Of the two Red Bull Hardlines, Wales is considered the nastier. Heavy rain on the morning of the final day made the already toughest downhill course in the world even more treacherous. "The course is now super slippery and tricky," said YouTube star and Hardline rider Matt Jones, describing the conditions. Despite the adverse conditions, the event made history: Louise Ferguson was the first woman to complete a full final run at the Hardline.
What a finale!
"Look at Lou", shouted presenter Rob Warner into the microphone as Louise roared through the finish arch. The 29-year-old Scot had completed some downright monster stunts on the track, such as the "Rampage Cliff", an almost vertical rocky descent with drops right at the top of the track, the high rock drop (8 metres), the two 90 footers (27 metres wide), the road gap, which is said to be 15 to 17 metres high depending on the landing point, and finally the long finish jump.
Historical qualification and seeding runs
The days leading up to the final were characterised by intensive training sessions and the seeding runs, which already gave a foretaste of the drama of the final day. Triple hardline winner Bernard Kerr had to undergo a medical examination after a crash in qualifying. Despite the setback, Kerr announced his return for the final. Despite the change in the weather, which made the track wet and slippery for the first time during the seeding runs on Saturday, 18-year-old Junior World Champion Asa Vermette came out on top with a top time of 2:29.063 minutes, ahead of his rookie colleague Tuhoto-Ariki Pene, Downhill World Champion (2023) Charlie Hatton and Laurie Greenland.
Final: It could hardly be more exciting!
Two superstars right at the start: Ronan Dunne and Bernard Kerr. The two of them put in hair-raising runs that set the bar very high. For a long time it was thought that the young Irishman could possibly win, as some of the top favourites retired with flat tyres. Crash of the day: Kaos Seagrave messed up his show move over the final jump, failed to pull back the whip and hit the ground hard. Cool move of the day: Hardline veteran Adam Brayton in his stylish hunter camouflage jumped over the slippery scree in one courageous leap, where many other riders had quite a few problems. First and foremost: Matt Jones, who went down hard here. Bad luck of the day?
Several riders were in contention for this title. Brook McDonald, for example, who got a flat tyre in the first 10 metres after a very good quali. Or Laurie Greenland, who got stuck in a completely unspectacular spot and went down. As the last rider, Asa Vermette was under pressure to beat Hatton's excellent time (2:26.158 minutes). But the young American was unstoppable. He literally flew around the track, improving his qualifying time by almost five seconds and winning by a record margin of 1.681 seconds ahead of Hatton. Dunne finished third, 5.019 seconds behind the winner.
Top 10 results of the Red Bull Hardline Wales 2025
Men
1st Asa Vermette: 2:24.477
2. Charlie Hatton: 2:26.158
3. Ronan Dunne: 2:29.496
4th Tuhoto-Ariki Pene: 2:29.673
5. Bernard Kerr: 2:30.430
6th Sam Gale: 2:34.596
7. George Brannigan: 2:35.525
8. Roger Vieira: 2:36.045
9th Gee Atherton: 2:36.693
0. Felipe Agurto: 2:40.533
Women:
1st Louise Ferguson
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Dimitri Lehner
Editor
