RESULTS and REPLAY: Red Bull Hardline Tasmania 5

Picture this: it's early spring, you fire up Red Bull's YouTube page and there's Rob Warner and Eliot Jackson announcing the first major downhill race of the season. The course is primed and 27 of the world's fastest riders are racked and stacked and ready to race. No, this is not a flashback to the downhill World Cup of years gone by, but the reality of Hardline Tasmania 2024. After a week of buildup and hype, race day was upon us for the first ever running of this iconic, XL-sized race outside of the original Welsh venue.

The course took some flak from the social media armchair experts for being "too tame" in between the massive features, but as it bedded in and the speeds increased, it bared its teeth and showed itself for what it really is: a progressive downhill track built to test the skills and the courage of the world's best bike handlers.

Tahnee Seagrave has been leading the work of getting women riders into Hardline, with a handful of women getting their first taste of the event last year as they participated in the practice sessions in Wales. For 2024, four women were announced on the permanent rider list for both Hardline events, with additional, event-specific wild card spots available as well. It's been very rewarding to see the women step up their game and tick off all the features of the course this week, which was made more complicated by windy conditions and a wet day of qualifying. On race day morning, Gracey Hemstreet and Louise-Anna Ferguson were finally able to get the 70-foot finish line jump done, earning themselves a spot on the start line for the main event. They had us at the edge of our seats as Gracey laid down a clean, top-to-bottom run to claim the honor of the first women ever to do so at a Hardline event. Louise-Anna had a more challenging run as she went down twice, tucking the front into a berm on both occasions, but she still got back up and completed her run to the finish line. Massive respect to these two and to all the women who showed up to tackle this monumental event here this week, it shows the progression of women's riding - and we're here for it! To cap off a great event, Gracey earned herself the rider of the week award as voted by her fellow competitors. Yeow!

As we went deeper into the rider list, the times came tumbling down. A number of freeriders found out just how hard it can be to put down a full run on a technical and physically demanding track - just ask Thomas Genon about the very first rock garden for example. Connor Fearon raised the bar as the World Cup downhillers laid down the law, showing the difference in speed between those who go fast for a living and those who earn their keep in the air or on the airwaves. The times were tight until Ronan Dunne obliterated the field, showing that his recent run of World Cup form is no fluke and that we can count on him challenging for race wins for years to come. Jackson Goldstone looked like he was on pace to trouble Ronan but he went down hard in between some trees and could be seen checking his knee afterwards - we hope it's nothing too serious and that we'll see Jackson back between the tapes soon. First place qualifier and reigning King of Hardline with three titles to his name already, Bernard Kerr, tried his best to win in Tasmania as well but he couldn't match the smooth pace of Ronan today and had to settle for second. He might have pushed a bit too hard as he looked a bit ragged through bits of the track where Ronan found his flow.

As a closing remark, we have to comment on the level of riding and course building on display here. It is clear that there is a place for racing events of this magnitude in the sport, as riders with different backgrounds came together to tackle a daunting course with aplomb. Red Bull's production was also of very high level, anchored by commentary royalty in the form of Rob Warner and Eilot Jackson - with great insights provided by guest commentator Tahnee Seagrave (who would rather have been racing but was philosophical about not wanting to "roll the dice" and tackling that last jump this morning in tricky conditions). Could this become something like a diamond-level downhill event series? Hell yes it could. The track provided great racing and tons of adrenaline for the viewers, whether onsite or sat in front of our screens. Thank you Red Bull for continuing to push the envelop - we're already looking forward to June and the next Hardline race in Wales!

2024 Red Bull Hardline Tasmania Results