2007 Elite League speedway season

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]

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

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] 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.[5]

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: [6]
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: [7]
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.[8]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
04/05Lakeside50-40Belle Vue
30/04Belle Vue47-46Lakeside
16/04Wolverhampton51-42Reading
13/04Oxford45-45Ipswich
13/04Reading56-34Wolverhampton
12/04Ipswich52-38Oxford

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
15/09Eastbourne41-49Lakeside
14/09Lakeside59-33Eastbourne
13/09Swindon55-37Reading
16/08Ipswich49-44Reading
13/07Reading Racers53-40Ipswich
09/07Coventry53-40Poole
14/06Swindon63-27Peterborough

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
15/10Reading Racers38-54Swindon
06/10Lakeside45-45Coventry
05/10Coventry52-41Lakeside
19/09Poole31-44Coventry

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.[9]

Pos.RiderPtsTotalSFFinal
1 Nicki Pedersen3 3 3 3 214x3
2 Chris Harris0 2 3 2 31022
3 Leigh Adams3 3 2 2 313x1
4 Davey Watt3 1 2 3 31230
5 Bjarne Pedersen1 3 1 3 2101
6 Krzysztof Kasprzak2 2 0 1 380
7 Troy Batchelor2 0 3 1 28
8 Hans Andersen2 3 0 0 27
9 Scott Nicholls0 2 1 3 17
10 Adam Shields0 1 2 2 16
11 Rory Schlein1 1 3 1 06
12 Travis McGowan3 2 0 0 16
13 Freddie Lindgren0 1 1 2 15
14 Tomáš Topinka2 0 2 1 05
15 Chris Louis0 0 1 0 01
16 Chris Mills1 0 0 0 01

Pairs

The Elite League Pairs Championship was held at the King's Lynn Stadium on 7 April and was won by Poole Pirates.[10]

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
Leigh AdamsSwindon10.77
Jason CrumpPoole10.71
Nicki PedersenEastbourne10.55
Hans AndersenPeterborough10.38
Bjarne PedersenPoole9.96
Scott NichollsCoventry9.60
Greg HancockReading9.54
Peter KarlssonWolverhampton9.22
Chris HarrisCoventry8.90
Davey WattEastbourne8.52

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. "Coventry results 2007" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  5. "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  6. "2007 fixtures & results". British Speedway. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  7. "2007 fixtures & results". British Speedway. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  8. "2007 Elite League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  9. "Elite League Riders' Championship". Speedway History. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  10. "2007 Elite League Pairs". Speedway Updates. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
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