COOPER Rushen lifted the British Under-21 Championship title at Redcar on Sunday evening.
In a hotly contested event in which the top seven riders were separated by only two points at the end of the 20 qualifying races, the 16-year-old King's Lynn and Poole rider finished joint top of the standings on 12 points alongside Pirates team-mate Will Cairns. Those two qualified directly for the final and were joined by Ace Pijper and Jody Scott, who defeated Jordy Loftus and Max Perry in the semi-final. Rushen navigated his way through a hectic first and second corners to lead the final all the way from Scott. A scrap for third between Pijper and Cairns ended prematurely when the Redcar rider went down under a strong third lap challenge from Cairns, who was duly excluded by referee Wayne Jarvis and the race awarded. Rushen said afterwards: “I think I’m in a dream at the minute! This event last year was kind of haunting me throughout the year, I had a terrible run at the Qualifier and never even made it through to the Final, so to get through this year was a bonus. “Then to have a Final like that, out there with some of my best mates in speedway, ripping around the boards and enjoying what we’re doing – I’m happy for myself and happy for everyone competing.” PICTURE: COLIN POOLE
