Aussie shooting star Ben Cook makes his Swedish racing debut after signing for Bauhaus Elitserien side Smederna for 2025.
Cook exploded into the spotlight with an incredible PGE Ekstraliga debut season for Polish side Leszno this year – finishing an impressive 17th in the league’s average charts on 1.976 points per race.
It was a figure that put him ahead of seven full-time members of the 2024 Speedway GP line-up, as well as earning him the PGE Ekstraliga’s Surprise of the Season award.
He also won the Rowe Motor Oil Premiership title with British side Belle Vue and captained Cab Direct Championship side Poole to a treble of trophies.
With Cook no longer competing in Britain’s second tier, Smederna wasted no time in snapping him up, and the Cowra-born racer is delighted to be getting his first taste of Swedish action next year.
He said: “I am very happy to have signed my first contract in Sweden and to have the opportunity to race for Smederna. I'm looking forward to this new opportunity and to meeting all the fans. Hopefully we have a successful season with the whole team. See you in 2025.”
Delighted Smederna boss Jerker Eriksson said: “Early in the past season, Ben Cook caught our eye. We tried to bring him in this year, but due to logistics, it could not happen.
“Since then, we have had dialogue, and we have also consulted with our contacts around the speedway world to get as broad a picture of him as we could. We believe that Ben can be a real shooting star and surprise in Smederna next year.”