It was the second time in a row that Hall had set the record time for a qualifying event this year.

The Novocastrian pilot’s 1:04.149 time above the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the USA confirmed a top eight berth, but penalties cost Hall a better finish in the world championships.

“I was flying after Martin [Šonka], and I knew if he ran anything under one minute and five seconds I would need to really fly hard,” Hall said of the head-to-head round against Czech star Šonka on the final day. “When I heard he was in the 4’s I went for it.”

“Speed in this track is won or lost at gate two, so I got the plane at max angle and went for it – unfortunately I hit that pylon.

“At first, I wasn’t sure if I did or not, so I looked behind me and that distracted me and blew the rest of the lap with a second penalty.”

Although the defeat saw Hall eliminated from contention for the world title – an honour that eventually went to Japan’s Yoshihide Muroya – he wasn’t disappointed in his season’s end.

“Irrespective what happened today, as a team we have had a good season,” he said. “I spoke with the team at the start of the day and said that regardless of the result, we have achieved our goals for the year.”​

“We’ve taken a new plane out of the box and developed it into something we like competing with. It probably sounds funny for me to say that I have been looking forward to the end of this season since round one, but I have.

“What we have right now is an awesome team. Between the four of us, there is 100 per cent trust in each other and each other's abilities. That bodes well for strong results.”

After the event in Indianapolis Hall’s official finish for the world championship calendar was sixth, calculated off season races.

The finish was a lower placing than Hall’s runners-up honours in 2015 and 2016, but he feels that the development year during 2017 is already paying off.

“This year we were out of contention from the start with a new aircraft, new team personnel and a lot of testing,” Hall admitted. “Our goal has always been 2018, and I feel like I have the team to do it.”

The first race of the 2018 season will begin in February of next year, with the final season race again slated for October.