Richardson Dominates at Cairns Invitational

By: PBR Australia July 05, 2014@ 06:00:00 PM

Lachlan Richardson posts 88 points on The Hump. Photo by Phillip Wittke / Wittke Photography.

CAIRNS, AUSTRALIA – With an 88-point effort against The Hump on the final ride of the night, Lachlan Richardson earned the win before a sellout crowd at the Cairns Invitational, part of the PBR Australian Cup Series, on Saturday.

Richardson went 3-for-3, tallying a combined 255 points to finish ahead of three-time PBR Australia Champion David Kennedy, who put up 253 points on three bulls. Fraser Babbington finished third, also going 3-for-3 for a combined 252.5 points.

PBR Australia standings leader Justin Paton took the early lead in the competition with an 83.5-point score in Round 1, closely followed by Richardson, who put up 83 points. Built Ford Tough Series regulars Ryan Dirteater and Skeeter Kingsolver were each unsuccessful on their first bull, with Kingsolver taking a hit to the face and breaking his cheek bone. He did not return to action.

Lachlan Richardson gets the win. Photo by Phillip Wittke.

Babbington notched his second ride of the day to win Round 2 with 86 points, while Kennedy posted 84.5 points, followed by Richardson’s 84. Dirtearter would be the only non-Australian rider to cover a bull in the competition, however, the Oklahoma native fell short of making the championship round.

Babbington would be the first to cover three bulls, posting 86.5 points in the final round. Cliff Richardson, brother of Lachlan, then put up 88 points on Sports Machine moving his three-bull total to 249 points. Kennedy, chasing his fourth PBR Australian title, scored 87 points to take the lead away from Babbington. Lachlan Richardson then posted 88 points on The Hump to win the event.

In all, five of eight bulls were ridden at the Cairns Convention Centre in the championship round.

With the National Finals at Sydney’s Allphones Arena two weeks away, Paton maintained his hold on the top spot, however, Kennedy, Cliff Richardson, Ben Seeds and Babbington are within striking distance.

The Cup Series next heads south to Newcastle for the Brendon Clark Invitational at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre on July 12.

Results:

Round 1
1. Justin Paton – 83.5
2. Lachlan Richardson – 83
3. Dave Kennedy – 82.5
4. Fraser Babbington – 81.5

Round 2
1. Fraser Babbington – 86
2. Dave Kennedy – 84.5
3. Lachlan Richardson – 84
4. Justin Paton – 83.5

Championship Round
1. Lachlan Richardson – 88
Cliff Richardson – 88
3. David Kennedy – 87
4. Fraser Babbington – 86.5
Ryan Storey – 86.5

Average
1. Lachlan Richardson – 255
2. David Kennedy – 253
3. Fraser Babbington – 252.5
4. Cliff Richardson – 249

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