Great Britain sensation Cooper Rushen has been drafted into the Lions team for FIM Speedway of Nations – SON2 – Prague next Friday.
The King’s Lynn and Poole star was drafted into the Lions trio after Luke Killeen confirmed he suffered a concussion in his Cab Direct Championship club Oxford’s match at home to Poole on Wednesday night.
Rushen raced to fifth place in SGP3 – the FIM Speedway Youth World Championship for under-16 250cc riders – in Prague last season.
Now aged 16, he has enjoyed a fine start to his 500cc career, and he joins Poole teammate Will Cairns and GB captain Luke Harrison in the starting line-up as the Lions push for the podium.
Cairns moves into the No.2 position, with Rushen named in the No.3 substitute role. But he can be called into action by team manager Neil Vatcher at any time.
UPDATED 2026 FIM SPEEDWAY OF NATIONS – SON2 – PRAGUE STARTING LINE-UPS (in draw order):
TEAM A – GREAT BRITAIN
1. Luke Harrison ©
2. Will Cairns
3. Cooper Rushen
Team manager: Neil Vatcher
TEAM B – CZECH REPUBLIC
1. Adam Bubba Bednar ©
2. Adam Nejezchleba
3. Bruno Belan
Team manager: Zdenek Schneiderwind
TEAM C – GERMANY
1. Janek Konzack
2. Mario Hausl ©
3. Hannah Grunwald
Team managers: Mathias Bartz & Sascha Dorner
TEAM D – DENMARK
1. Villads Nagel ©
2. Bastian Pedersen
3. Mikkel Andersen
Team manager: Nicki Pedersen
TEAM E – UKRAINE
1. Roman Kapustin
2. Nazar Parnitskyi ©
3. Danko Hladkovskyi
Team manager: Sergii Golovnia
TEAM F – POLAND
1. Wiktor Przyjemski ©
2. Bartosz Banbor
3. Kevin Malkiewicz
Team manager: Stanislaw Chomski
TEAM G – SWEDEN
1. Rasmus Karlsson
2. Sammy Van Dyck
3. Erik Persson ©
Team manager: Linus Sundstrom
TEAM H – AUSTRALIA
1. Mitchell McDiarmid ©
2. Tate Zischke
3. Beau Bailey
Team manager: Mark Lemon