Shell partners with Accenture and Dorna to mentor world-class racers

Accenture, one of the world’s leading multinational management consulting and outsourcing company, has recently partnered with Shell to mentor and develop young motorcycle racers in the Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup to allow the racing community to develop a talent pool for future race champions. With headquarters in Dublin, it is the world’s largest consulting firm as measured by revenues and is a Fortune Global 500 company. As of 2014, Accenture had reported net revenues of over USD 30.0 billion with approximately 319,000 employees, serving clients in more than 200 cities in 56 countries. In Philippines alone it has a manpower pool of about 35,000 and Accenture’s current clients include 89 of the Fortune Global 100 and more than 75% of the Fortune Global 500.

Shell believes in leveraging an interactive learning program to enhance the racers’ careers and prepare them for the professional world. Together with Accenture, it has tapped Dorna Sports to launch an interactive mentorship program for 22 motorcycle riders from across Asia-Pacific who will compete in the 2015 Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup. The program’s acronym is aptly called CHAMPS, which stands for Creating Higher Ambitions, Mentoring Program Success. Its goal is to help talented Asian racers not only with riding and racing skills, but to build their communication and interpersonal skills, which will be needed in their professional careers once they compete in the higher classes of racing.

This comprehensive eight month curriculum will give the racers access to Accenture’s Learning Exchange, which has more than 50 courses ranging from career and professional development to technology and financial literacy. Each online class is around 15 minutes long, in English, can be accessed from a variety of devices and taken as many times as a participant likes, in any order.

“Together, Accenture, Dorna Sports and Shell are bringing to bear our expertise, leveraging the power of digital solutions, and fostering professional development amongst an already talented and promising group of professional athletes,” said Thomas Chew, Managing Director, Resources Client Lead, Accenture in Malaysia. “We share a commitment to provide the young riders with the skills necessary in their journey towards being a professional motorcycle rider and to making an impact in their lives.”

“Dorna Sports is keen to help our motorcycle riders develop professionally, which includes polishing non-track skills, so we are pleased to be offering continuing education programs that are available 24-7. This is all part of our service to ensure our athletes are prepared for their careers of today and tomorrow.” Said Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO, Dorna Sports.

“The primary role of the Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup is to nurture young talent from countries which do not have a culture of motorsport in the same way as those in Europe and North America. Shell Advance has unique experience in working with teams, manufacturers and promoters at the highest level of the sport and is proud of the successes already achieved in the first year of the championship. Four riders from Japan and Malaysia have now graduated to wider international series and in the first two races of our 2015 season we have seen victories for Thai riders – a nation that has never topped the podium before. We are delighted to welcome Accenture as Learning partner to the Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup, to bring significant depth to the training and mentoring our young riders can benefit from both on and off the track.” said Andrew Hepher, Shell GM Global Marketing, Lubricants.

In addition, the participants will receive one-on-one mentoring in interview techniques, writing skills and professional development from Accenture volunteers matched from the participants’ home country, which include Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. This writer was able to meet Kyle Paz, the Philippines’ lone rider for the Asia Talent Cup and mentorship program at Doha, Qatar during the Commercial Bank Grand Prix of Qatar or also known as the Qatar MotoGP. Paz felt a bit discouraged when he did not finish his race in Doha due to mechanical problems in his race bike. Despite his young age and lack of exposure, he intimated that he has already received invitations for other racing opportunities in other programs based in Europe. At the moment, the wise thing to do is to keep his sights on making sure he maximizes his potential in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He still has a long way to go and he needs to focus on working hard to train and extract every opportunity in this mentorship program.