PIRATES have an “incredibly exciting” reserve pairing as rising stars Will Cairns and Cooper Rushen will partner at six and seven for Poole in 2026.
Rushen, currently 15, joins 16-year-old Cairns at the Wimborne Road club for next season, as Pirates won the race to sign the hot prospect for next season.
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Cairns, meanwhile, joined the team in June of 2025, after he turned 16, and he impressed, improving his average by close to two points having arrived on 2.0 and finishing the season on 3.91 from ten meetings.
Promoter Danny Ford believes the pair can help draw crowds as two of the sport’s hottest prospects, and he is looking forward to seeing them in action together.
“Obviously it's going to be incredibly exciting,” he told the Daily Echo.
“I really hope the supporters can get behind that. It's a very sellable, marketable reserve pairing and hopefully the supporters embrace that.
“It's obviously two very talented young British rising stars, but perhaps inexperienced at times.
“So, that would be where the more senior riders in the team can pass on their knowledge to these guys because between them they've got half a season of Championship experience.
“So we can't expect them to score double figures every week. But I think we're in for a really, really exciting season with these two.”
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