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
Articles
Unrealised
Dreams, Un-used Talent, by Giles Acford
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