AUSSIE STARLET BAILEY & GB RACER RUSHEN LEAD CHARGE INTO SGP3 FINAL

Australian sensation Beau Bailey admits he’s living the dream after winning an epic event in Vastervik to book his place at Friday’s FIM SGP3 Final in Malilla.

Making his first trip to Europe, Bailey topped the podium in Semi-Final 1 of the 250cc under-16 competition, tying on 13 points with fellow 13-year-old Cooper Rushen. But the Aussie took the victory on countback after winning their dramatic head-to-head battle in heat eight.

Both riders are relatively new to the 250cc scene, but Bailey has been training in Sweden with former world No.3 and ex-Australian team manager Craig Boyce ahead of the event.

He is elated to have realised his dream of competing in Europe as he prepares to chase the FIM Speedway Youth World Championship in Friday’s FIM SGP3 Final at the famous Skrotfrag Arena, where the sport’s top riders race in the Holmgrens Bil FIM Speedway GP of Sweden – Malilla this Saturday evening.

Bailey said: “This is my first time over here. I have been dreaming of coming over here for a while, so now I have had that chance. I have had a fair bit of competition back home and I have had to fight to get to where I am now.

“I have watched the Speedway GPs in Malilla, and it is a good track. I am looking forward to getting on it.”

Rushen only celebrated his 13th birthday in March and is believed to be one of the youngest finalists in the competition’s history.

The Essex sensation was stunned to take second spot as he blazed into the FIM SGP3 Final. He said: “I can’t even speak to be honest! This is my first year on the 250s and my second-ever meeting abroad. It’s just crazy. I wasn’t expecting what happened today. It was on another level.

“This is only my eighth meeting on a 250. I have only been on the bike eight or nine times. It’s quite new to me still. I will just hold it flat-out on Friday now, and we will see what happens.

“We went to Malilla the other day to have a little look around. I was hoping I would get there, and the dream has come true.”

Bailey and Rushen’s all-action performances won them plenty of fans in Vastervik, and the Brit certainly won’t be backing off the gas when he races live on discovery+ and the Eurosport App this Friday. But he knows the competition will be tough.

“No-one is slow here,” Rushen said. “Everyone is fast and it’s a tough world out here in Europe. The boys are fast. But I like to have a battle. I don’t like people who give up before the line. Even if I am at the back, I will do my best, stick it in the dirt and try everything I can. I just never quit.”

Polish racer Kacper Mania, who was fourth in the 2022 FIM SGP3 Final, took third spot in Semi-Final 1 on 12 points to qualify for Friday’s showdown.

Danish shooting star Villads Pedersen made it through in fourth place on 11 points. He is in the middle of a busy run of meetings, having won last Saturday’s FIM Speedway Youth Gold Trophy in Holsted, Denmark on an 85cc bike. 

He will also compete in the first-ever FIM SGP4 event on Saturday afternoon, racing for the FIM Speedway Youth World Cup on the brand-new 190cc bike designed by six-time FIM Speedway world champion Tony Rickardsson.

Slovenian prospect Sven Cerjak impressed in fifth place with 10 points – a total matched by Poland’s Filip Beczkowski, who was sixth. 

Sweden’s Rasmus Karlsson crashed in his final race, but he had already done enough to qualify on nine points in seventh, with fellow countryman Leon Klasson also making it through on nine – taking the eighth and final place.

A reserve spot for the FIM SGP3 Final goes to Denmark’s Patrick Kruse, who just missed the top-eight cut on eight points.

FIM SGP3 Semi-Final 2 takes place in Vastervik at 19:00 CET tonight.

FIM SGP3 SEMI-FINAL 1 SCORES: 1 Beau Bailey (Australia) 13, 2 Cooper Rushen (Great Britain) 13, 3 Kacper Mania (Poland) 12, 4 Villads Pedersen (Denmark) 11, 5 Sven Cerjak (Slovenia) 10, 6 Filip Beczkowski (Poland) 10, 7 Rasmus Karlsson (Sweden) 9, 8 Leo Klasson (Sweden) 9, 9 Patrick Kruse (Denmark) 8, 10 Damirs Filimonovs (Latvia) 7, 11 Kacper Cymerman (Germany) 6, 12 Zoltan Lovas (Hungary) 5, 13 Nicolas Hohlbein (United States) 3, 14 Dominik Hrbek (Czech Republic) 2, 15 Levin Cording (Germany) 2, 16 Silvar Avi (Estonia) 0, 17 Jonny Eriksson (Sweden) DNR, 18 Casper Appelgren (Sweden) DNR.

PHOTO CREDIT: Jesper Veldhuizen