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Scots Skydiving Victim Marked By Biggest-Ever Charity Karting Event In Scotland
The biggest fund-raising charity karting event ever held in Scotland will take place this week in Edinburgh. The four-night event, hosted at Xtreme Karting's facility at Newbridge, is in memory of Scots finance IT expert David Ball, who tragically died in a skydiving accident in January.
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The 56-year-old, who was educated at Stewart's Melville College in Edinburgh and graduated from Edinburgh University, was one of the country's leading experts in information technology for the banking industry.
As head of group technology for HBOS (Europe), Ball had one of the biggest IT roles in British banking.
Following the financial crisis, he was instrumental in the formation and leadership of the new Tesco Bank. Latterly, he was a senior figure in the IT department of the Co-operative Bank.
The action man — who underwent a double corneal transplant after suffering from keratoconus at university, before going on to obtain a private pilot's licence, plus a helicopter licence — was a regular visitor to the Fife racing circuit on his Ducati 999.
This week, more than 200 competitors will race wheel-to-wheel over four nights starting tomorrow (Monday, March 4) in the Athena Asset Management Charity Karting Event for CHAS and Maggies, in memory of David Ball.
"As David was so well known in the Edinburgh, Scottish and UK business communities, it was decided to run this year's event in memory of David," organiser Charlotte Sleigh explained.
"As a result, it has tripled in size with dozens of David's friends, work colleagues and associates all signing up for the extended race format. We've even got a waiting list of people eager to take part.
"With 200 drivers taking part over the three nights' heats, we're also expecting around 400 people to come and watch Thursday's final."
A number of Scotland's leading racers — including Kirkcaldy Porsche ace Rory Butcher, and Edinburgh's multiple Mini champ Olly Mortimer — will each captain teams.
The first three nights will see 12 teams battling it out for a place in Thursday's grand final. All four nights are being filmed for a commemorative DVD.
The event — which will be attended by David Ball's wife, Ruth, daughter Rowan, and sons Elliot and Oscar, has attracted a host of Blue Chip sponsors — including Tesco Bank, Prudential, Par Equity, Schroders and Bentley Edinburgh.
PaddockTalk Perspective
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