2006 Elite League speedway season

The 2006 Elite League speedway season was the 72nd season of the top division of speedway in the United Kingdom and governed by the Speedway Control Board (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).[1][2]

2006 Elite League speedway season
LeagueSky Sports Elite League
ChampionsPeterborough Panthers
Knockout CupCoventry Bees
Craven ShieldPoole Pirates
Elite ShieldCoventry Bees
IndividualJason Crump
PairsBelle Vue Aces
Highest averageJason Crump
Division/s belowPremier League
Conference League

Season summary

In 2006, the league consisted of eleven teams, after the newly named Reading Bulldogs, moved up from the Premier League. The Championship was won by the Peterborough Panthers by a single race point in the play-off final.[3]

Peterborough and Reading battled each other throughout the season finishing level on points in the regular season table before Peterborough edged Reading in the Play off final. Peterborough had a strong all round squad and included Danish trio of Hans Andersen, Jesper Jensen and Niels Kristian Iversen, in addition to Australian Ryan Sullivan.[4] Reading who had come up from the division below had recruited Greg Hancock as their main heat leader who finished 7th in the league averages which were headed once again by Australian stars Jason Crump and Leigh Adams.

Final table
Home Away Bonus
Pos Team M W D L W D L F A Pts W L Tot
1Peterborough Panthers4018026014194217314816464
2Reading Bulldogs4016049110193417565113764
3Swindon Robins4019014115189317864714661
4Coventry Bees4018115015185618354711958
5Belle Vue Aces4019012018188017614215557
6Wolverhampton Wolves40161341151827184042101052
7Poole Pirates4018021019188018063813651
8Ipswich Witches4017032018184718373881246
9Eastbourne Eagles4017123017179118604151546
10Oxford Cheetahs4011091019169619892421826
11Arena Essex Hammers4011090020165820032231725
= Qualified for Play Off finals

'A' Fixtures
Home \ Away AE BV COV EAS IPS OX PET PP RB SWI WOL
Arena Essex Hammers 48–41 46–43 40–52 49–41 39–53 42–48 55–40 58–33 50–40 46–44
Belle Vue Aces 46–44 58–37 48–42 48–42 56–38 50–40 53–37 51–39 55–41 54–39
Coventry Bees 47–43 49–42 56–40 48–45 50–42 48–44 47–42 42–48 51–43 53–40
Eastbourne Eagles 62–32 48–42 47–41 51–39 60–32 47–46 49–41 42–48 41–55 46–44
Ipswich Witches 50–42 53–42 51–42 57–38 60–30 48–42 50–40 43–47 48–45 50–42
Oxford Cheetahs 64–26 43–50 47–43 42–48 42–51 42–47 50–43 50–44 47–43 41–51
Peterborough Panthers 56–39 46–44 62–32 59–33 55–38 63–31 48–42 41–52 55–40 54–38
Poole Pirates 59–33 55–38 55–38 54–36 57–39 55–40 48–42 45–48 48–42 47–43
Reading Bulldogs 50–46 52–43 41–49 61–34 50–40 67–28 39–51 50–40 46–44 43–47
Swindon Robins 53–38 50–43 56–39 51–39 53–40 56–38 58–34 52–43 44–49 52–42
Wolverhampton Wolves 56–36 46–44 53–40 48–45 56–35 53–37 48–42 52–41 47–44 44–46
Source: [5]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

'B' Fixtures
Home \ Away AE BV COV EAS IPS OX PET PP RB SWI WOL
Arena Essex Hammers 39–56 44–46 48–42 42–48 62–32 58–38 50–40 41–51 43–46 44–46
Belle Vue Aces 51–42 49–41 44–30 51–39 53–39 52–43 42–48 59–34 43–30 61–35
Coventry Bees 65–29 49–44 56–39 46–44 54–38 49–47 49–42 47–46 45–45 51–42
Eastbourne Eagles 53–41 42–36 47–46 54–39 50–45 55–35 53–41 46–44 53–43 45–45
Ipswich Witches 57–37 52–43 44–50 42–48 52–43 51–43 52–44 56–38 56–37 53–43
Oxford Cheetahs 55–37 46–44 44–51 50–42 46–44 41–49 49–47 39–54 48–47 44–46
Peterborough Panthers 62–28 55–39 49–41 61–32 50–40 55–34 47–46 43–49 53–37 47–42
Poole Pirates 66–24 50–44 47–46 49–44 54–36 49–42 36–56 47–43 58–36 59–34
Reading Bulldogs 60–33 55–40 44–46 54–41 57–38 50–42 51–42 53–41 57–35 58–37
Swindon Robins 57–36 51–42 53–40 58–32 57–38 52–38 47–46 49–44 53–40 47–43
Wolverhampton Wolves 54–40 52–39 53–43 47–43 47–46 46–44 44–46 52–40 45–45 41–49
Source: [6]
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

Reading Bulldogs
Charlie Gjedde 13
Greg Hancock 12
Janusz Kołodziej 8
Travis McGowan 6
Zdeněk Simota 6
Mark Lemon 4
R/R		49 - 47Peterborough Panthers
Ryan Sullivan 15
Hans N. Andersen 14
Piotr Świderski 8
Richard Hall 6
Ulrich Østergaard 3
Jesper B. Jensen 1
Niels Kristian Iversen R/R

Second leg

Peterborough Panthers
Hans N. Andersen 14
Ryan Sullivan 12
Richard Hall 10
Niels Kristian Iversen 5
Piotr Świderski 4
Jesper B. Jensen 2
Ulrich Østergaard 1		48 - 45Reading Bulldogs
Mark Lemon 12
Greg Hancock 11
Janusz Kołodziej 9
Travis McGowan 7
Charlie Gjedde 4
Zdeněk Simota 2
R/R

The Peterborough Panthers were declared League Champions, winning on aggregate 95-94.

Elite League Knockout Cup

The 2006 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 68th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Coventry Bees were the winners of the competition.[7]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
13/04Swindon40-50Reading
10/04Reading47-43Swindon
06/04Peterborough57-37Arena Essex
03/04Wolverhampton54-40Oxford
31/03Arena Essex59-35Peterborough
29/03Oxford43-47Wolverhampton

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
10/07Belle Vue56-38Arena Essex
07/07Arena Essex44-46Belle Vue
07/07Coventry56-40Ipswich
07/07Reading51-42Poole
05/07Poole58-34Reading
03/07Wolverhampton41-51Eastbourne
01/07Eastbourne55-38Wolverhampton
01/06Ipswich48-42Coventry

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
29/09Coventry61-31Eastbourne
28/09Poole43-34Belle Vue
16/09Eastbourne46-44Coventry
11/09Belle Vue53-41Poole

Final

First leg

Belle Vue Aces
Jason Crump 14
Kenneth Bjerre 9
Simon Stead 9
Phil Morris 7
Tom P. Madsen 3
James Wright 3
R/R		45 - 45Coventry Bees
Scott Nicholls 13
Martin Smolinski 8
Rory Schlein 8
Chris Harris7
Emil Kramer 3
Billy Janniro 2
Oliver Allen 2

Second leg

Coventry Bees
Chris Harris 12
Scott Nicholls 9
Martin Smolinski 9
Rory Schlein 8
Troy Batchelor 8
Billy Janniro]5
Oliver Allen 5		56 - 40Belle Vue Aces
Jason Crump 15
Simon Stead 12
Davey Watt 5
James Wright 4
Phil Morris 1
Joel Parsons 1
R/R

The Coventry Bees were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 101-85.

Riders' Championship

Jason Crump won the Riders' Championship for the third time. The final was held at Wimborne Road on 1 October.[8]

Pos.RiderPtsTotalSFFinal
1 Jason Crump3 3 3 3 315x3
2 Nicki Pedersen3 2 3 3 213x2
3 Greg Hancock2 2 3 2 31231
4 Scott Nicholls2 3 1 2 21020
5 Hans Andersen1 1 3 1 391
6 Todd Wiltshire3 0 2 2 290
7 Leigh Adams0 3 2 3 08
8 Billy Hamill1 2 1 1 38
9 Rory Schlein2 2 1 1 17
10 Adam Shields1 1 2 2 17
11 Craig Boyce0 0 0 3 25
12 Krzysztof Kasprzak0 3 1 - -4
13 Simon Stead3 0 0 0 14
14 Jesper B. Monberg0 1 2 1 04
15 Mark Loram2 1 - - -3
16 Mikael Max1 0 0 0 12
17 Matt Bates (res)0 0 0 00

Pairs

The Elite League Pairs Championship was held at the Abbey Stadium on 4 June and was won by Belle Vue Aces.[9]

Final

  • Swindon 5 Belle Vue 4 - Adams, Crump, Stead, Ulamek

Leading averages
Rider Team Average
Jason CrumpBelle Vue11.21
Leigh AdamsSwindon10.47
Hans AndersenPeterborough10.40
Peter KarlssonWolverhampton9.94
Nicki PedersenEastbourne9.92
Bjarne PedersenPoole9.39
Greg HancockReading9.28
Scott NichollsCoventry9.05
Mark LoramIpswich8.92
Jesper B JensenPeterborough8.76

Riders & final averages

Arena Essex

Belle Vue

Coventry

Eastbourne

Ipswich

Oxford

Peterborough

Poole

Reading

Swindon

Wolverhampton

See also

References
  1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. "2006 league tables". Speedway GB.
  3. Bamford, Robert (1 March 2007). Tempus Speedway Yearbook 2007. NPI Media Group. ISBN 0-7524-4250-3.
  4. "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  5. "2006 fixtures & results". British Speedway. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  6. "2006 fixtures & results". British Speedway. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  7. "2006 Elite League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  8. "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - MODERN ERA (1991-PRESENT)". British Speedway. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  9. "2006 Elite League Pairs". Speedway Updates. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
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