Newcastle’s Hall chalked the stuttering start to the season on a race against time to outfit his plane after a raft of major changes, and knows now they’ve had a proper run with the upgrades and changes the difference should be noticeable.

“We’ve spent a week in Germany getting everything ready, and work is now basically completed,” Hall said.

Hall ran through his first training flight at the end of the week, and his focus is now on the Cannes event.

“It’s always pretty nice to race at a new location. This is the first major place we’ve debuted,” he said.

“It’s a spectacular venue and the harbour we’re racing in is quite nice. Everyone is really excited about it.”

Hall’s ​Zivko Edge 540 V3 racer is reportedly one of the fastest in the world, and the Newcastle pilot believes he can prove it on the world stage in the next round.

“We have a faster plane than we did in the first round, and we’ve been running in top three or four with that old model,” Hall revealed.

“I’m quietly confident we can get a high finish in this race. It’s important to get a couple of good races in the bag at the start of the season.

“If you start on the back foot, negativity can brew not just in your own mind but with the press and the news around placings.

“A podium [in Cannes] will get us rolling well for the rest of the season.”

The second round begins with qualifying on Sunday, April 22 at 12am AEST. Coverage of the main event begins at 10pm AEST later that day.

Aussie fans can watch the event live at redbullairrace.com/live.