BEN Taylor will make his Porsche Sprint Challenge debut next year and he’ll have a significant supporter behind him.
Taylor was diagnosed as autistic with ADHD at age 17, and is determined to inspire people on the autism spectrum to believe in themselves.
Coming from a background in karting and Formula 3, his 2024 campaign will be backed by auticon, an IT consulting firm which employed more than 465 autistic people around the globe.
With the #25 entry launched today at Porsche Centre Melbourne Motorsport, auticon “will deploy its autistic data analysts and software engineers to build insights that will take Ben’s driving to the next level”.
Said Taylor: “auticon is an organisation that focuses on the strengths of autistic people like me.
“As an IT professional services business, the team at auticon have adopted a saying, ‘autism is not a processing error, it’s a different operating system’. Meaning autism is really a different way of thinking.
“One of the more common traits of people on the spectrum is an ability to be hyper-focused. In IT this helps with things like error detection and strengths in data analysis and coding.
“For me, I believe that my autism helps to keep me to be hyper focused on the intricate details of racing, such as timing stopping distances and corner speeds. It really enables my abilities as a high-performance athlete.
“Through this partnership I really want to start a conversation about the key strengths of autism, and I want to inspire others on the spectrum not to underestimate what they have to offer our community.
“I thank auticon for their support this season, and I’m really looking forward to what lies ahead.”
Bodo Mann, managing director and CEO of auticon Australia and New Zealand, spoke with excitement about the journey ahead.
“We’re looking forward to applying some fresh thinking to motorsport data analytics,” he said.
“The team have already identified some opportunities to enhance racing insights and really add value to Ben’s on track performance.
“This partnership is a fantastic opportunity to showcase autistic strengths in action and we want to demonstrate the power of neurodiversity and how thinking differently can be a real asset.
“We believe that what is true in sport is true in business, and we plan to illustrate how embracing neurodiversity can offer a competitive advantage.”
Mann added: “As it happens one of the first investors in the company was the Porsche family and it fills us with great pride to know that we are now working alongside this great brand in such an important venture.”
The 2023 Porsche Sprint Challenge season wrapped up on the weekend, with Marco Giltrap winning the title. He will graduate to Porsche Carrera Cup Australia next year.
