2001 Elite League speedway season

The 2001 Elite League speedway season was the 67th season of top division of speedway in the United Kingdom and in 2001 was governed by the Speedway Control Board (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).[1][2]

2001 Elite League speedway season
LeagueSky Sports Elite League
ChampionsOxford Cheetahs
Knockout CupPeterborough Panthers
Craven ShieldPoole Pirates
Riders ChampionshipJason Crump
Highest averageJason Crump
Division/s belowPremier League
Conference League

Season summary

In 2001, the league consisted of nine teams and operated on a standard format without play-offs.[3] Oxford Cheetahs won their first title since 1989. Leigh Adams was brought in from King's Lynn to lead the team that retained fellow Australian riders Todd Wiltshire and Steve Johnston, Czech brothers Lukáš Dryml and Aleš Dryml Jr. and Dane Brian Andersen. In a closely fought three way title battle they claimed the crown ahead of Poole and Coventry.[4] Poole were led by three times World Champion Tony Rickardsson who would claim his fourth Speedway World Championship during the season. Jason Crump was runner-up in the World Championship and topped the league averages for King's Lynn.[5]

Final table
Pos M W D L F A Pts Bon Tot
1 Oxford Cheetahs 32 20 5 7 1495 1367 45 13 58
2 Poole Pirates 32 21 2 9 1538 1325 44 13 57
3 Coventry Bees 32 21 2 9 1518 1356 44 11 55
4 Ipswich Witches 32 17 2 13 1444 1429 36 7 43
5 Peterborough Panthers 30 12 2 16 1356 1329 26 7 33
6 King's Lynn Knights 31 12 1 19 1381 1467 25 7 32
7 Eastbourne Eagles 32 11 3 18 1373 1463 25 7 32
8 Wolverhampton Wolves 32 12 0 20 1397 1478 24 4 28
9 Belle Vue Aces 30 7 1 22 1196 1484 15 1 16

Peterborough's home fixtures with Belle Vue were not held.

'A' Fixtures
Home \ Away BV COV EAS IPS KL OX PET PP WOL
Belle Vue Aces 42–48 49–41 45–45 46–44 47–42 47–43 42–50 44–46
Coventry Bees 56–34 43–47 48–42 47–43 40–50 62–28 41–49 47–43
Eastbourne Eagles 51–39 45–45 40–50 75–0+ 45–45 49–41 44–46 49–41
Ipswich Witches 56–34 39–51 49–29 47–42 49–41 42–48 47–43 50–40
King's Lynn Knights 46–44 42–48 59–31 50–40 44–46 50–40 49–41 51–41
Oxford Cheetahs 59–31 52–38 47–43 46–44 45–45 38–34 54–36 47–43
Peterborough Panthers n/a 46–44 45–45 42–50 55–35 44–46 42–48 54–36
Poole Pirates 60–30 45–45 54–36 44–46 51–39 45–45 50–40 54–36
Wolverhampton Wolves 52–38 37–47 43–47 42–51 48–42 53–37 42–48 49–40
Source: [6]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

+awarded

'B' Fixtures
Home \ Away BV COV EAS IPS KL OX PET PP WOL
Belle Vue Aces 44–46 42–30 42–48 47–43 42–48 47–42 32–58 40–50
Coventry Bees 52–38 65–25 48–42 48–42 47–43 40–50 52–38 448–42
Eastbourne Eagles 64–26 39–51 40–50 51–39 41–51 47–42 44–46 51–39
Ipswich Witches 49–41 43–47 56–34 48–44 45–45 39–51 46–44 47–43
King's Lynn Knights 51–38 48–42 51–39 49–40 44–46 48–45 42–48 53–37
Oxford Cheetahs 53–36 37–53 44–46 59–31 52–38 53–37 46–44 48–42
Peterborough Panthers n/a 455–35 62–28 57–33 49–41 45–45 44–46 58–32
Poole Pirates 57–33 48–42 56–34 49–41 42–30 52–38 56–34 54–36
Wolverhampton Wolves 54–36 38–52 47–43 51–39 50–37 43–47 55–35 46–44
Source: [6]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Elite League Knockout Cup

The 2001 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 63rd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Peterborough Panthers were the winners of the competition.[7]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
04/04Poole50-40Ipswich
17/05Ipswich56-34Poole

Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
09/07Reading50-40Exeter
08/07Stoke41-48Hull
12/05Coventry39-50Peterborough
12/05Eastbourne50-40Oxford
11/05Oxford53-37Eastbourne
11/05Peterborough50-40Coventry
09/05King's Lynn56-34Belle Vue
07/05Belle Vue39-47King's Lynn

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
09/10Ipswich46-44Oxford
14/09Oxford45-45Ipswich
14/09Peterborough49-41King's Lynn
12/09King's Lynn38-33Peterborough

Final

First leg

Peterborough Panthers51 - 39Ipswich Witches

Second leg

Ipswich Witches
Scott Nicholls 14
Craig Boyce 9
Jarek Hampel 8
Jeremy Doncaster 8
Chris Louis 7
Savalas Clouting 2
Carl Baldwin 0		48 - 42Peterborough Panthers
Mark Loram 12
Ryan Sullivan 11
Nigel Sadler 8
Mario Jirout 6
David Howe 4
Shane Parker 1
Sam Tesar r/r
[8]

Peterborough Panthers were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 93-87.

Riders' Championship

Jason Crump won the Elite League Riders' Championship for the second time. The final was held at Owlerton Stadium on 20 September.[9]

Pos.RiderPtsTotalSFFinal
1 Jason Crump3 3 3 3 214x3
2 Scott Nicholls3 1 3 2 312x2
3 Nicki Pedersen1 3 2 3 21131
4 Mikael Karlsson2 2 2 3 21120
5 Craig Boyce0 1 3 2 391
6 Tony Rickardsson3 3 2 1 090
7 Ryan Sullivan3 1 1 1 39
8 Lee Richardson2 3 2 2 09
9 Leigh Adams1 2 1 1 38
10 Mark Loram0 2 0 3 27
11 Sam Ermolenko2 1 1 2 17
12 Jason Lyons1 2 3 0 06
13 Dean Barker2 0 0 1 14
14 Krzysztof Cegielski1 0 1 0 13
15 Steve Johnston0 0 0 0 00
16 David Norris0 0 00
17 David Howe (res)11
18 Paul Lee (res)00

Leading final averages
Rider Team Average
Jason CrumpKing's Lynn10.39
Scott NichollsIpswich10.11
Leigh AdamsOxford10.08
Tony RickardssonPoole9.66
Ryan SullivanPeterborough9.52
Billy HamillCoventry9.26
Greg HancockCoventry9.05
Nicki PedersenKing's Lynn9.01
Mikael KarlssonWolverhampton9.00
Peter KarlssonKing's Lynn8.75

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Coventry

Eastbourne

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Oxford

Peterborough

Poole

Wolverhampton

See also

References
  1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  3. "2001 league tables". Speedway GB.
  4. "Oxford". wwosbackup. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  5. "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  6. "2001 fixtures & results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  7. "2001 Elite League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  8. "Peterborough lift the cup". Crash.net. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  9. "Elite League Riders' Championship". WWOS Backup. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
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