Interviews
Interview - Giles Acford


Interview: Giles Acford, Businessman / Entrepreneur: 14th July 2004


GILES ACFORD, WHO IS HE????

NAME: GILES ACFORD

WHERE DO YOU LIVE: Newlyn, it's a little town just out of Ballarat in Victoria

STATUS: Single

OCCUPATION: I run several small businesses, a fencing business a metal fabrication business called Custom Canopy's were I build canopy's, roll bars, dog boxes, roof racks etc it's a new business but will grow (fingers crossed) quickly, and a Tree transporting business moving seedlings from nursery's to farms etc usually thousands of seedlings at a time

RADIO STATION MOST LISTENED TO: Triple J

FAVORITE MOVIES: Gone in 60 seconds is pretty good, Clint Eastwood has to get a mention

INTERESTS OTHER THAN MOTOR RACING: I love living in the country and enjoy doing all the normal county things, after coming back from London in 98 where I was a motor cycle courier I decided that living in the city wasn't for me, the camping and fishing, horse riding life is for me, with a touch of high speed and Adrenalin ever know and again

WHAT INTERESTS YOU ABOUT MOTOR RACING: Well I enjoy the more extreme sports, I enjoy the feel of Adrenalin pumping through the old veins, motor racing isn't just about Adrenalin rushes as there's a lot to controlling a heavy object, that if it isn't out of control, it wants to be, its also a team environment which is usually closely bound and where all people in the team have first hand experience of the thrills of victory and the agony of defeat. Skill and Risk.

WHAT IS YOUR AIM IN MOTOR RACING: First place of course, I'd like to compete with the big boys in such events like The Australian Safari, or The Finke Desert Rally and id most certainly love to race in The Paris Dakar Rally, id like to pay the bills through motor racing and be invited around the world to compete in endurance races of all types, even giving other forms of racing a go such as jet boats and super motard a go. The enjoyment of pushing ones self to the limits of endurance and skill.

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS: Its actually been some years of planning and execution of plans to get here and might I say, a far amount of good and bad luck, a number of years ago I tried to build a mid mounted Ute in someone else's factory as I didn't have my own and it ended up with a lot of hard work going down the drain, it was a very good experience but very disappointing end, it took a while to get the right property to house the project and a lot of money to get to where I am now (I need a lot more support before I can think of racing) as every one knows, life is never a straight line.

AT WHAT STAGE IS THE CAR AT: At the moment the car is being fitted with a variety of new parts some parts are built so that at a later date they wont need as much work to get them firing such as the motor, which is a 4.6 aluminum block with ported aluminum heads including strengthened valve guides and valves, the gear box has been rebuilt using all heavy duty gear, the original body has been cut down and a coupe style canopy has been fitted, if I keep this body I shall be building another canopy for it, its boots will be 35inch, only because this car has to be used to get in and out of Melbourne on a regular basis and I will get extra fuel economy, the car will be straight gas until its final preparation. I must point out at this stage id like to start afresh and keep this car as my road car and build one from scratch as vie found several changes that could be made to the race car which would make huge performance gains, pictures aren't available at the moment but I'll be sure to send you some ASAP I can assure you it looks the goods.

IN WHAT WAY DOES HAVING YOUR OWN WORK SHOP HELP YOU: Well I have learnt the hard way and id like to be as professional about this as possible as it is very important to me, a large new shed costs a far amount and it ate into my budget heavily but I couldn't do without it and I don't have to pay two rents, you know what they say about a bloke and his shed, he is as happy as a boy with two dicks

HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH GREG TINGLE: Well Greg's a champ a couple of years ago he and I hooked up over the injustices that men face in the family court and the trouble the laws cause in society, I was going through a rough stage and I was and still am fighting to change things, Greg has been a supporter of change and published a few articles that I wrote, as we got to know each other a bit more we realized that we could help each other achieve our goals, an easy decision given that Greg is the professional that he is

WHO'S HELPED YOU SO FAR: I know its cliché but good not so old mum and dad have been great help not that they want me racing but they can see I cant settle until I have reached these goals, and know Greg Tingle, apart from them I have had to do most of this on my own which has been very enjoyable for the most part I m now at a stage where I need to add other people and businesses to this question, there's so much more to do just to get to a start line

IN WHAT WAY DOES TECHNOLOGY PLAY A PART IN YOUR PROJECT: Well just in life its huge and a very important part of the team not just the car its all the other forms of modern communications that are vital to a project like this, the computers needed to transfer pictures and varieties of information from different locations performing a variety of jobs like filming the journey then cameras including lipstick cameras etc need to be sought from somewhere, then of course the more our sponsors help us the more advanced we could make the car the greater the chance of standing on the podium

HOW FAR DO YOU THINK YOU ARE FROM THE CAR BEING READY TO RACE: If we can get a sponsor who will allow a healthy build budget we could build a car buy late this year and ready to do next years races, if the budget remains the way it is, max'd out then probably a considerable amount of time, I can promise that when the car is finished it will be an head turner insuring maximum exposure for our sponsors

WHAT COLOUR ARE YOU THINKING OF PAINTING THE CAR: I'm thinking of black mostly then making it look like the black has been ripped of in strips down the sides of the car to expose burnt orange, in several other parts of the car make the paint look like its been peeled of to expose small areas of burnt orange, within the orange down the side would be Media Man logo and our other sponsors there's plenty of room if any body is interested

WHAT ROLE DO SPONSORS PLAY IN A PROJECT LIKE THIS: Sponsors are the guts to the project, most projects only happen if a variety of sponsors back the project, motor racing is a sport that attracts large spectator numbers and in some parts of the world motor racing like rallying is the national sport, advertising works in many different environments and for many different reasons motor racing has instant appeal to a large audience, given Greg's in involvement in this project I'm sure the sponsors will get a good deal of favorable coverage, and we hope to lift the profile of the type of racing that we going to attempt to do, Greg will provide more coverage to me on his superb website than what some v8 Super Car teams get on other mainstream media outlets

WHAT DO SPONSORS GET WHEN THEY SUPPORT YOUR PROJECT AND GOALS: With every bit of my heart I hope, a winning team a successful team and great returns on there investments in me

YOUR RACING EXPERIENCE IS MINIMAL, WHY SHOULD BUSINESS INVEST WITH YOU: Although my experience is minimal my desire is unending, its probably the knowledge I have of myself from doing all the other things in life that I bring to the table I know how I learn and how I get to where I want to go, I know my limits and I know how to push for excellence in performance

WHY ARE YOU AIMING AT THIS FORM AND CLASS OF RACING: I ve always been attracted to building a car to race and always wanted to race something that could be called an animal of a car, lots of noise and even more dirt being thrown around, this class stands out to me a bit more than others but id still give any other class or form a bash

ARE YOU GOING TO FILM THE JOURNEY YOUR ON: Id very much like to keep a video diary so we can show people all the ups and downs along the way I think if people can get the coverage they will be interested in how it evolves. When a technology company is willing to take the ride we will be able to show the world

WHY HAVE YOU CHOSEN THE CAR THAT YOU HAVE:

I've chosen this car on the grounds that it comes with a light wait engine and the available interchangeable parts are plentiful how ever they do come at a price, with this car you do pay for brand name but it is backed up with some very good parts and the simplicity is an advantage also, it also for the most part comes with an aluminum body, the car in all its varieties is a very sound proven race winning breed

WHY DO YOU THINK YOU CAN WIN: Once again it comes back to what's inside me, I believe in myself and what I can do its only a matter of me getting the project to come together

WHAT SORT OF SPONSORS DO YOU WANT TO WORK WITH: Any, in the way of product there selling, as for the relationship, everything would be done to achieve the targets and goals of all party's, a welcome sponsor is a supporting one who under stands the greatest pressure any one can put on me will come from myself

WHAT SHOULD SPONSORS DO IF THEY WANT TO DEAL WITH YOU: If you have any inquires don't hesitate to contact Greg Tingle, we will welcome any inquiry that you may have

* FOR ANY MORE INFORMATION PLEASE DON'T HESITATE TO CONTACT GREG TINGLE, MEDIA MAN…

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Unrealised Dreams, Un-used Talent, by Giles Acford

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