"This course is sick! Tasmania is proper Red Bull Hardline" – Bernard Kerr shares his thoughts on the all-new Hardline course

Red Bull Hardline Tasmania is just over a week away. This brand new downhill MTB event takes place in the Maydena Bike Park in Tasmania, Australia on the 23rd and 24th of February 2024. This year marks the tenth anniversary of Hardline and to celebrate it has expanded its horizons beyond Dyfi Valley, Wales and expanded into a mini-series.

The upcoming Red Bull event will feature some of the best downhill mountain bike riders in the world. The impressive list of riders includes three-time Hardline winner Bernard Kerr, who has been testing the track and preparing for the event in Tasmania for the past month with Kaos Seagrave and Dan Atherton, the course designer for Red Bull Hardline in Wales. 

Bernard Kerr, the team manager of the Pivot Factory Racing team and Hardline legend, has been sharing his excitement for the event and the track via his YouTube channel. According to him, the course in Tasmania is sick, a proper Hardline and he reassures fans that it will be just as Hardline as the original.

The brand new course features a variety of big drops and jumps, with many of the features being natural and plucked out of its Tasmanian jungle surroundings. During his initial course walk, Kerr says, "It's steep, techie and gnarly straight out the gate." He jokes about the potential of spiders and snakes lurking in the heavier foliage sections that were still being cleared saying "we ain't in Wales now boys..."

The track length is around 2.3km with a 600m vertical elevation – which means it's very fast. Kerr discusses some of the features during the track walk saying, "Speed is your friend for landing smooth here." The biggest vertical drop is around 10m and the largest gap jump is around 23m. During the walk Kerr asks Dan Atherton what he thinks and Dan quips, "Long as I'm not first off that drop! It's terrifying, it's too gnarly, I'm not doing it." When that comes from the man whose course in Dyfi has inspired the Tasmania event, it says a lot about how challenging the new course is going to be.

The challenges of the new course were also confirmed after David McMillan suffered a huge crash whilst testing – resulting in a snapped femur, dislocated ankle, a bunch of broken bones, a cracked pelvis, and a good few facial fractures. The build crew has now made changes to the course to ensure the course will a safe as possible for the riders.

Red Bull Hardline will be broadcast live on Red Bull TV and for all the latest info on Red Bull Hardline Tasmania visit Redbull.com and be sure to check out Bernard Kerr's YouTube channel for his take on the event.

Updated 2024 Rider List

The rider list has been tweaked with the most notable dropout being former World Champion Loic Bruni, who has decided not to attend, and Gee Atherton, who is recovering from his injuries sustained at Red Bull Rampage. The new additions are Edgar Briole, Vincent Tupin, Thibault Laly and Atherton Racing's Jim Monro. 

• Ronan Dunne (IRL)
• Thomas Genon (BEL)
• Jackson Goldstone (CAN)
• Reed Boggs (USA)
• Bernard Kerr (UK)
• Juan Diego ‘Johnny’ Salido (MEX)
• Laurie Greenland (UK)
• Tahnee Seagrave (UK)
• Kade Edwards (UK)
• Louise-Anna Ferguson (UK)
• Brook MacDonald (NZL)
• Cami Nogueira (ARG)
• Thibault Laly (FRA)
• Hannah Bergemann (US)
• Kaos Seagrave (UK)
• Jim Monro (UK)
• Adam Brayton (UK)
• Theo Erlangsen (SA)
• Edgar Briole (FRA)
• Matteo Iniguez (FRA)
• Camillo Sanchez (COL)
• Josh Bryceland (UK)
• Vincent Tupin (FRA)
• Gaetan Vige (FRA)

Tasmania Wild cards

• Baxter Maiwald (AUS)
• Dan Booker (AUS)
• Sam Gale (NZL)
• Ed Masters (NZL)
• Sam Blenkinsop (NZL)
• Remy Morton (AUS)
• George Branningan (NZL)
• Gracey Hemstreet (CAN)
• Connor Fearon (AUS)
• Darcy Coutts (AUS)
• Harriet Burbidge-Smith (AUS)
• Remy Meier-Smith (AUS)
• Dennis Luffman (UK)