The first-ever United States Technician Grand Prix (USTGP) was held at Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. in Cypress, California on June 4 through 6. The purpose of the exciting competition was to help move Yamaha into the lead in customer satisfaction at every Yamaha dealership in America.

The inaugural USTGP was held in the new Yamaha Technical Academy (YTA) lab in Cypress, California. Capable of accommodating 12 to 15 technicians at a time, the new facility has been in continuous use since its opening last fall. The lab is motorcycle and ATV specific and the majority of the training focuses on troubleshooting and diagnostics of Yamaha’s newer technologies in one-week classes.

The USTGP competition represented the 13 top technicians from each of the 2006-2007 YTA’s “Gold” level classes in a variety of electrical, mechanical and fuel-injection diagnostic challenges—plus computer and people-skills tests—all designed by the YTA staff. Cody Frost of K&N Motorcycle Inc. in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was the winner, followed by Chris Sirucek of Ray’s Sport & Cycle in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in second and David Cote of Berkeley Yamaha in Berkeley, California, in third.

As their reward, Frost and Sirucek will head to Yamaha’s global headquarters in Japan next October to compete in the World Technician Grand Prix (WTGP) contest.

They hope to earn bragging rights as the world’s best Yamaha Technician!