Celebrating its tenth year, Red Bull Hardline has accomplished two firsts already in 2024.Not only did last weekend's event take place in Tasmania during its two-leg series but, for the first time in its history, Hardline welcomed female competitors into its final heat. And it was Irishman, Rónán Dunne who took the win.

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For 2024, the toughest downhill race in the world is taking place in two venues and, last weekend, Tasmania hosted the first event. The all-new track took riders over 2.3km where they descended 575m of elevation and cleared the largest 75ft gap.

2024 red bull hardline kerr dunne.jpg, by Liam Mercer

Ahead of the event, Red Bull predicted that the average race course time would be 3.5 minutes but winner, Rónán Dunne took gold thanks to his 3:08.145 run. Briton, Bernard Kerr followed just two seconds behind and George Branigan (New Zealand) secured the third step on the podium.

The biggest story is that the Tasmanian event was the first time that women made it into the final heat, with Louise-Anne Ferguson and Gracey Hemstreet putting in runs. Unfortunately, Tahnee Seagrave, Harriet Burbidge-Smith, Hannah Bergemann and Cami Nogueira did not qualify and Tasmania's own Darcy Coutts was unable to compete due to injury. However, she put in an impressive 3:10.722 qualifying time, so if she didn't get injured, she may well have been a top contender.

2024 red bull hardline louise.jpg, by Liam Mercer

Red Bull Hardline Tasmania is still available for viewing on Red Bull TV and the Dyfi event will take place from the first to the second of June 2024.

• www.redbull.com

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