Ronan Dunne, Red Bull’s newest addition to its MTB athlete roster did the double today, winning Red Bull Hardline with a blistering time of 2:23.045. Knocking an incredible 4 seconds off his qualifying time and fending off all 26 additional riders on track, the 21 year-old showed grit and determination on the world’s most challenging downhill MTB course.
Dinas Mawddwy, United Kingdom – Rising to the pressure stunningly and following his Red Bull Hardline Tasmania victory in February 2024, Ireland’s Ronan Dunne was marked as the man to beat. Handling the tension brilliantly, Dunne posted green splits at every time check and dipped under the finish arch to the roar of the crowd.
On his historic victory, Ronan Dunne 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.”
3-time champion Bernard Kerr was a worthy adversary, pushing the track to his absolute limit and coming in just behind Dunne with a time of 2:24.327.
After his impressive qualifying run, Colombia’s Juanfer Muñoz put on another stellar performance to take 3rd place with a time of 2:25.234. After his stylish qualifying run, it was all business in the finals for Muñoz, substituting his no hander over the road gap for full attention and maximum speed.
Rounding out the top 5, 4th place qualifier Charlie Hatton did the world champs stripes proud, finishing just outside the podium in 2:26.256.
Frenchman Matteo Iniguez improved markedly on his qualifying position putting in a clean run to take 5th place on the day with an admirable time of 2:27.502.
To catch up on all the action from practice and full behind the scenes action from this week, check out the Red Bull Bike YouTube – and the full selection of the best photos from each day can be downloaded from Red Bull Content Pool.
Rank Name Finish Time
1 Ronan Dunne 2:23.045
2 Bernard Kerr 2:24.327
3 Juanfer Muñoz 2:25.234
4 Charlie Hatton 2:26.256
5 Matteo Iniguez 2:27.502
6 Sebastian Holguin 2:29.700
7 Adam Brayton 2:29.702
8 Sam Blenkinsop 2:29.790
9 George Brannigan 2:30.426
10 Harry Molloy 2:33.935
11 Brook McDonald 2:36.330
12 Josh Bryceland 2:36.545
13 Josh Lowe 2:38.355
14 Alex Storr 2:38.776
15 Brendan Fairclough 2:38.916
16 Taylor Vernon 2:41.952
17 Dennis Luffman 2:43.253
18 Sam Gale 2:44.025
19 Craig Evans 2:46.062
20 Edgar Briole 2:51.253
21 Sam Hockenhull 2:53.331
22 Vincent Tupin 2:53.885
23 Thibault Laly 3:43.121
24 Thomas Genon 3:53.361
25 Matt Jones DNF
26 Jono Jones DNF
27 Theo Erlangsen DNF
For further Red Bull Hardline rider updates and for more information visit www.redbull.com/hardline.
About Red Bull Hardline
Hard by name, hard by nature, Red Bull Hardline isn’t an event for the fainthearted. Hailed as one of the toughest downhill mountain bike races in the world, the ninth edition of Red Bull Hardline returns to the hills of Dyfi Valley in the north of Wales on 15th & 16th of July 2023. The intense course, built by Dan Atherton, combines tricky technical downhill features with huge freeride-style jumps.
AVAILABLE CONTENT
(free content for editorial use – no restrictions)
– Global News Cut (16:9) with shot list / transcript
–> via RED BULL CONTENT POOL
Contact: Fabian Ress
fabian.ress@3mpg.ch / +49 173 248 8404
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Images free of charge for editorial use.
Credit: Red Bull Content Pool