In our latest Where Are They Now feature, we phoned up one of Australia’s most well-known and successful road racers, Shawn Giles, to find out what he’s been up to since retiring from full-time racing.

Giles was a mainstay of domestic competition, and made his mark as our most successful racer. To this day he remains the only rider in the history of the Australian Superbike Championship to win three consecutive championships.

And when he wasn’t winning championships he was still in the mix. In the six years from 2000 to 2005, the Team Suzuki rider finished in the top three placings on all six occasions.

Giles announced his retirement from the sport on a typically-successful note, after finishing third alongside Josh Waters at the Australian Endurance Championship 6-Hour event at Phillip Island in December of 2010.

Though he raced on a number of different brands throughout a successful domestic and international career, he spent the final 12 years with Suzuki, a rare level of loyalty to a single make.

“After I retired I joined Suzuki in an ambassador role,” explained Giles. “In terms of the team I was there to try to help the younger guys learn and pinpoint anything I felt they could benefit from.

“I was the extra set of eyes. If I thought there was something they could work on then it was my role to tell them. I was working with Josh Waters and Troy Herfoss a fair bit, and as you know they know what they’re doing. They didn’t need much help.

“But any question I could answer I did, and I was pleased to be able to give them as much information there as I could.”

Shawn Giles in his final season of Australian Superbike competition in 2010. Image: Andrew Gosling/TBG Sport.

Away from the racetrack, Giles was and still is a recognised face and fronted a number of Suzuki launches, events and announcements.

“I did a lot of work with Suzuki at the motorcycle shows, whether they had them in Sydney or Melbourne. There was a fair bit involved there and it was good to represent the brand and be able to meet with Suzuki owners.

“I also did a fair few model launches and press announcements. Last year I ran the test rides at the Suzuki Dirt Classic here at Wallerawang, where people could test-ride the 450 motocrossers.

“This has carried over into 2013 too. Earlier this year I went up to Maryborough in Queensland and helped out at the test rides at the Ulysses annual meeting up there.

“It’s really good to still have that strong relationship and association with Suzuki – they’ve given me a lot over the years and been a strong supporter of mine.”

While he wasn’t racing the ASBK events, Giles still spent a fair bit of time on track as he held the team’s two-up pillion program.

“It was great doing the two-ups,” continues Giles. “It’s allowed people to get an experience of what it’s like riding the Superbike – how easy we get on the throttle, how good the tyres are and how far you can lean the bike over.

“It gives people a really good experience of that and I’m sure a lot of people get off and feel like they want to get out and have a go. That’s what I want. I’m not there to scare the living daylights out of them, more to show them how much of a rush it is.”

Giles can’t stay far from a race track and says being a part of the classic meets has been some of the most enjoyable racing he’s done. Most recently he fended off the likes of Jeremy McWilliams, Cameron Donald and Beau Beaton to taste success at the Island Classic at Phillip Island.

Giles headed Suzuki’s two-up program as part of his ambassador role. Image: Andrew Gosling/TBG Sport.

“The Katana is awesome to ride. It’s probably got pretty much the same horsepower as what my first 1000 had and I’ve been able to do some pretty good times at Phillip Island and Eastern Creek,” he says.

“At the Barry Sheene I qualified on a 35.9 lap on the grand prix circuit, so that’s getting an old bike around there pretty fast. It’s exciting, it’s like a new era to my racing. It gives me something else to challenge for.”

Giles’ passion for motorcycles has also branched into adventure riding. “I’ve got a DL1000 V-Strom, and hopefully this year myself and a bunch of mates will be riding down to Phillip Island and trying to go on dirt the whole way.

“In the past I’ve had plenty of commitments around the GPs and World Supers but this year should be a lot of fun to do something different. The adventure riding is right up my alley.”

And it seems that Shawn has passed on his passion for two wheels to his son, Cooper, who competed in his first race recently.

“We went up to Woodstock, a dirt track near Cowra, and he got his first experience of racing on a 65. He’s got the little RM-65, which is no longer around, but I managed to get a hold of a good one. He doesn’t want to ride anything else but Suzuki, which is good!”

Giles still plays an active role in the ASBK, and will be sharing the commentary booth at Queensland Raceway to add some special insight to the race calls. He still follows the progress of the championship closely and thinks there’s a number of contenders for the title this year.

“Every morning I get up and try to see what’s going on,” said Giles. “Hopefully Wayne [Maxwell] can come through and win it for Suzuki. Glenn [Allerton] has certainly got the BMW dialled but we’ll see what happens at Queensland.

“I know it’s a place Jamie Stauffer traditionally wins at, so it will be interesting to see what he can do. But my hopes are on Maxwell. He’s been trying really hard to win that championship so hopefully he’s got the right formula with Team Suzuki.”

Along with his continued involvement in the sport, Giles is spending plenty of time with engines of a different kind, working with a range of excavators and earth-moving equipment as a part of a family business.