1998 Elite League speedway season explained

Competition:	Sky Sports Elite League
Domesticcup1:	Champions
Domesticcup1 Winners:	Ipswich Witches
Domesticcup2:	Knockout Cup
Domesticcup2 Winners:	Ipswich Witches
Domesticcup3:	Craven Shield
Domesticcup3 Winners:	Ipswich Witches
Domesticcup4:	Individual
Domesticcup4 Winners:	Tony Rickardsson
Highest Average:	Tony Rickardsson
Leagues Below:	Premier League Conference League
Prevseason:	1997
Nextseason:	1999

The 1998 Elite League speedway season was the 64th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the second year known as the Elite League, governed by the Speedway Control Board (SCB) in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).^[1]

Summary

In 1998, the league decreased to nine teams with the closure of the Bradford Dukes at the end of their championship winning season in 1997. The Peterborough Panthers dropped down to the Premier League but were replaced by the Oxford Cheetahs. The league operated on a standard format without play-offs.^[2]

Ipswich Witches won the league (their first since 1984) and cup double and were led by the world's leading rider Tony Rickardsson. Rickardsson topped the averages for the second consecutive season and was well supported by Pole Tomasz Gollob in his maiden British season. English riders Chris Louis and Scott Nicholls added even more strength and became British Champion and British Under-21 Champion respectively during the season.^[3]

Final table

Pos		M	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Bon	Tot
1	Ipswich Witches	32	26	1	5	1653	1211	53	16	69
2	Belle Vue Aces	32	20	0	12	1524	1353	40	12	52
3	Coventry Bees	32	18	1	13	1474	1401	37	11	48
4	Swindon Robins	32	15	1	16	1429	1450	31	7	38
5	Eastbourne Eagles	32	15	0	17	1430	1449	30	7	37
6	Wolverhampton Wolves	32	14	1	17	1421	1444	29	8	37
7	Oxford Cheetahs	32	13	2	17	1388	1490	28	5	33
8	Poole Pirates	32	11	1	14	1348	1529	23	5	28
9	King's Lynn Knights	32	8	1	23	1270	1610	17	1	18

'B' Fixtures

Elite League Knockout Cup

The 1998 Speedway Star Knockout Cup was the 60th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams and the second under its new name. Ipswich Witches were the winners of the competition.^[4]

First round

Group A

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
27/03	Belle Vue	50-40	Coventry
28/03	Coventry	51-39	Belle Vue
29/03	Swindon	41-49	Wolverhampton
30/03	Wolverhampton	47-42	Oxford
03/04	Oxford	45-45	Coventry
06/04	Wolverhampton	50-40	Swindon
10/04	Swindon	46-44	Oxford
11/04	Coventry	47-43	Swindon
12/04	Belle Vue	43-47	Wolverhampton
13/04	Wolverhampton	45-45	Belle Vue
17/04	Belle Vue	46-43	Oxford
18/04	Coventry	48-42	Oxford
20/04	Wolverhampton	45-45	Coventry
24/04	Belle Vue	41-48	Swindon
24/04	Oxford	39-51	Wolverhampton
25/04	Coventry	54-36	Wolverhampton
30/04	Swindon	40-50	Belle Vue
03/05	Oxford	48-42	Belle Vue
08/05	Oxford	58-32	Swindon
11/05	Swindon	41-49	Coventry

width=20	Pos	width=200	Team	width=20	P	width=20	W	width=20	D	width=20	L
1	Wolverhampton	8	5	2	1
2	Coventry	8	5	2	1
3	Belle Vue	8	3	1	4
4	Oxford	8	2	1	5
5	Swindon	8	2	0	6

Group B

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
19/03	Ipswich	60-30	Kings Lynn
22/03	Eastbourne	65-25	Kings Lynn
26/03	Ipswich	56-33	Poole
29/03	Eastbourne	52-38	Poole
01/04	Kings Lynn	41-31	Eastbourne
02/04	Ipswich	49-41	Eastbourne
11/04	Eastbourne	44-46	Ipswich
22/04	Kings Lynn	34-55	Ipswich
22/04	Poole	47-43	Eastbourne
24/04	Kings Lynn	47-43	Poole
26/04	Poole	48-42	Kings Lynn
06/05	Poole	39-51	Ipswich

width=20	Pos	width=200	Team	width=20	P	width=20	W	width=20	D	width=20	L
1	Ipswich	6	6	0	0
2	Eastbourne	6	2	0	4
3	King's Lynn	6	2	0	4
4	Poole	6	2	0	4

Semi-finals

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
22/08	Coventry	54-36	Wolverhampton
29/06	Wolverhampton	49-41	Coventry
16/07	Ipswich	57-33	Eastbourne
04/07	Eastbourne	42-48	Ipswich

Final

The first leg was due to be held on 9 October at Foxhall Stadium but was abandoned after 5 heats due to heavy rain. Coventry were leading 17-13 at the time.

First leg

Second leg

Ipswich were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 95-85.

Riders' Championship

Tony Rickardsson won the Elite League Riders' Championship, held at the Abbey Stadium on 11 October.^[5]

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=100px	Pts	width=50px	Total	width=50px	SF	width=50px	Final
1		3 2 2 3 3	13	x	3
2		3 3 3 3 2	14	x	2
3		3 2 1 2 3	11	2	1
4		2 1 3 3 2	11	3	0
5		2 2 2 3 2	11	1
6		3 3 2 2 0	10	0
7		2 3 0 2 3	10
8		0 3 3 0 1	7
9		2 1 3 1 0	7
10		1 1 0 1 3	6
11		1 0 1 2 2	6
12		1 0 1 2 2	6
13		1 0 1 1 0	3
14		0 2 0 0 0	2
15		0 1 0 0 1	2
16		exc 0 1 0 1	2
17	Garry Stead (res)	2 0	2

exc=excluded

Leading final averages

width=200	Rider	width=200	Team	width=40	Average
Tony Rickardsson	Ipswich	10.35
Billy Hamill	Coventry	10.07
Greg Hancock	Coventry	9.58
Jason Crump	Oxford	9.54
Tomasz Gollob	Ipswich	9.38
Chris Louis	Ipswich	9.35
Ronnie Correy	Belle Vue	9.02
Joe Screen	Belle Vue	8.99
Martin Dugard	Eastbourne	8.70
Leigh Adams	Swindon	8.53
	Wolverhampton	8.53

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

9.02
8.99
7.50
6.00
5.83
5.57
5.25
4.87
4.00
2.24

Coventry

10.07
9.58
7.67
5.63
4.44
3.42
3.19

Eastbourne

8.70
7.33
7.15
6.86
6.59
6.32
6.00
S 2.82
2.36

Ipswich

10.35
9.38
9.35
6.41
4.98
4.19

King's Lynn

6.81
6.64
5.80
5.59
5.53
5.09
4.72
2.78

Oxford

9.54
6.80
6.31
6.18
5.87
5.27
3.48

Poole

8.17
7.59
7.12
6.40

5.56

5.46
5.25
4.61

Swindon

8.53
8.32
7.55
6.93
6.27
4.78
3.37

Wolverhampton

8.53
8.02
7.42
6.23
4.73
3.77
3.65

Notes and References

Web site: Historic league tables. Speedway Archive.
Web site: 1998 league tables. Speedway GB.
Web site: HISTORY ARCHIVE. British Speedway. 4 July 2021.
Web site: 1998 Elite League Knockout Cup. Speedway archive.
News: Screen provides the chief thrills . Manchester Evening News . 12 October 1998 . 8 June 2023 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .