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and now has his sights set on a career in international GT
competition, as he told DAN McCARTHY
Taking an alternate path to a carer in the sport by cutting his karting career short, Hall has already dabbled in Hyundai Excels, GT racing, SuperUtes, state level Touring Cars and Sports Sedans.
In 2021 Hall is competing in his first full-time national series, emerging as a front-runner in Porsche Sprint Challenge.
The category is the second-tier one make Porsche series feeding into Carrera Cup Australia, and is the first step on the pathway to international GT racing.
But he admitted it was a tough decision to move his focus away from his childhood dream of becoming a Supercars driver.
“When I was asked at school what do you want to do when you’re older, all I said was a Supercars driver,” Hall told Auto Action.
“We’d had a lot a lot of people telling us, the two pathways these days, it’s (either) Supercars or Porsche.
“We’d been in (between a) rock and a hard place with the decision to either go Supercars or GT racing.
“I’m loving the GT style of racing, it’s the style of racing I want to do for the rest of my life, so it (Sprint Challenge) really appealed to us. it’s the first big step in my professional career.”
At the age of five Hall started riding a Yamaha PeeWee 50, before moving to karting a year later.
Hall karted at a national level but over a six-year period found himself racing against some of Australia’s next international and national stars in Queensland.
“I was always on a podium,” he recalled. “I never got to the top step. We raced against some pretty high-level names, Jack Doohan, Broc Feeney, Zane Goddard and Nathan Herne, we definitely didn’t have it easy.
“I look back now, and I wish I had’ve (competed at national level). But we made a pretty quick step, I finished kkarting at about 12.”
From there Hall began to steer cars, first a Hyundai Excel where he had to learn how to drive a car, as he was not yet of age to drive on the road.
“Well, the first place you have to start is the clutch,” he laughed.
“Body roll is another thing to worry about, how you use the brake, the throttle and the limit of tyre.”
From Excels, Hall moved into more powerful machines, racing a Holden VE Commodore in the Queensland Touring Car Championship, contesting a round of the SuperUte Series, and driving MARC cars on a regular basis.
Hall explained this was all about gaining experience, and believes each vehicle was extremely beneficial for him as a driver.
“In racing you’re not going to be in the one car for the rest of your life,” he said.
“You’ve got to be able to adapt quickly and adapt properly, getting into a car and being able to handle it properly, within a few laps almost.
“I’ve taken a very different journey to most other people, and it’s just given me a heap of adaptability.”
Over the years Hall has consistently jumped into MARC machines and this is where his love for GT racing began.
“Within 15 laps I was half a second quicker than Geoff had ever done, he was stoked with that and straightaway said you’ve got to get into a full spec race car; the budget at the time was perfect.
“We couldn’t have gone Super3 or Super2 because the money for them is just nuts. The MARC car was a perfect way to start and it’s really spring boarded me to where I am today.”
Competing in a MARC car has seen Hall race around the nation in selected rounds of the Australian GT Championship, GT-1 Australia Series and even the Bathurst 12 Hour.
Alongside multiple-time Bathurst 1000 podium finisher Warren Luff, Taunton and GT driver Brad Schumacher, the quartet contested the Bathurst 12 Hour.
Unfortunately, engine issues meant that the MARC II Mustang was not classified at the end of the day.
“I had no expectations,” he explained. “I just wanted to go there, get the car to the end and learn as much as I could.
“Racing with ‘Luffy’ who has been a family friend for a long time, I couldn’t wait for it.
“I was getting a lot of support from everyone in the team and a bit of coaching along the way, I was just taking in everything, I turned into a sponge for the weekend, just taking in all information I could.
“Obviously, the result wasn’t what we wanted, but I just took the positives out of it, one of the coolest weekends I’ve had in my career.”
During the COVID-19 interrupted season that was 2020, being based in Queensland Hall was able to keep himself sharp contesting the Tin Tops series in a MARC car.
Before starting on his Porsche exploits, Hall ,took part in the Bathurst 6 Hour where in a Mustang alongside Steve Hay and Cameron McLean, the trio finishing sixth in the A2 class.
Hall signed up with front running Porsche outfit McElrea Racing for his inaugural Sprint Challenge campaign.
“We made contact with Andy McElrea and he had been watching me for a little while,” Hall said.
“When I first got the chance with McElrea to test the Porsche, I hopped in and I took to it like a duck to water, it just clicked for me, thanks to me driving (all the) different beasts.”
When the first round came at Phillip Island, Hall surprised himself, qualifying on the front row for his maiden race.
“I was pretty stoked, that was only the fifth or sixth time I had ever driven the car, competing against people that have been in them for two or three years,” the year 12 student said.
In the race itself, Hall converted his front row start into second position and since then has scored a further three fourth place finishes in the series.
AA asked if Hall had reset his targets after the strong start to the season, but he explained this was not the case.
“I wouldn’t say reset, I’ve probably just been more confident in myself, I’ve just got to use the tools right,” Hall said.
“I’ve just got to do the job that I know I can do, and prove to some people that I’ve got what it takes.”
Hall believes Sprint Challenge is the perfect platform to his intended destination, Europe GT competition.
“Sprint Challenge is an awesome step for me to learn how a Porsche works and to get me prepared for Carrera Cup,” he said.
“My goal is European Le Mans and GT World Challenge in Europe, they’re the pinnacle for me of that style of racing.
“The Porsche ladder has been proven in Australia, through McElrea Racing two times now (with Matt Campbell and Jaxon Evans).
“It’s got potential in it, and I can see myself doing that one day which I’m really excited about.”
