Watch Matt Jones and Mad Mike Whiddett race a 170 kmph truck down Red Bull Hardline

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Can Jones become the fastest mountain biker down the Hardline course?

Matt Jones and Mad Mike would attempt to beat Jackson Goldstone's winning time from 2022
Can the Rumbull Truck be first down the mountain at Hardline? (Image credit: Red Bull CP)

Matt Jones has attempted to become the fastest downhill mountain bike rider down the Red Bull Hardline course in Wales, the most difficult downhill mountain bike track in the world. To celebrate the launch of the tenth-anniversary of Red Bull Hardline, and the exciting news of a brand new Red Bull Hardline 'Down Under' edition, Matt Jones would attempt to beat the time set last year by Santa Cruz Syndicate rider Jackson Goldstone, that won the Canadian teenage sensation the 2022 edition of Hardline. Goldstone's time was 2 minutes and 20 seconds, winning Hardline by a massive margin.

Matt Jones and Mad Mike inside the Rumbull race car

Matt Jones had some powerful assistance to take on the challenge (Image credit: Red Bull CP)

To help with the challenge of beating the time, Matt Jones would have some assistance. Rather than riding a DH MTB, Jones would be blasted down the Dyfi Land Rover tracks in Mad Mike Whiddett's insanely fast Rumbull race car. The Rumbull truck would race down the Dyfi Land Rover tracks in an attempt to beat Goldsone's winning time. Starting from the same point as the Hardline riders, the Land Rover tracks usually ferry riders to the start point of the race. They would be seeing something totally different now, having ridden up in a Dyfi Defender, it takes around 15 minutes, with tight switchback corners and around 4 miles long. Surely even Mad Mike couldn't get Matt Jones down the mountain faster, and challenge the time set by Goldstone on the Hardline track, which is only a mile long in comparison, and with drops over 400 meters.

Matt Jones and Mad Mike racing at Red Bull Hardline

Mad Mike's stadium truck is insanely fast with a flaming throwing rotary engine (Image credit: Red Bull CP)

Mad Mike's stadium truck is no old-school Land Rover though, his truck is insanely fast with a flaming throwing screaming rotary engine. It's super lightweight weighing less than 800kg, tops out at 170 kmph, and revs, as he puts it, "to the moon". Capable of hitting massive jumps, it is kitted out with huge tires ready to take on the challenge of smashing the Red Bull Hardline time.

Matt Jones and Mad Mike racing Bernard Kerr, Kade Edwards and Kaos Seagrave

Bernard Kerr, Kade Edwards and Kaos Seagrave would race the Rumbull Truck down the Hardline course (Image credit: Red Bull CP)

So do the dream team make it down and challenge the time? They were joined by some of the fastest downhill MTB riders around including Hardline winner Bernard Kerr, along with Kade Edwards and Kaos Seagrave, who would race down the track at the same time, throwing in a real-time competitive edge to proceedings. Watch below to find out what happened, it's insane, enjoy the flame throwing rotary engine symphony and race to the finish!

Paul Brett
Paul Brett
Staff writer

Paul Brett joined BikePerfect as a staff writer in 2022. He has been an avid cyclist for as long as he can remember, initially catching the mountain biking bug in the 1990s, and he raced mountain bikes for over a decade before injury cut short a glittering career. An award-winning photographer, when not riding a bike, he can be found at the side of a cyclocross track or a downhill mountain bike world championship shooting the action. Paul was the founder, editor and writer of Proper Cycling magazine, and he's traveled the world interviewing some of the biggest names in mountain biking and writing about some of the biggest cycling brands.

Current rides: Canyon Inflite, Specialized Diverge, Marin Alpine Trail 2