PUEBLO, Colo. – The PBR is back in action, and in a way that you’ve never seen it before.
The PBR Monster Energy Team Challenge, presented by U.S. Border Patrol, will run from June 5-28 at the South Point Hotel Casino and Spa in Las Vegas, and culminate in a Championship Weekend Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on July 10-12 in front of fans. The event will feature 12 teams and 48 bull riders, with each team consisting of four riders, and there will be two divisions of six teams. The Top 3 teams in each division will then qualify for Championship Weekend.
Each of the 12 competing teams will be comprised of three active riders, one of whom is the Captain, an alternate, and a supervisory General Manager.
Division A will hold its first weekend of competition June 5-7, followed by its final weekend of play June 12-14. Teams to be announced in Division B will compete the weekends of June 19-21 and June 26-28. Each night of televised action on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, will feature three games, with each team competing once per night at the Pendleton Whisky Let ‘Er Buck Saloon at South Point Arena.
Each game will be comprised of 12 collective outs, with each team attempting six bulls. In each game, three riders per team, as selected by the General Manager, will attempt two bulls each. The winner of each game will be the team with the top combined aggregate score from their six outs.
On Wednesday, the first six teams – comprising Division A – were announced. In the lead-up to competition, PBR.com will be diving deeper into each roster.
The next team on the docket, led by general manager Jess Lockwood, features team captain and three-time World Champion Silvano Alves, No. 15 Mason Taylor, Luciano de Castro and four-time PRCA champion J.W. Harris.
Read on to learn more about Team Alves, and stay tuned for more on the rest of Division A.
RELATED: Meet Team Leme, Team Jesse, and Team Alves
FABIANO VIEIRA
Fabiano Vieira has been on quite the journey in the last several seasons. After struggling with shoulder injuries for a number of years, in February of 2019 he finally underwent reconstructive right shoulder surgery. Upon his return to competition, he was cut from the premier series in September.
2020, though, has been a return to form for Vieira – he’s currently ranked No. 10 in the world standings, and won his first Unleash The Beast event since 2018 with his victory at the Las Vegas Invitational. In doing so, he became the fourth-oldest rider ever to win on the premier series.
RELATED: Vieira is fourth-oldest all time to win premier series event
MAURICIO MOREIRA
Mauricio Moreira might still be very new to the Unleash The Beast scene, but the 20-year-old has wasted no time in carving out a reputation for himself. He earned his first round victory – as well as his second – in just the second premier series event of his career, finishing second overall in Duluth. Now ranked No. 18 in the world standings, Moreira is currently No. 2 in the Rookie of the Year race, 119.17 points behind leader Cole Melancon.
RELATED: Moreira living out his father’s dream in the United States
RAFAEL DOS SANTOS
A stalwart on the PBR Brazil circuit for several years, Rafael dos Santos has only competed in three Unleash The Beast events in his career. Ranked No. 43 in the world standings, he made his premier series debut at the Lazy E Arena in Oklahoma for the slate of three closed-to-the-public events. He earned a top finish of fourth place overall as the Las Vegas Invitational, going 2-for-3 with an 88.75-point ride on Milk Man in the championship round.
RELATED: Santos wins Round 1 of 2019 PBR Brazil Finals with 91.25-point ride
EZEKIEL MITCHELL
Ezekiel Mitchell finished the 2019 season ranked No. 15 in the world standings, and has spent much of 2020 slowly regaining the form that got him there. He has two Top-5 finishes this season, finishing fifth in Little Rock, Arkansas, and fourth in Sacramento, California. While Mitchell started the season 2-for-10 and flirting with the cutline, he’s been consistently climbing the world rankings ever since, and is now ranked No. 23
RELATED: Mitchell’s season-best ride has him in contention for first career victory
