8.30am, Sunday 18th September. As the riders and teams walked onto
the Red Bull Hardline site for the race day showdown cloud was hanging low over
the valley, it made for some amazing
pictures but the riders welcomed it more as an alternative to wind!
Tim Warwood and Adam Gendle were on the
mikes welcoming the first fans but there was a palpable sense of expectation
and a few tired faces - none of the
riders had slept much last night.
Course creator Dan Atherton said “ I’m
nervous, I think all the riders are
nervous, last year we seemed to have more practice crashes , this year there
were fewer crashes, but bigger crashes, it’s a shame that we have to go through
that process, I didn’t sleep much last night – not sure anyone did. “
Gee had a crash in practice, he came off
over a rocky outcrop, landing on his injured shoulder and had to stay down for
treatment, Mark Wallace was waiting for a new bike so Qualifications saw just
12 riders take to the
The riders were clearly enjoying themselves
with Sik Mik Hannah pulling three suicide no handers on the way down. Al Bond
had a small crash near the end of the course but everyone made it down in one
piece and the excitement began to ramp up off the scale.
Qualification
results
Bernard Kerr 3.36.51
Adam Brayton 3.39.39
Ruaridh Cunningham 3.41.97
Taylor Vernon 3.43.69
George Brannigan 3.45.00
So to finals..
First up was Gee , the crowd weren’t
expecting too much after this morning’s re-injury but Gee flew down in 3.35.97,
a time that was faster than the winning qualification time and enough to keep
him in the hotseat through the next 10 out of a total 14 riders.
Mark Wallace and Al Bond put in clean runs
but came in after Gee, Graeme Mudd knocked his leg on his gear shifter and was
scared coming into the Jeep Renegade jump that he wouldn’t have the speed, he
cleared the jump and put in a clean run but wasn’t in contention, and then Dan
Atherton was on course.
Dan had been so nervous all week, not only
for his race run but for all of the other riders. Once he was on course he
looked totally relaxed and super-stylish, it wasn’t the fastest run, enough for
13th on the day but Dan was very
happy.
He said “ All these guys have come off a World Cup
season so for my run I knew I couldn’t compete for speed but I just wanted to
have fun, to find my flow and I did that so I really enjoyed it. “
Mik Hannah was still having fun too, he was
unable to resist another no-hander to finish, crossing into second , enough for
an eventual 6th.
Eddie Masters had a good run – crossing
into third, then it was into the top 5 with George Brannigan crossing into 2nd
in 3.39.14 enough for eventual 5th
Our Trek Factory Racing team-mate 19 year
old Taylor Vernon finished his run with
a cheeky whip enough for 9th today Taylor
said “ I was so scared, I did enjoy it , through being scared but it was a bit
of a leary ride! I rode like a squid in the middle – just happy to be down!”
Last year’s winner Ruaridh Cunningham was
1.21 from Gee at split 1, 2.03 back at split 2
but he flew through the bottom section and the crowd went crazy as he
crossed into the hotseat in 3.34.86 -
over a second up on Gee.
Ruaridh said “ That was a wild run, I lost
quite a bit of speed out of the woods and it made me angry – I had to talk to
myself and say that’s not how you ride this! It’s been a blast”
Adam Brayton was fast, but not quite as
fast as Ruaridh, into 2nd.
Then fastest qualifier Bernard Kerr was on course, Bernard had said that he was
here to win and he made good on his promise, a second down on Gee’s first split
time but ahead of Ruaridh he stayed in the green at split 2 and crossed in
3.32.46 – Winner of the third Red Bull Hardline. By 2.4 seconds.
Finals
Results
I Bernard Kerr 3.32.46
2 Ruaridh Cunningham 3.34.86 +2.4
3 Adam Brayton 3.35.50 +3.04
4 Gee Atherton 3.35.97 +3.51
5 George Brannigan 3.39.14 +6.68
So the final word of the day has to go Dan
who said “ It was an honour to have these riders come from all over the world to
ride this event and to be able to ride with them, it’s so good to see these guys
I’ve raced with my whole career on our local turf, it inspires me to keep
progressing the event. “
Red
Bull Hardline Final Rider List
1
Ruaridh Cunningham
2 Joe Smith
3 Bernard Kerr
4 Adam Brayton
5 Al Bond
6 Gee Atherton
7 Graeme Mudd
8 Mick Hannah
9 Dan Atherton
10 George Brannigan
11 Brook Macdonald
12 Eddie Masters
13 Mark Wallace
14 Taylor Vernon
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