2003 Elite League speedway season explained

Competition:Sky Sports Elite League
Domesticcup1:Champions
Domesticcup1 Winners:Poole Pirates
Domesticcup2:Knockout Cup
Domesticcup2 Winners:Poole Pirates
Domesticcup3:Riders Championship
Domesticcup3 Winners:Lee Richardson
Highest Average:Jason Crump
Leagues Below:Premier League
Conference League
Prevseason:2002
Nextseason:2004

The 2003 Elite League speedway season was the 69th season of the top division of speedway in the United Kingdom and governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).[1] [2] [3]

Season summary

In 2003, the league decreased to eight teams, after the King's Lynn dropped to the Premier League and reverted back to their traditional name of Stars. They also lost the promotion of Nigel Wagstaff who took over at Oxford, which resulted in Oxford Cheetahs taking over the Silver Machine name from King's Lynn. King's Lynn's leading riders Nicki Pedersen and Sebastian Ułamek also switched to Oxford. Freddie Eriksson went to Ipswich. Oxford also brought in former World Champion Greg Hancock from Coventry but lost Leigh Adams and Lukáš Dryml to Poole.[4]

Poole's decision to recruit Adams and Dryml was instrumental because they went on to claim the title. Adams finished top of the league averages and he was backed up by their five time World Champion Tony Rickardsson and the vastly improved form of Magnus Zetterström. Poole went on to complete the double by winning the Knockout Cup.[5] [6]

[7]

Final table

PosMWDLFAPtsBonTot
1Poole Pirates28201713351182411152
2Coventry Bees28170111295122434943
3Peterborough Panthers28160121325119532840
4Oxford Silver Machine28160121295122432840
5Wolverhampton Wolves28141131248126529635
6Eastbourne Eagles28121151261125025732
7Belle Vue Aces2891181219129819524
8Ipswich Witches2860221088142812012
= Qualified for Play Offs

'B' Fixtures

Play-offs

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

Semi-finals

Final

First leg

Second leg

The Poole Pirates were declared League Champions, winning on aggregate 100-79.

Elite League Knockout Cup

The 2003 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 65th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Poole Pirates were the winners of the competition.[8]

Quarter-finals

width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
23/05Peterborough52-38 Coventry
09/05Oxford 55-35 Ipswich
05/05Ipswich 41-49 Oxford
21/04Coventry52-38 Peterborough
21/04Wolverhampton57-33 Belle Vue
18/04Belle Vue49-41 Wolverhampton
18/04Eastbourne40-32 Poole
18/04Poole56-34 Eastbourne
10/09
(replay)
Peterborough44-46 Coventry
03/09
(replay)
Coventry61-29 Peterborough

Semi-finals

width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
11/10Coventry 50-40Wolverhampton
10/10Oxford46-44 Poole
08/10Wolverhampton 48-41 Coventry
15/09Poole 56-34Oxford

Final

First leg

Second leg

The Poole Pirates were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 90-88.

Riders' Championship

Lee Richardson won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Brandon Stadium on 18 October.[9]

width=25pxPos. width=200pxRider width=100pxPts width=50pxTotal width=50pxSF width=50pxFinal
1 2 3 2 2 2 1123
2 3 0 3 3 1 1032
3 3 0 3 3 2 11x1
4 2 3 2 3 3 13xret
5 2 3 2 2 1 101
6 3 2 3 3 0 110
7 3 1 1 0 3 8
8 1 2 1 1 2 7
9 0 2 3 1 0 6
10 1 3 0 2 0 6
11 2 2 1 0 1 6
12 0 1 0 1 3 5
13 0 1 2 2 0 5
14 1 1 0 0 2 4
15 1 0 0 1 1 3
16 0 0 1 0 1
17 Chris Harris (res) 3 3

Leading final averages

width=200Riderwidth=200Teamwidth=40Average
Jason CrumpBelle Vue10.79
Poole10.14
Magnus ZetterströmPoole10.07
Tony RickardssonPoole9.64
Scott NichollsIpswich9.41
Nicki PedersenOxford9.33
Mikael MaxWolverhampton9.28
Greg HancockOxford9.28
Ryan SullivanPeterborough9.23
Billy HamillCoventry9.23

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Coventry

Eastbourne

Ipswich

Oxford

Peterborough

Poole

Wolverhampton

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Historic league tables. Speedway Archive.
  2. Web site: 2003 league tables. Speedway GB.
  3. Web site: HISTORY ARCHIVE. British Speedway. 4 July 2021.
  4. Book: Bamford/Shailes, Robert/Glynn. The Story of Oxford Speedway. 2007. 175–177. Tempus Publishing Ltd. 978-0-7524-4161-0.
  5. Web site: Speedway riders, history and results. wwosbackup. 1 August 2021.
  6. Web site: DRYML BOYS PLAY PART IN 2003 TITLE SUCCESS . Poole Speedway . 11 February 2023.
  7. Book: Bamford, Robert. Tempus Speedway Yearbook 2005. NPI Media Group. 2005. 0-7524-3396-2 .
  8. Web site: 2003 Elite League Knockout Cup. Speedway archive.
  9. Web site: Richardson claims ELRC . Crash.net . 9 June 2023.