Australian Matt Hall is back in Lausitz, Germany, this weekend, confident that he can take the challenge up to the main contenders for the 2017 Red Bull Air Race World Championship.
Hot off a podium finish at Porto, Portugal, earlier this month and with a reputation for winning over solid ground, Hall returns to the scene of his last race win knowing if he chances his arm around the Eurospeedway circuit, there are rewards to be gained.
“The Lausitzring is a high-speed track with different lines, and it is much more technical than Porto was,” Hall said.
“This weekend the track will have three places that will either bite you, or carry you all the way to the podium. The first is between gates two and three, which set you up for a good line into gate four and the subsequent chicane at five.
“Following that is the high-g vertical turn manoeuvre. If you’re too soft on the g-limit here you can count yourself out, but if you’re over-assertive you could just as easily be out of the running by exceeding the g-limit."
Last year, Hall was supreme at Lausitz, beating home-town hero Matthias Dolderer by over one second in the final. This year, he will be hunting in particular series leader Martin Sonka from the Czech Republic, Canadian Pete McLeod, veteran American Kirby Chambliss and Japan's Yoshi Muroya.
With only two races left in the series, Hall sits in seventh place on 25 points, well behind Sonka's 54, McLeod's 50 and Chambliss' 47. Although mathematically he is not out of the championship race, Hall is concentrating more on good results that prove the team is making progress with the new Edge 540.
“A podium last race in Porto was nice, but it would be inaccurate to call it a confidence booster," Hall said. "This season has been about re-building with new team members and a new plane, and our last result reaffirmed that our strategy ever since our slow start to the new year in February has been the right one.”
This weekend’s event kicks off with qualifying early Sunday morning at 12.00 am AEST and the race on Sunday night from 9.00 pm AEST.