Leme roars back to life with Round 5 victory at World Finals
Jose Vitor Leme looking to become first rider to win three consecutive PBR World Championships.
FORT WORTH, Texas – Reigning two-time World Champion Jose Vitor Leme turned a corner inside Dickies Arena and headed towards the locker room.
Leme then looked up and waved his Montana Silversmiths belt buckle he had just received for winning Round 5 high into the air.
“I got my first one,” Leme said with a big smile.
Leme rode Norse God for 92.75 points on Friday night at Dickies Arena to continue his potential march at becoming the first man in PBR history to win three consecutive World Championships.
The 25-year-old earned 89 points toward the world standings to move up to No. 4 in the world standings and get to within 270.66 points of world No. 1 Daylon Swearingen.
“I’m closer. I’m always there,” Leme said. “I think people cannot forget about me. If I’m still there in the round, I can do something.”
If he rides like he did on Friday night, Leme may just be making the 45-minute drive home to Decatur, Texas, with plenty of more belt buckles, including a gold one and $1 million bonus on Sunday afternoon.
Leme is 4-for-5 at the World Finals and heads into Round 6 on Saturday night (9 p.m. ET CBS Sports Network) second in the event average five points behind Swearingen in the event standings.
Swearingen had a big response to Leme’s ride by ending Round 5 with 91.5 points on Lone Survivor to jump into the No. 1 spot in the event average. The 22-year-old also extended his lead on No. 2 Joao Ricardo Vieira to 85.99 points in the world standings and 87.49 points on No. 3 Kaique Pacheco. Vieira (5.63 seconds on Soy El Fuego) and Pacheco (5.02 seconds on Tortuga) both bucked off on Friday night and are now one bull behind Swearingen and Leme in the event average race.
"That was a really good bull and I am glad I got to get on him," Swearingen said. "He kind of had me locked down just a little bit and my rope moved over a little more than I like, but it all worked out. It just took me a while to catch up and get loosened up and move my feet more."
Rounding out the Top 5 behind Swearingen (4-for-5; 359.75 points) and Leme (4-for-5; 354.75 points) is Cody Jesus (4-for-5; 353 points), Pacheco (3-for-5; 272.25 points) and Luciano de Castro (3-for-5; 266.75 points).
Leme’s ride was an important bounce back in its own right after Leme let a major opportunity slip out of his hands in Round 4 on Thursday when his re-ride bull Safety Meeting bucked him off in 3.63 seconds. Leme had previously ridden Safety Meeting for 90 or more points three times.
That surprising buckoff left Leme with the 26th pick in the Round 5 draft, and Leme was shocked to still be able to snag Norse God.
“He was always one of my first picks. He was my second pick, and I was surprised he left to me,” Leme said. “I was so far behind, and last night happened – everything is for a reason.”
The buckoff against Safety Meeting also had shades of the 2019 World Finals when Leme slapped Danny Boy in Round 2. The slap wound up costing Leme a shot at his first world title as Jess Lockwood capped off a monumental comeback in the world title race to win his second gold buckle.
Leme, to his credit, rode his next three bulls following the Danny Boy slap, but Lockwood was just a little bit better that week in Vegas.
It is just one example of how one mistake can be costly in any title race, but Leme knows not to dwell on any mistake.
“In 2019, I was thinking too much about the world title,” Leme said. “I was putting too much pressure on myself. And this year, I want to do like I always do, and do my job, and everything’s going to happen if I deserve that. If God wants me to have that, I will have it. I trust him and I’m going to leave all that on his hands.”
There is still 827 points available for one rider to earn at the World Finals if he is still in contention for an event average victory. That leaves 20 riders mathematically alive in the title race, but all signs are pointing towards the heavy hitters at the top of the world standings battling it out on Championship Sunday.
Leme had previously ridden nine consecutive bulls at the PBR World Finals. He had not bucked off a bull at the Finals since the championship round of the 2020 PBR World Finals.
Now he may not be able to afford another buckoff with Swearingen refusing to backdown and Vieira and Pacheco still just one bull behind in the event average.
“I am not thinking about a world title,” Leme concluded. “I am not thinking about winning or anything. I just do like I always do. Do my job, and have fun doing it. And that’s what I did.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media