Hello,

Red Bull Hardline Tasmania will be broadcast live this Saturday 8 February at 2pm local time.

Here are some conversions by time zone:

– London: 3am
– Paris: 4am
– Washington DC: 10pm

Find out more and watch the racing here.

Sven Martin has been dodging snakes in the undergrowth and beaming us photos of all the action this week as riders tick off features on one of the world’s most challenging downhill tracks.

We’ve prepared some notes and a selection of photos below and will be back with a full recap after racing.

Cheers,

James
+the Misspent Summers team

PRODUCT: DH NOTES POCKETBOOK

WELL HARD: Notes from the 2025 Red Bull Hardline at Maydena Bike Park, Tasmania

• Friday’s seeding runs saw junior World Champ Asa Vermette set the fastest men’s time with a 3:19.176, followed by Rónán Dunne just 0.071s behind in second and Jackson Goldstone 3.001s back in third
• Gracey Hemstreet and Erice van Leuven ticked off every feature. Hemstreet set the fastest women’s seeding time with a 4:02.576
• Matt Jones won the stunting competition by backflipping the massive final jump
• Full seeding results on our website
• In case you skipped the note above, watch the racing live on Red Bull’s YouTube (no subscription required). Rob Warner is back on the mic alongside Eliot Jackson
• Watch Asa Vermette’s full commentated seeding run (seeding wasn’t broadcast outside the event) to get an idea what’s in store for finals
• There have been some big incidents during the week, including Edgar Briole breaking his leg on the big creek gap, Kaos Seagrave front wheel casing the big final jump (somehow totally fine), Elise Empey going OTB-to-face off a big rock drop (and miraculously walking away smiling) and Ollie Davis blowing up his front wheel on the final jump
• Quick history: Dan Atherton and family built a very hard course on a rugged Welsh hillside and held the first Hardline race on it in 2014. There’s been a Hardline Wales every year since then, except for 2020 (Covid). In 2023 the race was cancelled due to high winds
• In 2024 Hardline went to Tasmania for the first time; this year’s Hardline Tasmania follows the same course (built with guidance from the Athertons) but ends slightly further (and several monster jumps later) down the hill. Several sections have been tweaked and the track’s biggest gap (the creek gap, as it’s known) has got a bit longer – riders are hitting it at 70+kph
• Bernard Kerr is the most winning rider in Hardline history with three wins to his name. But Rónán Dunne won both Hardline events in 2024 (Tasmania and Wales) and is looking mighty confident this week. Could he equal Kerr’s record?
• Quick flashback: Hardline Tasmania venue Maydena Bike Park hosted the opening round of the 2023 Enduro World Cup, a dreamy event with incredible trails, perfect weather and massive crowds. Check out the online zine we made from that event
• Listen to Downtime Podcast’s episode with Simon French, the Maydena Bike Park founder who says Hardline testing day is ‘terrifying…the worst day of my year’. Gulp
• Red Bull has put out a Just Ride episode hosted by Rob Warner and Eliot Jackson and joined by guests Vali Höll and Rónán Dunne
• Timeless: Sam Hill and Gee Atherton are racing this weekend, and we think it’s fair to say everyone is stoked to see them sending it in Tasmania. Those two are the same age and battled each other as juniors, with Hill winning junior World Champs in Kaprun, Austria, in 2002 and again in Lugano, Switzerland, in 2003 (Atherton was second in both races). Hardline’s top-seeded racer, Asa Vermette, the current junior DH World Champ, was only born in 2007
• We’ll be back with a full event recap newsletter after racing, including notes, photos and tangents. Also, check our Instagram for interviews and photo galleries during the weekend

Further reading:
Amaury Pierron and Myriam Nicole films
Recent bike news you might not have heard

Notes newsletters are compiled with the help of many contributors. Thank you to everyone who chips in – we love doing this stuff and you make it possible.