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Australiaâs Matt Hall laid down a scorching time of 53.642 seconds in the Final 4 of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship stop at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz on 4 September, and with everything hinging on the final pilot to fly, Germanyâs own Matthias Dolderer, it was hard to hear the raceplanes over the home crowdâs cheers of encouragement.
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It was the second consecutive one-two finish for Hall and Dolderer, and the Australian is whittling away at the overall lead that his German opponent has held since April. The result bounced Hall, who finished second on the World Championship podium in 2015, just ahead of 2008 World Champion Hannes Arch on the leaderboard, and while neither pilot can overtake Doldererâs substantial points advantage in a single race alone, there are two stops left in the season.
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âThis track did suit our style, but the happiest thing is that weâre in a groove again. So the plan is ‘no mistakes and always fast,’â said Hall. âIâve got nothing to lose: Iâve been second in the World Championship before and Iâve raced right to the wire in Las Vegas before â Matthias hasnât. Weâll just take it one race at a time and see what happens.â??
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Tickets for the final two stops of the 2016 Red Bull Air Race season â including the world championshipâs debut at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on 1-2 October â are on sale now. For more information on tickets and all the latest, visit www.redbullairrace.com    Â
Results Master Class EuroSpeedway Lausitz: 1. Matt Hall (AUS), 2. Matthias Dolderer (GER), 3. Pete McLeod (CAN), 4. Martin Sonka (CZE), 5. Hannes Arch (AUT), 6. Michael Goulian (USA), 7. Nicolas Ivanoff (FRA), 8. Kirby Chambliss (USA), 9. Juan Velarde (ESP), 10. Nigel Lamb (GBR), 11. Petr Kopfstein (CZE), 12. François Le Vot (FRA), 13. Peter Podlunťek (SLO), 14. Yoshihide Muroya (JPN)
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World Championship Standings after EuroSpeedway Lausitz: 1. Matthias Dolderer (GER) 65.25 pts, 2. Matt Hall (AUS) 48.75 pts, 3. Hannes Arch (AUT) 41.00 pts, 4. Kirby Chambliss (USA) 30.25 pts, 5. Nicolas Ivanoff (FRA) 30 pts, 6. Martin Šonka (CZE) 27 pts, 7. Nigel Lamb (GBR) 25.75 pts, 8. Yoshihide Muroya (JPN) 25.50 pts, 9. Pete McLeod (CAN) 21.50 pts, 10. Michael Goulian (USA) 18.75 pts, 11. Juan Velarde (ESP) 11.25 pts, 12. François Le Vot (FRA) 10.00 pts, 13. Peter Podlunťek (SLO) 4.00 pts, 14. Petr Kopfstein (CZE) 2.00 pts