More than 3,000 enthusiastic spectators in the f.a.n. frankenstolz arena in Aschaffenburg experienced the two-day event, which concluded with a live show by Culcha Candela.

When Benjamin Danker balanced his forklift over the Weber HeroRamp in the final run with a tower stacked on its tines and almost four meters high, closely followed by his opponent Michael Schubert, you could have heard a pin drop - that's how spellbound several thousand spectators were watching the action in the packed f.a.n. frankenstolz arena. Everyone knew that two of the greatest forklift athletes were in their element and were making StaplerCup history! In the end, Benjamin Danker came out on top. With a spirited sprint up to the buzzer and to thunderous applause from the spectators, he secured the German Championship in forklift driving with a time of 3:18.818.

Spectators were able to experience this and many other highlights at the StaplerCup in Aschaffenburg on October 28 and 29, 2022. The two-day sporting event, which brought together the national and international forklift driver elite, offered exciting duels - between company teams, between nations and, of course, the forklift drivers in the individual men's and women's competitions. In total, the 17th StaplerCup attracted over 100 participants.

The first day of the event kicked off with the corporate team championship. This year's field of participants was peppered with well-known names, from BMW to Caterpillar and Continental to Würth, all of whom were gunning for the trophy of defending champion TeamLog.

Some of the big names - such as FRoSTA and Caterpillar - were eliminated in the preliminary rounds. In addition to defending champion Teamlog, BMW, Motherson, Würth and Grüner Systemtechnik also made it to the semi-finals. The two finalists were determined in a total of five exciting head-to-head duels. Grüner Systemtechnik and Teamlog qualified - a pairing that should not be unfamiliar to forklift fans! The two company teams have already competed in the final in 2021.

With an ambitious start, Grüner Systemtechnik quickly built up a clear lead over Teamlog. Grüner was the first to drive onto the Weber HeroRamp with great concentration and already looked like a sure winner - and then it happened. In the heat of the moment, the driver overlooked one of the side lines when returning the order picking truck to the parking position, which led to the Grüner Systemtechnik team being disqualified. Teamlog now held all the aces, mastered the Weber HeroRamp with a cool head and a sure hand and drove to the title again with a confident performance.

After a three-year break, 2022 also saw the return of an international competition. In the NationsCup, 10 nations competed for the most coveted trophy in international forklift truck sport. Of course, the German team, which has already won the competition previously known as the "International Championships" nine times, also took part.

Drama already in the heats: The NationsCup was opened by Germany and France and just a few moments after the start of the run it was announced: Germany is disqualified! Shock paralysis in the hall. Now only the video evidence could provide clarity. After a brief consultation, the referees determined that the German team's run had to be repeated due to an incorrectly attached course element. At the second attempt, Markus Zenger, Melanie Holl and Eduard Kismann confidently delivered a remarkable lap time.

Spectators were also treated to exciting pairings in the semi-finals: Estonia vs. Germany, Netherlands vs. Slovakia and France vs. Italy. In the direct duel with the strong Estonians, even the favored Germans ran out of steam. The Italians, who have already been able to call themselves "International Champions" in the past, did not make it to the final either. Slovakia and the Netherlands, who had already gone head-to-head in the semi-finals, faced each other there at around 18:00.

3, 2, 1, Go: both nations duelled again. The teams drove onto the Weber HeroRamp almost simultaneously, still close together. The tower, which had to be balanced over the oversized steel seesaw, also held up for both competitors. Only the spirited final spurt, up to the buzzer, decided the victory. Slovakia thus secured its first Nations Cup title.

The second day was all about the individual competitions: in the morning, hundreds of fans in the f.a.n. frankenstolz arena cheered on the 23 men and 12 women who had qualified for the StaplerCup final via the regional championships.

The preliminary heats showed once again just how challenging the StaplerCup course is, as many experienced athletes were eliminated here. Even some rookies, who had arrived with broad chests and high expectations, were beaten by the treacherous steel bumps, the almost four-metre-high Victory Tower and, of course, the Weber HeroRamp - an oversized steel seesaw.

With a significantly reduced field of participants, the semi-finals then began. There, the six best female forklift drivers in Germany battled it out for a place in the final. Melanie Holl continued her impressively focused performance from the preliminary rounds and secured a place in the final as defending champion. Daniela Eilers, who had already finished on the podium several times in the past, followed her with similar confidence.

There was a short breather after the exciting semi-finals at the CharityCup. The audience was able to watch well-known personalities such as Bavarian State Minister for Digital Affairs Judith Gerlach, two-time world wrestling champion Alexander Leipold and Don Cali from Culcha Candela as they used the forklift to collect donations for the Deutscher Kinderschutzbund Kreisverband Aschaffenburg e.V. (German Child Protection Association).

Shortly after 7:30 pm, the time had come: Melanie Holl climbed into her electric forklift as the clear favorite and challenged Daniela Eilers in the 2022 StaplerCup final. The run of both forklift heroes started promisingly - halfway through the course, Holl had the forks slightly ahead. As in the heats, she drove confidently towards the Weber HeroRamp - and that's when it happened! Shortly before the middle of the steel rocker, the Victory Tower started to sway and fell! This cleared the way for Daniela Eilers, who calmly parked the almost four-metre-high tower at the end of the seesaw, bravely shifted into reverse, raced up to the buzzer in a furious finish and crowned herself the new German champion in forklift driving.

The hall, already full of energy after the dramatic women's final, then witnessed the two finalists Michael Schubert and Benjamin Danker tackle the course one last time in the men's final.

Cheered on by more than 3,000 spectators on site and hundreds of enthusiastic fans in the livestream on YouTube and Facebook, Michael Schubert mastered the steel bumps with a slight lead. Closely followed by Danker, the final run escalated into a neck-and-neck duel that approached the Weber HeroRamp almost simultaneously. Both finalists took the ascent of the steel bump with aplomb. But then Michael Schubert stopped his truck too abruptly, causing the Victory Tower to sway - and then fall. Benjamin Danker noticed this immediately in the corner of his eye, drove off the Weber HeroRamp with the necessary composure and secured the title of German Champion in forklift driving with a sprint up to the buzzer.

With Daniela Eilers and Benjamin Danker, the forklift world can look forward to two new German champions. The StaplerCup 2022 came to a worthy conclusion on Saturday evening with a performance by Culcha Candela.

After around 90 minutes of concerts and two eventful days full of highlights on and off the StaplerCup course, the curtain closed on the StaplerCup 2022 with visibly happy forklift heroes and an all-round satisfied audience