2007 Elite League speedway season

2007 Elite League speedway season
LeagueSky Sports Elite League
ChampionsCoventry Bees
Knockout CupCoventry Bees
Craven ShieldCoventry Bees
Elite ShieldPeterborough Panthers
IndividualNicki Pedersen
PairsPoole Pirates
Highest averageLeigh Adams
Division/s belowPremier League
Conference League

The 2007 Elite League speedway season was the 73rd season of the top division of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).[1]

Season summary

In 2007, the league consisted of eleven teams for the start of the season. However on 31 May, the Oxford Cheetahs issued a statement explaining their resignation[2] from the league. Their results were expunged from the table and the season was completed with ten teams. It was the last time that Oxford Cheetahs would compete in the league for 15 years, following the refusal of the landlords to allow speedway at Oxford and the subsequent closure of Oxford Stadium in 2012.[3]

Coventry bounced back to winning ways completing the league and cup double.[4][5] English duo Scott Nicholls and Chris Harris were once again the main catalysts to the team's success. The United States pair of Rory Schlein and Billy Janniro also added valuable contributions to the Coventry team.[6]

Once again the Australian pair of Leigh Adams and Jason Crump were the best riders during the season and finished first and second in the league averages.

Final table

M W D L W D L F A Pts BP Tot
1 Coventry Bees 36 16 1 1 12 0 6 1819 1463 57 16 73
2 Swindon Robins 36 18 0 0 8 1 9 1853.5 1451.5 53 14 67
3 Peterborough Panthers 36 18 0 0 7 1 10 1757 1501 51 12 63
4 Poole Pirates 36 16 1 1 6 0 12 1761 1514 45 13 58
5 Lakeside Hammers 36 13 1 4 3 1 14 1605 1690 34 8 42
6 Wolverhampton Wolves 36 13 1 4 3 0 15 1602 1685 33 8 41
7 Eastbourne Eagles 36 12 1 5 0 1 17 1624.5 1676.5 26 7 33
8 Reading Racers 36 10 0 8 1 1 16 1497 1779 23 3 26
9 Ipswich Witches 36 9 1 8 0 1 17 1464 1809 20 5 25
10 Belle Vue Aces 36 8 0 10 1 0 17 1439 1853 18 4 22
Oxford Cheetahs withdrew
= Qualified for Play Offs

'A' Fixtures

Home \ Away BV COV EAS IPS LH OX PET PP RR SWI WOL
Belle Vue Aces 38–54 50–43 49–40 47–43 n/a 39–52 52–38 55–38 34–56 42–48
Coventry Bees 53–39 50–40 57–33 67–25 65–28 50–40 46–44 45–45 44–46 47–43
Eastbourne Eagles 62–29 43–50 45–45 55–38 43–31 44–50 49–41 55–38 56.5–38.5 57–35
Ipswich Witches 65–25 37–56 60–30 44–44 53–40 61–32 35–58 43–47 46–44 49–43
Lakeside Hammers 58–34 52–41 54–36 60–33 51–42 56–37 48–42 52–38 41–50 39–51
Oxford Cheetahs 49–51 28–64 59–34 n/a 39–53 43–46 34–58 40–50 31–59 n/a
Peterborough Panthers 62–31 48–42 49–44 46–28 65–25 61–30 46–43 52–40 58–35 53–40
Poole Pirates 50–43 52–40 52–36 58–34 56–37 57–35 53–40 52–41 45–45 63–27
Reading Racers 48–42 39–53 54–38 60–32 55–35 54–36 56–37 42–51 39–45 49–41
Swindon Robins 68–24 54–40 55–38 68–24 63–29 n/a 52–37 46–44 65–28 58–34
Wolverhampton Wolves 54–39 43–49 51–42 63–29 49–44 60–32 55–38 49–43 54–39 51–42
Source: [7]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

'B' Fixtures

Home \ Away BV COV EAS IPS LH PET PP RR SWI WOL
Belle Vue Aces 34–56 60–29 54–39 39–53 40–52 43–50 56–37 35–58 43–47
Coventry Bees 62–28 49–44 64–29 58–34 45–30 49–42 57–36 55–35 52–41
Eastbourne Eagles 55–37 40–53 47–46 43–49 42–51 53–37 58–35 53–37 50–39
Ipswich Witches 55–35 41–52 46–44 51–42 43–46 41–49 38–52 44–46 52–41
Lakeside Hammers 53–40 42–48 52–40 58–35 45–45 45–47 53–39 53–41 58–35
Peterborough Panthers 47–43 46–44 51–42 62–30 54–36 54–38 60–31 51–42 66–24
Poole Pirates 60–32 43–49 48–46 63–30 57–36 46–44 48–24 50–43 56–36
Reading Racers 46–47 44–49 46–44 50–42 41–49 50–40 39–51 35–57 49–33
Swindon Robins 65–28 51–42 56–36 64–26 62–28 51–42 47–46 57–36 57–36
Wolverhampton Wolves 57–33 42–51 45–45 55–38 52–38 38–54 47–45 59–31 44–45
Source: [8]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-offs

Semi-final decided over one leg. Grand Final decided by aggregate scores over two legs.

Semi-finals

Final

First leg

Swindon Robins
Leigh Adams 12
Damian Baliński 9
Tomasz Chrzanowski 8
Charlie Gjedde 8
Lee Richardson 7
Sebastian Ułamek 3
Andrew Moore 2		49 - 43Coventry Bees
Chris Harris 14
Scott Nicholls 8
Rory Schlein 9
Martin Smolinski 5
Steve Johnston 4
Billy Janniro 3
Oliver Allen r/r

Second leg

Coventry Bees
Rory Schlein 16
Martin Smolinski 10
Scott Nicholls 9
Steve Johnston 9
Chris Harris 8
Billy Janniro 7
Oliver Allen r/r		59 - 34Swindon Robins
Leigh Adams 15
Damian Baliński 5
Tomasz Chrzanowski 5
Charlie Gjedde 3
Sebastian Ułamek 3
Andrew Moore 2
Lee Richardson 1

The Coventry Bees were declared League Champions, winning on aggregate 102-83.

Elite League Knockout Cup

The 2007 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 69th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Coventry Bees were the winners of the competition.[9]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
04/05 Lakeside 50-40 Belle Vue
30/04 Belle Vue 47-46 Lakeside
16/04 Wolverhampton 51-42 Reading
13/04 Oxford 45-45 Ipswich
13/04 Reading 56-34 Wolverhampton
12/04 Ipswich 52-38 Oxford

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
15/09 Eastbourne 41-49 Lakeside
14/09 Lakeside 59-33 Eastbourne
13/09 Swindon 55-37 Reading
16/08 Ipswich 49-44 Reading
13/07 Reading Racers 53-40 Ipswich
09/07 Coventry 53-40 Poole
14/06 Swindon 63-27 Peterborough

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
15/10 Reading Racers 38-54 Swindon
06/10 Lakeside 45-45 Coventry
05/10 Coventry 52-41 Lakeside
19/09 Poole 31-44 Coventry

Final

First leg

Coventry Bees
Billy Janniro 15
Scott Nicholls 11
Chris Harris 9
Rory Schlein 9
Steve Johnston 7
Martin Smolinski 2
Oliver Allen r/r		53 - 40Swindon Robins
Leigh Adams 12
Sebastian Ułamek 11
Damian Baliński 7
Tomasz Chrzanowski 4
Andrew Moore 4
Charlie Gjedde 2
Lee Richardson r/r

Second leg

Swindon Robins
Leigh Adams 16
Sebastian Ułamek 9
Tomasz Chrzanowski 9
Charlie Gjedde 7
Damian Baliński 3
Andrew Moore 0
Lee Richardson r/r		45 - 45Coventry Bees
Chris Harris 11
Steve Johnston 9
Rory Schlein 9
Billy Janniro 7
Scott Nicholls 7
Martin Smolinski 2
Oliver Allen r/r

The Coventry Bees were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 98-85.

Riders' Championship

Nicki Pedersen won the Riders' Championship for the second time. The final was held at King's Lynn Stadium on 30 September.[10]

Pos. Rider Pts Total SF Final
1 Denmark Nicki Pedersen 3 3 3 3 2 14 x 3
2 England Chris Harris 0 2 3 2 3 10 2 2
3 Australia Leigh Adams 3 3 2 2 3 13 x 1
4 Australia Davey Watt 3 1 2 3 3 12 3 0
5 Denmark Bjarne Pedersen 1 3 1 3 2 10 1
6 Poland Krzysztof Kasprzak 2 2 0 1 3 8 0
7 Australia Troy Batchelor 2 0 3 1 2 8
8 Denmark Hans Andersen 2 3 0 0 2 7
9 England Scott Nicholls 0 2 1 3 1 7
10 Australia Adam Shields 0 1 2 2 1 6
11 Australia Rory Schlein 1 1 3 1 0 6
12 Australia Travis McGowan 3 2 0 0 1 6
13 Sweden Freddie Lindgren 0 1 1 2 1 5
14 Czech Republic Tomáš Topinka 2 0 2 1 0 5
15 England Chris Louis 0 0 1 0 0 1
16 England Chris Mills 1 0 0 0 0 1

Pairs

The Elite League Pairs Championship was held at the King's Lynn Stadium on 7 April and was won by Poole Pirates.[11]

Semi finals

  • Poole 6 Peterborough 3 - Crump, Iversen, Pedersen B, Andersen
  • Reading 6 Swindon 3 - McGowan, Adams, Hancock, Ulamek

Final

  • Poole 6 Reading 3 - Crump, Hancock, Pedersen B, McGowan

Leading final averages

Rider Team Average
Australia Leigh Adams Swindon 10.77
Australia Jason Crump Poole 10.71
Denmark Nicki Pedersen Eastbourne 10.55
Denmark Hans Andersen Peterborough 10.38
Denmark Bjarne Pedersen Poole 9.96
England Scott Nicholls Coventry 9.60
United States Greg Hancock Reading 9.54
Sweden Peter Karlsson Wolverhampton 9.22
England Chris Harris Coventry 8.90
Australia Davey Watt Eastbourne 8.52

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Coventry

Eastbourne

Ipswich

Lakeside

Oxford (withdrew from league)

Peterborough

Poole

Reading

Swindon

Wolverhampton

See also

References

  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ "Oxford Speedway Resignation". BSPA. Retrieved 29 June 2007.
  3. ^ "2007 league tables". Speedway GB.
  4. ^ "Bees crowned champions". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  5. ^ "Coventry results 2007" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  6. ^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  7. ^ "2007 fixtures & results". British Speedway. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  8. ^ "2007 fixtures & results". British Speedway. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  9. ^ "2007 Elite League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  10. ^ "Elite League Riders' Championship". Speedway History. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  11. ^ "2007 Elite League Pairs". Speedway Updates. Retrieved 20 May 2023.