Some of Australia’s best bull riders, and internationals from the US and Mexico, battled for top honours at the 2018 PBR Monster Energy Tour Cairns Invitational at the Cairns Convention Centre on Saturday 2 June.

Rockhampton’s Jason Mara took out the competition on Rock the House ahead of second place Matt Triplett of Montana, USA. Australian stars, and Mara’s fellow PBR Global Cup Australian team members Nathan Burtenshaw and Lachlan Richardson (equal third and fourth) and Troy Wilkinson (fifth) rounded out the top place getters of the hard fought competition.

Mara has become one of the hottest bull riders in Australia, going two-for-three to win the Cairns Invitational for his third consecutive victory in a month. Not ready to call himself a secret weapon for the PBR Global Cup Australian team Mara said, “I don’t know about a secret weapon.  I tell you what. There are a lot of other guys on that team that are good tough cowboys. Not to take anything away from the other countries, but I can’t wait to see them.”

Team Australia Head Coach Troy Dunn named Mara to his squad for the upcoming Sydney Global Cup (9 to 10 June) earlier this week. “When he is on fire, he is pretty hard to beat,” Dunn said.

Mara went into the championship round on Saturday night leading the event, clinching the victory before he was bucked off by Rock The House in 3.13 seconds on the final ride after the seven riders ahead of him in the championship round all fell short of the 8-second mark. “He is a real tough bull in the short go, and I would really like to have got him down,” Mara said. “But he beat me today.”

Mara earned 120 world points for the victory and moves up to 41st in the world standings.

The PBR Global Cup is delivers an extreme sporting experience, attracting some of the strongest riders across the globe, as well as being a major spectator event viewed worldwide.

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