With just three races left in the history of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship series, Australian Matt Hall is very keen to take at least one last race win.
He will get a chance this weekend when the 2019 series moves to Kazan in Russia, a venue where Hall and his team have never made the Final Four. However, Hall believes he has the aeroplane to do it.
“Coming into this race I had to think a lot about what our strategy would be, whether or not I needed to validate my speed, consistency and competitiveness as a race pilot,” he said.
“At the end of the day, I don’t have a world title. But I have won races and I have enough podiums to my name to prove my ability. Over the years we have built strong teams that achieved top results. So, for these final three races, beginning here in Kazan, I have nothing to lose by going for victory without hesitation or worrying about championship points.
"We want to be winners again before the series winds up.”
Hall currently sits fifth on the championship leaderboard 14 points behind first-placed Yoshi Muroya. With a maximum total of 84 points available, Hall is still a chance to capture that elusive world title and feels he's a chance to catch the Japanese pilot this weekend.
“Last year we had an incredibly fast plane in Kazan,” he said. "We set the lap record during the third practice session and then went on to be fast in the Round of 14. Unfortunately, I made an error in the Round of 8 and gave away a top result. I had the plane to contest the win in Kazan in 2018.
“This year’s track is very similar, the only changes being that there is a second high-G vertical turn manoeuvre, which precedes the finishing gate. Even with the changes, I am comfortable that we can find the perfect race line very early on.
"Personally, I want to come away from our final visit to Russia with the result I feel we deserved in 2018, hopefully we depart happy with our efforts.”
Qualifying and the race will be broadcast live on the Red Bull Air Race website.