homecoming at Petit
Liz Halliday will be heading back home next weekend to contest her first American Le Mans Series round in 18 months.
The duel sportswoman, originally from San Diego but now living in the UK, will be competing at Petit Le Mans, one of the most prestigious sportscar races in the world, in the ultra competitive LMP1 class.
Liz will be teaming up with LMS regulars Creation AIM who together will make their annual trip across the Atlantic to contest the North American championship’s final two rounds.
Liz first raced with Creation at Nurburgring in August where she and Stephen Simpson achieved an encouraging result. Although that remains Liz’s only experience of the heavier and more powerful LMP1 machines, she does at least have previous form around the fast and flowing Road Atlanta course.
In 2005 she took a class victory behind the wheel of an LMP2 Lola before finishing fourth a year later with Intersport Racing on her last visit to the Georgia circuit. Creation have also enjoyed success there after taking the outright pole position in 2006 and an LMP1 class podium in 2007.
Liz will share the car with Stuart Hall who campaigned regularly for the team throughout the 2008 LMS season. The pair will be joined by sportscar debutant Dean Stirling in their specially adapted Creation that for the first time will run on a greener, cleaner bio-ethanol fuel.
The race will mark the start of a hectic fortnight for Liz. After completing the ten hour enduro, she will fly back to the UK and then on to Holland to contest her final equestrian event of the season in the Boekelo CCI***. From there, it’s back on a plane to the UK for one night before flying across the Atlantic in time for the final round of the ALMS championship at Laguna Seca in mid-October.
“I’m excited to be back in the ALMS. I’ve been away for two years and it’s going to be really cool seeing everybody again.” said Liz. “It’s a great championship and I love racing in the US - the fans are always fantastic and hopefully they will be happy to see me back in a car again."
“It’s a great circuit but at the same time it’s quite challenging and very easy to lose time. There’s a lot of ups and downs and surface changes so that’s something to look out for. It’s also a heavy braking circuit that demands commitment. This will be the first time that I have driven this or any LMP1 car at the circuit so it will be a new experience for me!
“Creation have always done well in America and have proved that they are competitive here. I’ve got complete confidence in the team, especially after the race in Germany so I’m really looking forward to it!
“Obviously we want to finish as far up as we can with no incidents and do a good job for the team. Hopefully we can get a podium. It’s going to be a tough challenge what with a grid full of Audis, a Peugeot, Porsches and Acuras but at the end of the day you’ve got to have a go. In a race like that anything can happen.”
