Brayton picked a fight with a tree and came 5th
Craig Evans comes out on top at Red Bull Hardline with narrow victory over last year’s winner Bernard Kerr. Top qualifier Brayton crashes and ends 5th.
Speaking of his win, Craig Evans said: “I didn’t think I was going to win at all so it’s a crazy feeling. I had bits where I was smooth and I had bits where I was a bit wild but I managed to hold onto it until the bottom. So yeah, I’m buzzing.”
Watch the whole thing again here.
Course creator Dan Atherton, put in an aggressive run in the final which saw him clinch third place. Dan: “This year’s Red Bull Hardline was definitely the toughest it’s ever been, from the moment we started building the course we’ve been battling the weather. But all the riders who came have been amazing, it’s been such tough conditions on the course but they all pushed hard all week and everyone rode awesome. Crossing the finish line for my final run I’ve never felt such relief and the fact that I was third made it even better.”
2017 Red Bull Hardline results top ten
- Craig Evans (GBR) – 02.31.29
- Bernard Kerr (GBR) – 02.33.30
- Dan Atherton (GBR) – 02.33.73
- Laurie Greenland (GBR) – 02.36.26
- Adam Brayton (GBR) – 02.36.40
- Graeme Mudd (AUS) – 02.36.73
- Kaos Seagrave (GBR) – 02.45.40
- Taylor Vernon (GBR) –02.45.96
- Al Bond (GBR) – 02.49.99
- Alexandre Fayolle (FRA) – 03.04.31
Red Bull not-quite-so-Hardline?
“We’ve made things more a little bit safer and a little bit easier for riders”. Really? Still looks absolutely bat-dung crazy to us, Dan!
We mean, have you seen ‘The Step Up’ section?
A quick interview with Dan Atherton
The track hasn’t changed much from last year’s race, but that should make for better racing though. “Naturally we wanted to progress the track but at the same time everything we build that’s new is quite unpredictable and can be quite soft, dan says. “The last few years at Hardline we’ve had quite a few injuries, mostly on the new stuff that’s not been tested.
“So this year, Red Bull, [track builder] Ollie Davey and I wanted to make it more predict for racing, so we’ve made things more a little bit safer and a little bit easier for riders.
“The landing for the big step up has changed, riders were overjumping it because they didn’t want to come up short so we have a lot more dirt on there now, and we’ve built a log wall to hold the dirt on there.
“Then the big drop in the woods, we put a bit of a platform on there last year because riders slipping coming into it, but it made it higher. So this year we’ve tried to mellow is out.
“It’s hard because it’s a gnarly event and we’re asking people to put it all on the line when they should be chilling and taking care of themselves. And everyone is tired, they’ve all been on the road with the race season.”
Bearclaw to ride Hardline!
Here are the names of the riders competing in the infamous Red Bull Hardline as it returns to North Wales this September.
>>> Bernard Kerr’s Hardline winning run POV video
Red Bull Hardline 2017 rider list
Adam Brayton (GBR)
Al Bond (GBR)
Alexandre Fayolle (FRA)
Bernard Kerr (GBR)
Brage Vestavik (NOR)
Brendan Fairclough (GBR)
Brook Macdonald (NZ)
Charlie Hatton (GBR)
Craig Evans (GBR)
Dan Atherton (GBR)
Darren Berrecloth (CAN)
Dave Mcmillan (AUS)
Gee Atherton (GBR)
Graeme Mudd (AUS)
Greg Williamson (GBR)
Jérôme Caroli (SWI)
Kaos Seagrave (GBR)
Laurie Greenland (GBR)
Oscar Härnström (SWE)
Sam Reynolds (GBR)
Taylor Vernon (GBR)
Yoann Barelli (FRA)
A Brit-heavy list but with enough international tech specialists in there to whet the appetite. Darren Berrecloth alone is worthy of much excitement and deserved hype.
Nice to see Bernard Kerr in there. Last year’s Hardline winner will hopefully have recovered enough from his injury to give it a go at retaining his title. Also nice to see Gee Atherton listed in there.
More spectating tickets will be available for sale on Tuesday 12th September at 6pm. Info will go up on Red Bull Bike’s Facebook page then (we’d also recommend checking redbull.com/hardline around then as well).
Red Bull Hardline 2017 on September 24th
It’ll be streamed live on Red Bull TV at 6pm.
North Wales will once again play host to Red Bull Hardline this September 24th as riders from around the world will gather to battle it out on one of the most ridiculous mountain bike courses in the world.
Returning on 24th September to the hills of Dyfi Valley in the north of Wales, Red Bull Hardline is an event like no other.
The course designed by Dan Atherton is one of the most progressive downhill courses on the planet, combining incredibly steep and rocky technical sections with a 50ft motocross inspired jump, which will send riders off the side of the mountain and virtually over the heads of the crowds of spectators.
The event was created back in 2014 by Dan Atherton to push the progression of the sport for both the riders and the fans. Bernard Kerr was crowned champion in 2016, finishing the course 2.4 seconds ahead of Scottish rider Ruaridh Cunningham, who won the event the previous year.
Watch: What does the Red Bull Hardline sound like up close?
Speaking of the 2017 event, course designer and rider Dan Atherton said, “It’s great to see the event grow year on year. We have worked hard to create a course that has helped raise the profile of downhill here in the UK and is also recognised as one of the hardest courses in the world.
He continued “The idea was to create a course that flows and suits riders from a range of disciplines, so we have pulled inspiration from a variety of courses including motocross, BMX and dirt jumps. Myself and the team will be hard at work for the next few months building the course ready for the riders to take on in September.”