Elisabeth Halliday (born December 14, 1978) is an American
equestrian
The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse".
Horseback riding (or Riding in British English)
Examples of this are:
*Equestrian sports
*Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...
, race-car driver and commentator. She was born in
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, and currently lives in
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...
.
Before becoming a full-time equestrian, Halliday was the most successful female driver in the
American Le Mans Series
The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The American Le Mans' hea ...
with six victories. Halliday has stated that her ambition is to become the first woman to win the
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...
race and to earn a spot on the
United States Equestrian Team
The United States Equestrian Team (USET) refers to the American national teams in Olympic and non-Olympic disciplines of horse sport. US Equestrian, the governing body of horse sport in the United States, selects, trains and funds the teams. The O ...
.
Halliday was scheduled to make her Olympic debut in equestrian at the
2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
, but was withdrawn with less than a month to go following a minor injury to her horse.
Career
Racing
Halliday first started racing at age 16 in a 1967
Datsun 510
The Datsun 510 was a series of the Datsun Bluebird sold from 1968 to 1973, and offered outside the U.S. and Canada as the Datsun 1600.
The 510's engineering was inspired by contemporary European sedans, particularly the 1966 BMW 1600-2 — ...
that she shared with her father, Don, who was a
Sports Car Club of America
The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional r ...
instructor and vintage racer.
[ When she attended the ]University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...
, she was involved in low-level motor clubs and the Vintage Auto Association. In 2001, Halliday raced in the Kumho BMW Championship
The Kumho BMW Championship is a single make racing series based in the UK. Exclusively for BMWs, the championship is run by the BMW Racing Drivers Club in conjunction with the British Automobile Racing Club (BARC). The championship is a BARC reg ...
series for Mosely Motorsport in the M3 E30, and was named "Driver of the Season" in 2002. A year later, Halliday recorded one win and broke the class lap record at Croft
Croft may refer to:
Occupations
* Croft (land), a small area of land, often with a crofter's dwelling
* Crofting, small-scale food production
* Bleachfield, an open space used for the bleaching of fabric, also called a croft
Locations In the Uni ...
, earning her "Driver of the Day" honors. In 2003, Halliday became the first woman to win a British GT Championship
The British GT Championship is a sports car racing series based predominantly in the United Kingdom. The series was originally created by the British Racing Drivers' Club in 1993 and, for its first two seasons, was known as the National Sports GT ...
round.
In 2005, Halliday made her 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...
debut in the LMP2 class, and was leading the class until she was forced to retire eleven hours into the race due to engine problems. A year later, she finished fourth in the class. After her contract with Team Modena was terminated, Halliday raced for the Noël Del Bello
Noël del Bello (born 25 December 1942 in Nantua
Nantua (; Arpitan: ''Nantuat'') is a commune in and subprefecture of the Ain département in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 3,454. The co ...
Racing Team in a Courage-AER LC75, which she shared with Romain Iannetta
Romain Iannetta (born 27 November 1979 in Villecresnes) is a French racing driver who last competed in the GT4 European Series, driving the No. 77 Audi R8 (Type 4S), Audi R8 LMS GT4 Evo for Full Motorsport. He also competes part-time in the NASCA ...
and Vitaly Petrov
Vitaly Aleksandrovich Petrov ( rus, Вита́лий Алекса́ндрович Петро́в, p=vʲɪˈtalʲɪj ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ pʲɪˈtrof; born 8 September 1984) is a Russian racing driver who drove in Formula One for Renault F1 ...
. However, the team was only able to finish 198 laps at the 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 75th 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: ''75e 24 Heures du Mans'') was a 24-hour automobile endurance race for Le Mans Prototype and Grand Touring cars, which took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe, near Le Mans, France, from 16 to 17 June 200 ...
, and finished 38th.
In parallel, Halliday competed at the LMP2 class of the American Le Mans Series
The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The American Le Mans' hea ...
for Intersport Racing, finishing sixth in 2005 and vice-champion in 2006. She collected three class wins in each season, most notably at the 2005 Petit Le Mans and the 2006 12 Hours of Sebring
The 2006 12 Hours of Sebring was the 54th running of this event, and took place on March 18, 2006. The race was sponsored by Mobil 1 and was the opening race of the 2006 American Le Mans Series season run by IMSA.
This race marked the first ti ...
, where she finished second overall.
Halliday had a two-year hiatus from racing to be a commentator for Eurosport
Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, its international sports unit, it operates two ...
covering the 24 Hours of Le Mans, as well as an expert judge at Speed
In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a scalar quanti ...
's '' GT Academy'' series. She also covered the American Le Mans series for CBS Sports
CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...
throughout 2007, as well as for Motors TV
Motorsport.tv was a pan-European digital television channel dedicated to motorsport. It ceased broadcasting in late September 2018 to concentrate on web-streaming only.
Launched in 2000 as Motors TV, it broadcast an extensive range of nationa ...
during their Le Mans broadcasts. Halliday has also served as a mentor and judge in the Sky One
Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...
series '' The Race''.
In 2012, Halliday made her return to racing in the Lotus Cup UK series at Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit is a motor racing circuit in England, near the Northamptonshire villages of Towcester, Silverstone and Whittlebury. It is the home of the British Grand Prix, which it first hosted as the 1948 British Grand Prix. The 1950 ...
for John Danby Racing, and finished the race second after starting in last place.
At the 2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
and 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 83rd 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 83e 24 Heures du Mans) was an 24-hour automobile endurance event for Le Mans Prototype and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance cars held from 10 to 14 June 2015 at the Circuit de la Sarthe, close ...
, she worked as a pit-lane reporter for the Eurosport
Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, its international sports unit, it operates two ...
television network.
Equestrianism
Halliday first rode horses when she was eight years old, and went to England as a pupil of William Fox-Pitt
William Speed Lane Fox-Pitt (born 2 January 1969) is an English equestrian who competes in eventing. His career highlights include winning three Olympic medals in the team event, with silver in 2004 and 2012, and bronze in 2008. At the World ...
. Halliday is an eventer
Eventing (also known as three day eventing or horse trials) is an equestrian event where a single horse and rider combine and compete against other competitors across the three disciplines of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. This ...
. She was a member of the Fallbrook Pony Club and the Southern California Show Jumping team, which finished third in the National Pony Club Championships. Her hopes of qualifying for the United States equestrian team for the 2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...
were dashed when her horse got eliminated in a jumping event.
In May 2021, Halliday-Sharp and her ride Deniro Z got named to the U.S. eventing team for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. She was withdrawn shortly before the Olympics after Deniro Z got sidelined through injury.
Motorsports career results
Rolex Sports Car Series
Grand Touring
(key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) Bold – Pole Position. (Overall Finish/Class Finish).
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
Equestrian career results
CCI5* results
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Halliday, Liz
1978 births
Living people
American female racing drivers
American expatriate sportspeople in England
American female equestrians
24 Hours of Spa drivers
European Le Mans Series drivers
American Le Mans Series drivers
24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
FIA GT Championship drivers
Rolex Sports Car Series drivers
British GT Championship drivers
24 Hours of Daytona drivers
21st-century American women
Racing drivers from San Diego
University of California, Santa Barbara alumni
Equestrians at the 2023 Pan American Games
Medalists at the 2023 Pan American Games
Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in equestrian