help raise the status of professional drivers and emphasise their great importance to the profitability of transport companies and to road safety, as well as to the reduced environmental impact. We want to help attract more young, capable drivers into the transport business.”

Scania’s Young European Truck Driver competition has the endorsement of the European Commission and the International Road Transport Union. Its sponsors are Michelin and Volkswagen. Scania is also running similar competitions in Latin America, Africa and Asia. The 2014/2015 competitions attracted a record number of some 100,000 contestants worldwide.

The complete list of results, as well as photos, scores from the final and an on-demand version of the final, are available on www.scania.com/YETDlive.

Scania is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of trucks and buses for heavy transport applications, and of industrial and marine engines. Service-related products account for a growing proportion of the company’s operations, assuring Scania customers of cost-effective transport solutions and maximum uptime. Scania also offers financial services. Employing some 42,000 people, the company operates in about 100 countries. Research and development activities are concentrated in Sweden, while production takes place in Europe and South America, with facilities for global interchange of both components and complete vehicles. In 2014, net sales totalled SEK 92.1 billion and net income amounted to SEK 6 billion. Scania’s press releases are available on www.scania.com (http://www.scania.com/se)

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