Australian pilot Matt Hall has won the final Red Bull Air Race of the season at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, but his second victory of the year wasn’t enough to overhaul Briton Paul Bonhomme for the world title.
Hall needed to win or finish second in Las Vegas to have any chance of catching Bonhomme’s eight-point series lead, but with the Englishman taking second, the win wasn’t enough to close the gap. The final placing saw Bonhomme with 76 points and Hall with 71.
But this year was a great advance in Hall’s Red Bull career, taking two wins, finishing on the podium in seven of the eight races on the calendar and improving on last year’s sixth place overall by four places.
“I came here to win this race and I was able to do that which is really satisfying,” Hall said after his win on Sunday.
“I knew we couldn’t control what Paul (Bonhomme) did. He had a lot of pressure on him and he was able to get the job done to claim the title but we pushed him all the way. The team and I can be very proud of that.”
The Australian will now return to Australia on Thursday before beginning planning for the 2016 season.