Komatsu Wodonga's customer Ross Wilkinson couldn't believe his luck when he found out he'd won a visit to his premises by Komatsu V8 Supercar stars Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes and he was keen to share the experience with his mates.
Ross had signed up for Komatsu's K-Class parts promotion, which included the opportunity to have a visit from Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes.
Ross and his wife Karen run Coral Bank Excavations out of Tawonga in Victoria's Kiewa Valley, about an hour south of Albury.
Brendon Piera, Komatsu Wodonga's CSSR, transported the Komatsu BBQ trailer to Ross and Karen's property and the scene was set with Ross's two Komatsu excavators framing the shed where the event took place.
"When I told my mates we'd won a visit from Jamie and Craig, they didn't believe me," he said.
"I really wanted to share my prize with Karen and our younger daughter Chloe (our older daughter Jade is studying in Adelaide) and also our friends.
"It was a unique experience having Jamie and Craig come here to Tawonga; we don't usually have V8 Supercar champions visiting this part of the world!" said Ross.
Ross carries out general contracting in the region, including specialist tree removal, roadwork's and farm excavations, as well as doing lots of work for Victoria's Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, which includes revegetation and fire management works.
Ross's and Karen's family heritages go back generations in the Region.
Karen's great-grandparents lived on the same property that she and Ross live on now, while Ross's dad Alan was a logging contractor in north-eastern Victoria, carrying out hardwood logging operations from the late-1960s.
Ross is originally from Corryong, about 140 km east of Tawonga and says while he considers himself a local, "some in the area might debate that!"
Their current fleet consists of a Komatsu PC200-8 purchased in November last year and a PC45MR-3 excavator bought in early 2014.
Ross's history with Komatsu goes back many years, to when he was working with his father who purchased a used D65 Komatsu dozer.
Around 2006, Ross purchased a Komatsu PC200-6 for use in the logging business but with this business keeping Ross away from home for extended periods, Ross decided to set up their general earthmoving and specialist tree removal business servicing the Kiewa Valley.
"That first excavator I'd purchased was a great machine, it never let me down, and was an incredibly reliable machine," he said.
"However, it got to about 15,500 hours and we really needed to upgrade, so we bought our new PC200-8.
"And while the reliability is still there in the new machine, you just can't compare the advances in power and comfort with our new Dash 8.
"In addition, Komatsu's Komplimentary Maintenance offering really gives us peace of mind," Ross said.
And now, with Ross signing up for K-Class parts, Ross and Karen also have the security of knowing that Komatsu guarantees parts availability for their machines.