06/12/2017 – Honda would like to congratulate Scott Carthew from Peter Stevens Service Centre in Melbourne after winning the National Honda Certified Technician (HCT) Excellence Award for 2017.

The awards recognise the achievements of Australia's best Honda dealership based service technicians who participate in the Honda Certified Technician (HCT) training program. The Excellence award is a point's system competition run from the technicians' HCT training.

Mr Carthew is head technician at Peter Stevens Service Centre in Kensington and has been servicing motorcycles since he was 17.

"To be named the national winner was overwhelming and it means a lot that Honda recognise the effort we put in to doing the training. It shows that a little hard work and commitment can pay off."Carthew said.

The award ceremony took place at Honda Motorcycle, Power Equipment and Marine head office in Melbourne on October 19. Awards were presented to regional winners and then the overall national winner was announced.

Regional winners include; Joe Ricci from Busselton Motorcycles (WA), Michael Valence from Griffith Motorcycle Centre (NSW/ACT) and Turlough Khabibulin from Team Moto (QLD)

Honda's Training Manager, Lincoln Bowdern, highlighted how vital service technicians are within Honda's dealer network.

"I believe that technicians not only sell themselves with every job they do, they are also selling the dealership and building trust and strong relationships with the customer. Here at Honda, we are proud to support our technicians and give them the recognition that they so richly deserve. We want to shine a spotlight on those technicians who strive to be the best and recognise them for their achievements." Bowdern said.

"We also want to recognise the dealerships that support these technicians in their endeavours to be the best in the industry and recognise the benefits not only for the technician but ultimately for the dealership and the customer." Bowdern added.

Now in its eighth year, the HCT Training program began to enhance technicians' skills in servicing, diagnosing and repairing Honda motorcycles and ATVs through online modules and face-to-face classes conducted by Honda staff.

The national winner takes $2000 in prize money and all winners receive an exclusive prize package consisting of: Star Cash cards courtesy of Caltex Australia Petroleum Pty Ltd; HCT apparel and VIP tickets to the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island with access to the exclusive Honda Marquee. They also attended the prestigious Honda Champions Dinner and met with Honda Team Riders for autographs and photos.

Honda would like to congratulate all 2017 finalists and the dealerships for supporting them and their contribution to the HCT Training program and look forward to running the program again in 2018.