Ronan Dunne arrived at Hardline Wales on a mission. Mondraker’s Irish racer landed in Wales hot off of his first elite World Cup win. Dunne had also won the first Hardline outside Wales earlier this spring, in Maydena, Tasmania. He qualified fastest on Saturday. Then, with all eyes on him and last man to drop in, Dunne lay down an absolute heater to win the 10th anniversary of Red Bull Hardline.
While Dunne has a bit of a reputation as a loose unit, Hardline seemed to have brought enough wildness on its own. The Mondraker Factory Racing rider was impressively tidy on his way to the win, reigning in road gaps and frighteningly steep rock gardens on his road to victory.
“I’m buzzing to be the double champ – I can’t believe it,” Dunne said after the finish line. “That round was really sick. You can hear the crowd the whole way down, it was pretty wild.”
Three-time Red Bull Hardline winner Bernard Kerr finished second ahead of Colombia’s Juanfer Vélez. World champion Charlie Hatton was fourth with IC Studios’ Matteo Iniguez fifth.
Replay: Red Bull Hardline Wales
2024 celebrates 10 years of Red Bull Hardline racing. It is also the first year a Hardline event has been held outside of Wales.
In 2023, Hardline Wales was canceled due to weather. In 2022, Jackson Goldstone won Hardline Wales, becoming the youngest rider ever to do so. It was his first elite win after a stellar junior career. In 2024, Goldstone was injured during his Hardline Maydena race run. That race was won by Dunne. Goldstone is still away from World Cup racing and recovering from damage to his knee from that crash.
While no Canadians were in the Hardline Wales final on Sunday, Vaea Verbeeck was one of a select few women practicing on course during the week.
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