Matt Hall believes the heat of Texas will give him an advantage in this weekend's Red Bull Air Race round in Fort Worth.
Going into the second-last round, Hall is only five points adrift from championship leader Paul Bonhomme, and believes the warm weather will suit his style better.
"We have had a history of doing well in hot conditions so I'm comfortable if that's the way this weekend plays out," said Hall ahead of practice in Texas, where temperatures are expected to exceed 32oC.
On a high after his first win at the last race in Spielberg, Austria, Hall plans to stick to his strategy of taking each race as it comes and flying as consistently as he can, rather than keeping one eye on the championship standings.
"I'll remember that day [Spielberg] for the rest of my life but we have well and truly moved on," said Hall. "We're only three-quarters of the way through the season and that might lose some shine if we don't perform well in the next two races. That's our focus now - what's in front of us."
The equation for Hall to wrest the championship away from Bonhomme is simple: over the next two races he has to outscore the Brit by a total of five points. With Bonhomme in scintilating form, it won't be an easy task. However, Hall believes he can do no more than his best out on the track and not worry too much about Bonhomme's performance.
"One thing winning in Spielberg has taught me is how bloody hard it is to win one of these races," he said. "A lot has to go your way so I'd prefer to look at what I need to do to perform at my best and let the result be what it is."
"Of course the gap can be overcome but I'm not going to go out and make any promises or predictions. We'll prepare for this race in exactly the same way we have for each race this year. If the results then dictate that we improve in the standings, then that's a bonus."
With 12 points for a race win, nine for second, seven for third and five for fourth, if Bonhomme wins on Sunday and Hall fails to make the Final 4, Bonhomme will have secured the world championship with one round left to go in Las Vegas.
This weekend's race will be televised live on Fox Sports 5 Sunday from 4.00 am AEST and on the Red Bull Air Race website.