Matt Hall is happy to be back at Ascot Racecourse in the UK for this weekend's fifth round of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship.
At Ascot last year, Hall finished second to Paul Bonhomme in very trying conditions, as result that set him up for his first ever race win in the following round at Spielberg.
“It’s great to be back here in Ascot because it really is a special race on our calendar,” Hall said this week.
“The atmosphere is electric with the crowd so close to our hangars and the big grandstand but it’s important not to get carried away with all of that and any of the hype around the championship standings.
“Last year my team and I became very good at focussing on the now and remaining in the moment. We looked no further than the next flight or even the next gate within that flight and it seemed to work.
“We were happy with our result in Budapest but we’ve also had a major mid-season review and hopefully ironed out some kinks. We know what we need to do to be at our best here and for the rest of the year.
“We will obviously look at our position in the standings at the end of each round but whilst we are at a race, it will simply be concentrating on the next flight and being consistent in doing that.”
Hall currently sits in seventh place in the standings, 22.5 points behind good mate and championship leader German Matthias Dolder.
The aerial action at the famous English racecourse begins on Friday with training flights, before more training and qualifying on Saturday and the race proper on Sunday.
Australian audiences can watch both Saturday and Sunday’s qualifying and race day online via www.redbullairrace.com/live.