Wikipedia

Liz Halliday-Sharp

Elisabeth Halliday-Sharp (born December 14, 1978)[1] is an American equestrian, race-car driver and commentator. She was born in San Diego, California, and currently lives in Lexington, Kentucky.[2] Before becoming a full-time equestrian, Halliday was the most successful female driver in the American Le Mans Series with six victories.[3] Halliday has stated that her ambition is to become the first woman to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and to earn a spot on the United States Equestrian Team.[4] In August 2024, Halliday suffered a traumatic brain injury during competition.[5]

Liz Halliday
Halliday at the 2006 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers' parade
Nationality United States
BornElisabeth Halliday
(1978-12-14) December 14, 1978 (age 45)
San Diego, California, U.S.
Lotus Cup UK career
Debut season2012
Previous series
2010
2010
2010
2005-07
2004-08
2004-05
2004
2003
2001-04
2001-03		Kumho BMW Championship
Rolex Sports Car Series
Silverstone Classic
24 Hours of Le Mans
American Le Mans Series
European Endurance Racing Club
Oulton Park International Gold Cup
Bathurst 24 Hour
British GT Championship
FIA GT Championship
Awards
2010
2005
2003
2002
2002		Italian Historic Cup GT1 Winner
Dailysportscar Rookie of the Year
Kumho Driver of the Day
Kumho Driver of the Season
EERC Driver of the Day
Medal record
Equestrian
Representing the  United States
Pan American Games
Silver medal – second place 2023 Santiago Team eventing

Career

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Equestrianism

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Halliday first rode horses when she was eight years old, and went to England as a pupil of William Fox-Pitt. Halliday is an eventer.[6] 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.[4] Her hopes of qualifying for the United States equestrian team for the 2004 Summer Olympics were dashed when she was eliminated in a jumping event.[7]

In May 2021, Halliday and her ride Deniro Z were named to the U.S. eventing team for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.[8] She was withdrawn shortly before the Olympics after Deniro Z got sidelined through injury.[9]

In 2024, Halliday was named as the travelling reserve for the U.S. eventing team at the 2024 Summer Olympics. After Will Coleman pulled out of the competition, Halliday and Nutcracker made their Olympic debut.[10][11][12][13]

On August 29, 2024, Halliday suffered a traumatic brain injury after falling during a cross country round at the USEA American Eventing Championships.[14][15] Her horse, Shanroe Cooley was reportedly uninjured in the fall.[16]

Racing

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Halliday first started racing at age 16 in a 1967 Datsun 510 that she shared with her father, Don, who was a Sports Car Club of America instructor and vintage racer.[4] When she attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, she was involved in low-level motor clubs and the Vintage Auto Association.[17] In 2001, Halliday raced in the Kumho BMW Championship 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, earning her "Driver of the Day" honors.[18] In 2003, Halliday became the first woman to win a British GT Championship round.

In 2005, Halliday made her 24 Hours of Le Mans 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.[2] A year later, she finished fourth in the class. After her contract with Team Modena was terminated, Halliday raced for the Noël Del Bello Racing Team in a Courage-AER LC75, which she shared with Romain Iannetta and Vitaly Petrov.[19] However, the team was only able to finish 198 laps at the 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans, and finished 38th.[20]

In parallel, Halliday competed at the LMP2 class of the American Le Mans Series 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, where she finished second overall.

Halliday had a two-year hiatus from racing to be a commentator for Eurosport covering the 24 Hours of Le Mans, as well as an expert judge at Speed's GT Academy series.[21] She also covered the American Le Mans series for CBS Sports throughout 2007, as well as for Motors TV during their Le Mans broadcasts. Halliday has also served as a mentor and judge in the Sky One series The Race.[22]

It's a big honour for me to have been selected for the GT Academy USA expert panel alongside two legends of American motorsport, especially as we have now helped to ignite one man's future racing career. We've seen with Lucas in Europe that a talented virtual racer also has the potential to become an excellent professional driver in the real world. To step from virtual simulation to Le Mans 24 Hours in just over three years is an unbelievable achievement and one that our winner will be hoping to emulate one day. Their life is about to change forever and I'm really excited to be a part of that.[21]

— Halliday about being selected for GT Academy's expert panel

In 2012, Halliday made her return to racing in the Lotus Cup UK series at Silverstone Circuit for John Danby Racing,[23] and finished the race second after starting in last place.[24]

At the 2014 and 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, she worked as a pit-lane reporter for the Eurosport television network.[25]

Motorsports career results

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Rolex Sports Car Series

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Grand Touring

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(key) Bold – Pole Position. (Overall Finish/Class Finish).

Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series GT results
Year Team No. Chassis 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Pts
2004 The Racer's Group 67 Pontiac GT3 RS DAY HOM
(16/3) 		PHO
(26/4) 		MOT
(28/7) 		WGL
(34/9) 		DAY
(16/4) 		MDO
(16/5) 		WGL
(29/7) 		HOM VIR BAR FON 15th 156

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

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Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2005   Intersport Racing   Sam Hancock
  Gregor Fisken 		Lola B05/40 / AER LMP2 119 DNF DNF
2006   Intersport Racing   Clint Field
  Duncan Dayton 		Lola B05/40 / AER LMP2 297 19th 4th
2007   Noël del Bello Racing   Vitaly Petrov
  Romain Iannetta 		Courage LC75 / AER LMP2 198 DNF DNF

Equestrian career results

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CCI5* results

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Results
Event Kentucky Badminton Luhmühlen Burghley Pau Adelaide
2015 EL (Fernhill By Night)
2016 40th (HHS Cooley)
EL (Fernhill By Night)
2017 EL (Fernhill By Night)
2018 8th (Deniro Z)
2019 EL (Deniro Z) 15th (Deniro Z)
2021 10th (Deniro Z)
42nd (Cooley Quicksilver)
EL = Eliminated; RET = Retired; WD = Withdrew

References

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  1. ^ "HALLIDAY Elisabeth". Olympics.com. 2024. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Blue Fox Farm; Lexington, Kentucky". lizhallidaysharp.com. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  3. ^ "Liz Halliday NEWS". Racerchicks.com. Archived from the original on July 6, 2012. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
  4. ^ a b c "Riding Fast with Liz Halliday". Equine-world.co.uk. Archived from the original on December 14, 2010. Retrieved July 17, 2012.
  5. ^ Spickard, Sally. "Liz Halliday Update 9/11: A Good Day - Eventing Nation - Three-Day Eventing News, Results, Videos, and Commentary". eventingnation.com. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  6. ^ "Equestrian Racecar Driver". Horsechannel.com. November 5, 2007. Retrieved July 17, 2012.
  7. ^ Center, Bill (June 17, 2004). "Engines and equines | The San Diego Union-Tribune". Utsandiego.com. Retrieved July 17, 2012.
  8. ^ "US Equestrian Announces U.S. Eventing Olympic Team for Olympic Games Tokyo 2020". USEF. May 27, 2021. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  9. ^ "US Equestrian Announces Substitution for U.S. Eventing Olympic Team". USEF. July 7, 2021. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  10. ^ "Will Coleman Out, Liz Halliday In For US Eventing Team In Paris - The Chronicle of the Horse". Retrieved July 29, 2024.
  11. ^ "1 Spun, 5 Held At First Olympic Eventing Horse Inspection - The Chronicle of the Horse". Retrieved July 29, 2024.
  12. ^ "Olympic debutante called up as top nation make last-minute change to Paris eventing team". Horse & Hound. July 26, 2024. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  13. ^ "Liz Halliday Leads the Way for Team USA With Nutcracker at 2024 Paris Olympic Games". USEA : United States Eventing Association Inc. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  14. ^ Spickard, Sally. "Update on Liz Halliday at American Eventing Championships - Eventing Nation - Three-Day Eventing News, Results, Videos, and Commentary". eventingnation.com. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  15. ^ Rauwolf, Angela (September 9, 2024). "Update on Liz: Monday Sep. 9th". LizHallidayEventing. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  16. ^ "An Update on Liz Halliday at the AEC". USEA : United States Eventing Association Inc. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  17. ^ Petter Solberg (January 1, 1970). "BBC Wales - Colin Jackson's Raise Your Game - In the zone - Liz Halliday". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved July 17, 2012.
  18. ^ "Liz Halliday Racing CV". Lizhalliday.com. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012. Retrieved July 17, 2012.
  19. ^ "Liz Halliday confirmed in Noel Del Bello Courage". Planetlemans.com. May 30, 2007. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
  20. ^ "2007 24 Hours of Le Mans Results and Competitors". Experiencelemans.com. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
  21. ^ a b — 22 September 2011 (September 22, 2011). "Halliday To Appear On Nissan GT Academy Judging Panel | Female Racing News | News about Women in Motorsports". Female Racing News. Retrieved July 17, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  22. ^ "Liz Halliday TV - Broadcaster / Presenter". Lizhalliday.com. November 12, 2006. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved July 17, 2012.
  23. ^ "Halliday primed for Lotus debut at Silverstone | Driver Database News". News.driverdb.com. April 13, 2012. Retrieved July 17, 2012.
  24. ^ "Stunning comeback helps BWRDC Mentor Halliday score second on Lotus debut". Motors TV. April 18, 2012. Retrieved July 17, 2012.
  25. ^ "halliday set for annual le mans appearance with eurosport international". June 5, 2015. Archived from the original on June 30, 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
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