Hiab announces World Crane Champion

Hiab announced Johnny Jensen as the winner of the first World Crane Championships, the final of which was held at the Commercial Vehicle Show in Birmingham, UK.

Jensen from Denmark won with a time of 2 minutes 18 seconds. He took away a prize of €25,000 (US$26,600).

Runner up was Tobias Bergström from Sweden, with a finishing time of 2 minutes 30 seconds and Martin Utpatel from Germany was in third place, with a time of 2 minutes and 37 seconds.

For the competition, Jensen operated a Hiab X-HiPro 192 through a series of obstacles. The aim of the competition was to try and beat a time set by the anonymous crane pro Eric - Hiab's very own The Stig.

Jensen said, “I am absolutely thrilled and happy to win this prestigious competition and delighted about my time. The atmosphere was so fantastic today!”

Carl Gustaf Göransson, Hiab senior vice president, sales and markets, said, “The enthusiasm for the World Crane Championships has been tremendous, with people flying in from all over world, and a staggering amount of interest from the media and spectators. There is no better way to show off our fantastic Hiab cranes than with the world's best crane drivers.

“The success of this event means that we are committed to doing this annually, and I am pleased to announce that the 2016 World Crane Championships will be staged in Germany at the IAA Exhibition. So I would like to say to all the skilled crane drivers around the world: we look forward to seeing you next year, in our search for the Hiab World Crane Champion 2016.”