Australian Matt Hall starts his 2018 Red Bull Air Race World Championship campaign in Abu Dhabi this weekend, and he has his sights set on an elusive first championship title.
Hall was the series runner-up in both 2015 and 2016 before his MXS-R racer suffered a structural failure that forced the team to switch to an Edge 540. The 2017 year was spent learning the aircraft, which prevented him from launching a serious tilt at the title.
Despite this, Hall finished third in Porto and second in Lausitz, and qualified first in the last two races of the year.
“For our team, 2017 was spent as a learning year and we got the plane to a place where we wanted it to be," Hall said. "For this season we think we have got it going even better.
“This year we are back to be competitive, there’s no point being in it if you’re not trying to win it. We’re definitely trying to win the championship. I would like to think that we are one of the contenders, so we’re just going to do what we can do, and do our best at each race.”
Hall knows that the 13 other teams competing this year all have the skill and firepower to mount their own challenges, and is not prepared to discount any of them for this weekend's opening round in Abu Dhabi.
“You always arrive at round one in Abu Dhabi not knowing what work your competitors have done in the off-season," he says. "You try and have a look and suss out where they’re at, but inevitably you need to focus on yourself.
“Our team has put a significant amount of effort into our off-season to improve our power and handling. We think it’s gone in the right direction.”
Matt Hall Racing has a new livery for the 2018 season, with sponsorship from Organics by Red Bull. Previous sponsor Simply Cola will remain with the team and EFB developer OzRunways has extended its relationship with Hall into the international arena.
The first round of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship begins in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on Friday with qualifying at 11.00 pm AEDT. Race day on Satrurday will begin with the Round of 14 starting at 9.00 pm AEDT.
The race can be seen live on the Red Bull Air Race website.