BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – As a sold-out Saturday night crowd in Bridgeport, Connecticut, watched on, Ramon de Lima (Rio Branco, Brazil) rode red hot, delivering a perfect 3-for-3 performance inside Total Mortgage Arena to win the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour’s Cooper Tires PBR Bridgeport.

Lima first struck in Round 1 when he delivered the fifth-best score, covering Double Nickle (Mike Miller Bucking Bulls) for 76 points.

The reserved Brazilian, who rides for the Austin Gamblers in the separate PBR Teams league, then overtook the fourth position on the event leaderboard when he outlasted Wildfire (Mike Miller Bucking Bulls) for 78.5 points in Round 2.

Lima clinched the victory when he brought the crowd to a deafening roar as he lasted the requisite 8 atop CoJo (Painted Pony Championship Rodeo) for a championship round-best 83.5 points.

Lima left Connecticut having earned 121 points in the race for the 2021 Velocity Tour Championship.

As the only other rider to go a perfect 3-for-3, Aaron Williams (Pismo Beach, California) was second, collecting 93.5 Velocity Global points.

Williams rode SW 37 (J Bar W) for 71 points in Round 1, Sierra’s Dance (J Bar W) for a Round 2-winning 85.5 points, and Shark Bait (Mike Miller Bucking Bulls) for 68.5 points in the championship round.

Third was defending Cooper Tires PBR Bridgeport event winner and reigning PBR Velocity Tour Champion Grayson Cole (New Ringgold, Pennsylvania).

Cole led the event entering the final round courtesy of a Round 1-best 84-point ride aboard Bugs (J Bar W) and an 83-point effort atop Bullwinkle (Mike Miller Bucking Bulls) in Round 2.

The Pennsylvania native, however, was denied the repeat victory when he was tossed by Squealin’ Kitty (Dave Martin/Mike Miller Bucking Bulls) in 3.86 seconds in the final round.

Courtesy of a double entry, Cole also finished tied for tenth. The additional Top-10 effort was headlined by an 83-point ride on Big Buck (Painted Pony Championship Rodeo) in Round 1.

Cole left Total Mortgage Arena having earned a combined 93.5 Velocity Global points.

Fourth was Eric Novoa (Vacaville, California).

Novoa earned 44 Velocity Global points for his 71-point ride from Round 1 on Tunnel Vision (J Bar W) and 85-point score from Round 2 on Tigger (C-B Bucking Bulls).

Rounding out the Top 5 in fifth was Zane Cook (Fort Gibson, Oklahoma).

After covering Buckland (Mike Miller Bucking Bulls) for 63 points in Round 1, he delivered his second score in as many attempts when he rode Rodeo Ray (Mike Miller Bucking Bulls) for 71 points in Round 2.

Cook, however, proved no match for Black Squirrel (Dave Martin/Mike Miller Bucking Bulls) in the championship round, upended in 2.42 seconds.

In the bull pen, Inaffit (Dave Martin/Mike Miller Bucking Bulls) bucked a cut above the rest, crowned the Bull of the Event.

Bucking in Round 1, the bull was marked an unrivaled 43.5 points for his 4.75-second buckoff of Dalton Rudman (Wellington, Utah).

The PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour next travels to Lexington, Kentucky, on March 7-8 and Bangor, Maine, on March 7-9.

PBR Lexington at Rupp Arena begins at 8 p.m. ET on Friday, March 7, and 7 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 8. Kubota PBR Bangor at Cross Insurance Center gets underway at 8 p.m. ET on Friday, March 7, and 7 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 8, and 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 9.

PBR RidePass on Pluto TV will offer re-airs and on-demand replays of PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour events and is available on desktops, laptops and mobile devices via www.pluto.tv.

PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour
Cooper Tires PBR Bridgeport
Total Mortgage Arena – Bridgeport, Connecticut  
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3- Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. Ramon de Lima, 76-78.5-83.5-238.00-121 Points.
2. Aaron Williams, 71-85.5-68.5-225.00-93.5 Points.
3. Grayson Cole [2], 84-83-0-167.00-74 Points.
4. Eric Novoa, 71-85-0-156.00-44 Points.
5. Zane Cook, 63-71-0-134.00-25 Points.
6. Callum Miller, 0-85-0-85.00-29.5 Points.
7. Dawson Gleaves, 84-0-0-84.00-28.5 Points.
(tie). Ruger Piva, 0-84-0-84.00-21.5 Points.
9. Grayson Cole [1], 83-0-0-83.00-19.5 Points.
(tie). Andy Guzman, 83-0-0-83.00-19.5 Points.
11. João Paulo Fernandes, 0-73.5-0-73.50-6 Points.
Dalton Rudman, 0-0-0-0.00
Cody McCandless, 0-0-0-0.00
Melvin Byler, 0-0-0-0.00
Matt Allgood, 0-0-0-0.00
Eli Necochea, 0-0-0-0.00
Eduardo de Oliveira, 0-0-0-0.00
Jake Morinec, 0-0-0-0.00
Dakota Warnken, 0-0-0-0.00
Matt Hennelly, 0-0-0-0.00
Dalton Shepard, 0-0-0-0.00
Geferson Damascena, 0-0-0-0.00
Marlon Henrique, 0-0-0-0.00
Marcos Rodrigo De Oliveira Dutra, 0-0-0-0.00
Rafael Fernandes Ramos, 0-0-0-0.00
Matheus de Paula, 0-0-0-0.00
Garet Holden, 0-0-0-0.00
Chris Villanueva, 0-0-0-0.00
Joao Pedro Lacerda, 0-0-0-0.00
Bruno Leite Dos Santos, 0-0-0-0.00
Ricardo Aguilar, 0-0-0-0.00
Lucas Mateus, 0-0-0-0.00
Adriel Botelho, 0-0-0-0.00
Joao Medeiros, 0-0-0-0.00

Photo courtesy of Marcus Stevens