Veteran Combat Pilot Hall Feeling No Pressure in Air Race Title Dogfight at IMS
October 05, 2018 | By Philip B. Wilson
As an easygoing, good-natured bloke, Australian pilot Matt Hall doesn’t get too emotional about being in contention again for a
Red Bull Air Race World Championship.
It’s the fourth consecutive year two-time Master Class series runner-up Hall has been in the hunt, and he’s second in the points to Martin Sonka of the Czech Republic entering the Red Bull Air Race on Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
But alas, Hall, 47, is a high-flying aviator who stays quite grounded with perspective.
“I’ve been in some high-pressure situations in my life. This is actually not that high pressure,” Hall said Friday during a break from flying 230 mph over, around and through Air Pylons situated on the IMS infield.
As a Royal Australian Air Force fighter pilot, he logged 1,500 hours in an F/A-18 Hornet in addition to spending three years in the U.S. as part of the U.S. Air Force exchange program, which included flying more than 500 hours in an F-15E Strike Eagle. That also meant flying in war zones.
“I’ve been in combat, got shot at, dropped a lot of bombs in downtown Baghdad (Iraq) with missiles whizzing past,” Hall said. “That’s a lot more stressful than going out here and racing planes.”
Facing danger runs in the family. Hall is a third-generation pilot whose grandfather flew in World War II.
“It’s similar to this in that you can’t stop and worry about the missile that could hit you,” he said. “You’ve got to get on with your job. If something is coming at you, you deal with it at the time. But you can’t lay awake at night worrying about if a missile is going to hit you.
“This is a sport. It’s my job, and I really want it. This is for fun and ego in the end.”
But don’t think for one fraction of a second — the top three planes at the last Red Bull Air Race, in Austria, were separated by .08 of a second — that the “pretty relaxed” Hall isn’t focused on winning this title. Although Sonka’s third consecutive win has him six points ahead of Hall, it could very easily be the other way around.
“That was a bit of a toss of a coin who was going to win that race, three guys within .08 of a second,” Hall said. “He could have just as easily come in third. He’s not been dominating with those wins; he’s just happened to have had three wins that were in a row.
“The way I look at it at the moment, we’re tied for the championship. Yeah, he’s six points ahead of me, but .08 of a second dictated those six points. We were tied going into the last race, now he’s six points ahead. But I think those six points misrepresents how close we are.”
Hall thinks about where he is, at the historic 2.5-mile oval home to the Indianapolis 500 each May, and offers an analogy so fans of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” can relate.
“When you think about it, at .08 of a second, we’re 4 to 5 meters apart at 200-plus mph,” Hall said. “That’s less than a car length.”
He shrugs about coming close to a championship before. As the first pilot from Australia to compete in the world’s most prestigious air racing series, Hall finished third in the points in his 2009 Master Class debut. He was second in 2015 and 2016 and has never finished worse than seventh in the 14-pilot classification. His six career race victories include two this season.
“You want it, there’s no doubt, you’re hungry for it,” he said. “To say it doesn’t bother me would be a lie. I obviously want to be a World Champion. In five weeks time, we’ll know if I am or not. But you can’t fast forward. You can’t look into the future. All you can do is take one day at a time and try your hardest.
“My satisfaction in life is not going to be greatly affected by if I win this or not. It would be great. I’d love it, it’s a great ticket to my ego, and I get a trophy on the wall. But is it going to affect how I view myself the rest of my life? No.”
The pilot with perspective provides yet another that has helped sustain him for two decades.
“Oscar Wilde said it perfectly, and I often remind myself of this statement: ‘Those that care don’t matter and those that matter don’t care,’” Hall said, smiling. “Think about that a few times, and it makes so much sense.
“I read it somewhere, and it’s stuck for 20 years. Those who care about how you’re performing, don’t worry about them. Those who care about you, they don’t care about your performance. They love you still.”
Master Class practice starts at 1:10 p.m. Saturday, with qualifying at 4:05 p.m. The Challenger Class practices at 11:15 a.m. and qualifies at 2:45 p.m.
Red Bull Air Race tickets are available at www.IMS.com. Children 15 and under are admitted free to general admission areas Saturday and Sunday when accompanied by an adult general admission ticket holder.
Global electronic music superstar Kaskade will perform Saturday at IMS, with opening acts Mielo and Hugh Jeffner. The show starts at 5:30 p.m. near the Red Bull Air Race Hangar Area. Visit
IMS.com to purchase tickets.
A variety of World of Red Bull athletes will demonstrate their skills throughout the event weekend, both in the air and on the ground. Performers include Geoff Aaron (motorcycle trials riding), Aaron Colton (motorcycle street freestyle riding), Robbie Maddison (freestyle motocross with the SCSUNLIMITED team), Luke Aikins and Miles Daisher (Red Bull Air Force Skydive Team), Aaron Fitzgerald (The Flying Bulls aerobatic helicopter), Jim Peitz (aerobatic airplane) and Pal Takats (paragliding).