Mondraker's star signing had a meticulous weekend, beating Bernard Kerr by 1.2 seconds
Not content with winning Hardline’s first Australian round, Irish DH star Rónán Dunne doubled up and won Red Bull Hardline Wales this weekend in spectacular style. The Mondraker Factory Racing rider looked to be on winning form from the training runs all the way through to race day.
Credit: Nathan Hughes / Red Bull Content Pool – The infamous road gap – which was conquered by some of the female riders earlier this week for the first time
He managed to beat three-time Hardline winner Bernard Kerr into second – just like in Tasmania earlier this year. Juanfer Muñoz from Columbia rounded out the podium after an epic race run where he swapped style for speed. Check out his POV, all I can see is pointy rocks but somehow he manages to dodge all the holes and spikey bits…
How Red Bull Hardline 2024 unfolded
It’s not just about the race runs at Hardline, the entire week is full of impressive riding. As we mentioned last week, several female riders were invited. And although none put together a full race run (Tahnée Seagrave cited staying injury-free for the World Cups as priority), a few did manage the famous road gap, which just goes to show how far women’s freestyle riding is progressing.
But onto the qualifying, this weekend had some pretty decent weather, meaning the track ran well but the rocks and dust also made an appearance. There were several frames, rims and tyres all cracked or broken due to the terrain. Saturday’s runs were impressive – Dunne clocked the fastest time of 28 riders with a 2:27.402, followed by Kerr with a 2:29.955, and Muñoz in third with a 2:31.790. World champion Charlie Hatton and George Brannigan rounded out the top 5.
Credit: Samantha Saskia Dugon / Red Bull Content Pool – The tough terrain took plenty of victims this week, with more rocks emerging as the track was worn in
Red Bull Hardline race day
Although Dunne won by a healthy 1.2 second margin, it was Adam Brayton who sat in the hot seat for the longest – he didn’t manage to finish his qualifying run, but put down a 2:29.702 early doors to stay in contention until the big hitters set off for their runs. The Jones twins (Matt and Jono) both popped their tyres at the same point near the top, and a few others fell victim to the cruel track.
The top two was always going to be Kerr and Dunne, but in which order? Kerr pulled out a 2:24.327, giving him the hot seat until 2:23.045 later when Dunne crossed the line – with green sectors all the way down the track. Commenting on his win, he said: “I’m buzzing to be the double champ – I can’t believe it. That round was really sick. You can hear the crowd the whole way down, it was pretty wild.”
The 21-year-old has had a pretty good year so far, winning his first World Cup round and Hardline Tasmania. So where now from here? Will we see him at Rampage? Doubtful, but the newly sponsored Red Bull athlete looks set to be breaking boundaries within DH and mountain biking in general, and we can’t wait to see what else he does.
Credit: Samantha Saskia Dugon / Red Bull Content Pool – Kerr, Dunne and Muñoz atop the podium
Red Bull Hardline Wales 2024 full results:
- Ronan Dunne – 2:23.045
- Bernard Kerr – 2:24.327
- Juanfer Muñoz – 2:25.234
- Charlie Hatton – 2:26.256
- Matteo Iniguez – 2:27.502
- Sebastian Holguin – 2:29.700
- Adam Brayton – 2:29.702
- Sam Blenkinsop – 2:29.790
- George Brannigan – 2:30.426
- Harry Molloy – 2:33.935
- Brook McDonald – 2:36.330
- Josh Bryceland – 2:36.545
- Josh Lowe – 2:38.355
- Alex Storr – 2:38.776
- Brendan Fairclough – 2:38.916
- Taylor Vernon – 2:41.952
- Dennis Luffman – 2:43.253
- Sam Gale – 2:44.025
- Craig Evans – 2:46.062
- Edgar Briole – 2:51.253
- Sam Hockenhull – 2:53.331
- Vincent Tupin – 2:53.885
- Thibault Laly – 3:43.121
- Thomas Genon – 3:53.361
- Matt Jones – DNF
- Jono Jones – DNF
- Theo Erlangsen – DNF