6 September 2016
Australia’s Matt Hall beat Germany’s Matthias Dolderer to first place in the weekend’s round of the 2016 Red Bull Air Race World Championship, held at Lausitz in Germany. It’s Hall’s second win in a row giving him a tiny chance of of overhauling Dolderer for the world title during the final two rounds.
Dolderer was cheered on by thousands of home fans at the Lausitz EuroSpeedway venue, and was the last pilot to set a time in the final. Hall’s time to beat was 53.642 seconds… but Dolderer could only manage 54.417s. Good enough for second ahead of third placed Pete McLeod of Canada.
Matt Hall, centre, took the win at the German round of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship. Top: Matt Dolderer took second and retains his lead in the series. Photos: Red Bull
The result puts Hall just ahead of 2008 World Champion Hannes Arch on the leaderboard. Neither pilot can overtake Dolderer’s substantial points advantage in a single race but there are two stops left in the season, both in the USA.
“This track did suit our style, but the happiest thing is that we’re in a groove again,” said Hall afterwards. “So the plan is ‘no mistakes and always fast’. I’ve got nothing to lose. I’ve been second in the World Championship before and I’ve raced right to the wire in Las Vegas before – Matthias hasn’t. We’ll just take it one race at a time and see what happens.” Hall finished second to Paul Bonhomme in the 2015 championship.
Results
Master Class EuroSpeedway Lausitz
World Championship Standings
