Following an extensive Australian and New Zealand call-out to Capricorn members over the past six months to nominate their best performing apprentices, the top five finalists for the Capricorn Rising Stars competition have been selected.
The Capricorn Rising Stars competition was developed to assist Capricorn members to reward and retain their highest performing apprentices by recognising their important contribution, while highlighting the promising future that lies ahead of them within the industry. Through this national recognition, Capricorn hopes to encourage more apprentices to join and make their mark in the industry.
In what is nothing short of an outstanding response, more than 500 nominations were received from Capricorn members in this inaugural year of the Capricorn Rising Stars competition.
Capricorn is delighted to announce that the top five Capricorn Rising Star apprentice competition finalists are:
- Jayden Barnes: Anthony’s Car & Head Centre, NSW
- Michael Holmes: Automotive Insight & Head Centre, NSW
- Mark Smith: The Battery Terminal, ACT
- James Trachy: Robson Brothers 4WD, WA
- David Wynands: BMW Manawatu and Hawke’s Bay Ltd, NZ

The difficult task of uncovering the winner from each of these outstanding automotive technician apprentices now falls into the hands of the highly experienced Capricorn Rising Stars judging panel that represents a who’s-who of the Australian automotive aftermarket industry.
The Capricorn Rising Stars judging panel includes:
- David Fraser: CEO Automotive, Capricorn
- Sean Rahaley: General Manager, Castrol
- Stuart Charity: Executive Director, AAAA
- Brendan Sorensen: TaT Biz
- Rachael Sheldrick: Director, Workshop Whisperer
- Gavin Cribb: Education Manager ACE, Bendigo Kangan Institute
The apprentice automotive technician who is selected as the winner of the Capricorn Rising Stars competition will take his workshop boss and two friends on a trip to the spectacular 2018 Vodafone Gold Coast 600 Supercar race event held on the streets of Surfers Paradise from October 19 to 21 thanks to major sponsor, Castrol.
The Capricorn member who nominated the winning Capricorn Rising Stars apprentice will also receive industry renowned Workshop Whisperer customer service training for their business and their apprentice as part of the winner’s prizes.