Matt Hall will go all out for a third straight podium finish at this weekend's Red Bull Air Race at Lausitz in Germany.
Hall finished third in Budapest, then scored a gutsy win at Ascot in August and is now eyeing a third strong finish to close the gap to championship leader Matthias Dolderer.
“Lausitz is an opportunity to catch up,” Hall said. “I can get enough points where we currently stand, though it is also going to come down to what Matthias does over the next three races.”
The Australian currently sits third in the championship, nearly 20 point adrift of Dolderer, but only 1.25 points short of second-placed Hannes Arch.
"I’m sure that Matthias is feeling the pressure," Hall said, "so in a psychological sense it’s not a bad position to be in; I’d rather be a little bit closer in the championship, obviously, but to be chasing after a win in the previous round is a good place to be.”
The race takes place overhead the EuroSpeedway Lausitz, a motor-racing track used for the German touring car series and the Superbike world championship. The course mapped-out between the pylons may present some challenges for the competitors.
“I’ve had a good look at the track on paper, and it seems that it’s going to be quite a tight, hard-turning track, lots of gates and lots of turning and manoeuvering the aircraft," Hall said.
"I’m happy that I’ve got a pretty good line in my head that I’m going to go out and work on in Free Practice 1.
"I’m looking forward to it.”
Qualifying is at midnight on Saturday night 3 September, with the race starting on the Sunday at 10.00 pm, streamed live at www.redbullairrace.com/live