[Words and photography by Lewis Thomson]

The world’s toughest and most progressive downhill mountain bike race marked its 10th anniversary in style with the reworked course and new features pushing riders and their bikes to the limit.

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Dunne took his second Hardline title of the year in style and completed a unique double after taking the win at the first-ever Red Bull Hardline Tasmania earlier in the year.
The Mondraker Factory Racing rider was last down the mountain after his impressive qualifying run on Saturday – and he took the win from the three-time Hardline winner Bernard Kerr and Juanfer Muñoz from Colombia, who rounded out the podium.

kerr-2.jpg, by Liam Mercer

The sunshine came out in the Dyfi Valley and so did the wind, which meant the track became even drier and looser, with new rocks appearing out of the dust and giving riders a line choice headache during practice and even during their final runs. A two-hour delay dried the track further as organisers deemed the gusting wind too dangerous to ride. When racing got underway there were plenty of crashes, punctures, and damaged rims with the Jones twins (Matt and Jono) both falling victim to punctures at the same point near the top, as the Hardline track showed the riders no mercy.

Dunne won by an impressive 1.2-second margin, but the first man down the hill – Adam Brayton sat in the hot seat for most of the day with a time of 2:29.702 before his time fell as the top riders from qualifying pulled out impressive runs one after another.

World Champion Charlie Hatton took the hot seat briefly much to the delight of the partisan Welsh crowd but not for long as Hardline debutant Juanfer Muñoz delivered a blistering run to take his place on the hot seat.

mattjones-2.jpg, by Liam Mercer

It was then left to the top two in qualifying – Kerr and Dunne, with Kerr posting an incredible time of 2:24.327 having been in the red in the first section of the track, and his time looked like it might give Kerr his fourth Hardline title. However, Dunne had saved the best until last and he was green from start to finish to take the win and complete the Hardline double with his time of 2:23.045.

Speaking after his win he said: “I’m buzzing to be the double champ – I can’t believe it. That round was sick. You can hear the crowd the whole way down, it was pretty wild.”

dunnebike-2.jpg, by Liam Mercer

Having already won a World Cup and now adding Hardline Wales to his Tasmania win Dunne continues his impressive start to the season, and the 21-year-old is very much the hottest property in downhill racing. It certainly wouldn't be a surprise to see Dunne take the UCI Downhill rainbow jersey in Pal Arinsal/Vallnord, Andorra later in the year.

Scroll down to view more images.

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

dunneroadgap-2.jpg, by Liam Mercer

kerr1-2.jpg, by Liam Mercer

BOSH5265-2.jpg, by Liam Mercer

BOSH5274-2.jpg, by Liam Mercer

BOSH5277-2.jpg, by Liam Mercer

BOSH5517-2.jpg, by Liam Mercer

dunneintrees-2.jpg, by Liam Mercer

• www.redbull.com

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