Every two years, vehicle glass repair technicians go head-to-head to see who the best in their field is.

The national winner then represents their country in the global industry’s biggest competition ‘The Best of Belron’ which next year will take place in Lisbon, Portugal. A competition which is considered the Olympics of vehicle glass repair.

This year, Tauranga resident David Jones has made it through all the challenges and, after years of trying, has secured himself a spot at the finals in Auckland this week.

David has repaired, replaced and recalibrated thousands of windscreens for Tauranga locals during his 12 years at the company and for five of those years, he has tried to get a place to represent Tauranga and New Zealand at the biggest Worldwide Glass repair competition. 

“Our head of training used to ring me every two years when the competition would roll around and say, ‘Sorry David but you’ve done it again - another one point off the leaders!’. But this time he rang me to tell me I had finally made it into the top six," says David.

“I am so determined this time around. There is been a lot of training, but as long as I do my area proud, I will be happy with any outcome.”

New technologies in the automobile industry have been built into the car’s windscreen. One of those is the Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, designed to alert drivers of hazards or obstacles and take control of the vehicle if necessary, as part of all windscreen repairs and replacements, technicians need to use all their skills to calibrate this system with entire precision.

“It’s added a lot more time and skill to the job. There's a minimum of 40 steps we carefully follow, and each of those steps has got a specific safety function," David says.

“Customers typically don’t understand how important car glass is for their vehicle safety. As well as housing a camera that lots of ADAS rely on, a windscreen is 30 per cent of the structural strength of a car. So, if a car were to ever roll over, the windscreen is a big part of what holds the roof up.”

‘The Best of New Zealand’ competition will give David the chance to show off the skills and experiences gained during his time at the company and also the chance to all his family and friends the quality of the service he brings every day to his community.

“I am so determined this time around. There is been a lot of training, but as long as I do my area proud, I will be happy with any outcome.”