Now an established name in the motor racing
fraternity, Eddie "The Legend" Hall has made a name for himself as a
fast, if sometimes controversial, driver.
His first experience behind the wheel was at an ‘arrive and
drive’ karting venue during a trip to Silverstone on his 12th
birthday in 1993. He spent the next two years competing mainly in non-championship
events in the Anglia Karting Junior league before moving across to
compete in the Indikart Junior championship in 1996. Eddie only competed
in the opening race of the season before being forced out of the championship
and had to contend himself with spending the rest of the year doing
open practice sessions.
The year testing did not go to waste, however. Eddie was easily the
man to beat as he stormed to the championship in 1997. He was also
invited to take part in two challenge races for the Club, winning the
home race with ease.
During this year, Eddie purchased his own kart and made his debut
in the Regional CBKC Senior championship in mid season. After a shaky
start he quickly got on the pace and claimed his first victory in a
non-trophy meeting at the end of the year.
Despite no testing over the winter, Eddie turned up for the opening
race of 1998 and totally annihilated the competition. Unfortunately
after such a promising start, the rest of the season was something
of a disappointment. A quick but often erratic driver, poor mechanical
reliability and a lack of finance hampered Eddie and he only managed
one more win. In truth, he was ill-prepared and out of his depth technically
to ever be competitive. Despite this, however, he managed to take the
championship fight down to the wire and proved to be one of the most
naturally gifted drivers in the field.
By this time, Eddie had already set his sights on moving up the ladder
into racing cars. After a disastrous opening race of 1999, Eddie decided
to call time on his karting career. Determined to make his racing car
debut when he was 18, Eddie focused all his efforts on raising the
money to take part in the Jim Russell Racing Scholarship.
After graduating from the scholarship, Eddie made his Formula Ford
debut at Silverstone. Despite showing flashes of promise, he could
finish no better than 8th in the Goldline Bearings Supercup. By this
time, Eddie had completely run out of funds and walked away, disillusioned,
at the end of the season with very little to show for his efforts.
It would be nearly two years before Eddie made a return behind the
wheel after a fun karting event in 2001 lead to a test with Club100
at the end of the year. With his passion re-ignited, Eddie made a return
to full time competition in 2002 in the Sprint championship. Eddie
was touted as the “impressive newcomer” in his opening
race and quickly made a name for himself both on and off the track.
His performance in his rookie year had attracted the attention of
endurance teams. As well as continuing in the Sprint championship,
he also made his endurance debut first with Racing Imperative before
being snapped up by IMSD Racing.
Eddie combined his Sprint Racing duties with a handful of Endurance
races for IMSD Racing in 2004 including making his international
debut at the famous Spa Francorchamps circuit in Belgium. He became
a full time member of the squad in 2005 as the reigning City Challenge
champions launched their assault on the Inters Championship. In a truly
remarkable year, the team took 9 podiums in 12 races, winning 5 times
(including class wins at the Lance Yeomans Memorial Race and the Spa-Francorchamps
10 Hour) on their way to the championship.
Moving up to the Premier Clubman Championship in 2006 was a disappointment
in comparison. Despite winning at Spa for a second consecutive year,
the team only managed 4 other podium finishes and finished a distant
3rd in the championship.
2007 saw a move up to the Premier championship but sadly the team were
not competitive and slipped back into the mid-field. Before the year was
over, Eddie announced his intention to leave the team at the end of the
season and join 3Cubed for an assault on the Premier and European Championship.
Unfortunately the team failed to meet expectations and after only one
season, Eddie again jumped ship for 2009 to join Target Racing.
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