2007 Elite League speedway season explained

Competition:Sky Sports Elite League
Domesticcup1:Champions
Domesticcup1 Winners:Coventry Bees
Domesticcup2:Knockout Cup
Domesticcup2 Winners:Coventry Bees
Domesticcup3:Craven Shield
Domesticcup3 Winners:Coventry Bees
Domesticcup4:Elite Shield
Domesticcup4 Winners:Peterborough Panthers
Domesticcup5:Individual
Domesticcup5 Winners:Nicki Pedersen
Domesticcup6:Pairs
Domesticcup6 Winners:Poole Pirates
Highest Average:Leigh Adams
Leagues Below:Premier League
Conference League
Prevseason:2006
Nextseason:2008

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]

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

MWDLWDLFAPtsBPTot
1Coventry Bees361611120618191463571673
2Swindon Robins3618008191853.51451.5531467
3Peterborough Panthers361800711017571501511263
4Poole Pirates361611601217611514451358
5Lakeside Hammers36131431141605169034842
6Wolverhampton Wolves36131430151602168533841
7Eastbourne Eagles36121501171624.51676.526733
8Reading Racers36100811161497177923326
9Ipswich Witches3691801171464180920525
10Belle Vue Aces36801010171439185318422
Oxford Cheetahswithdrew
= 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 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.[6]

First round

width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
04/05Lakeside50-40 Belle Vue
30/04Belle Vue47-46 Lakeside
16/04Wolverhampton51-42 Reading
13/04Oxford 45-45 Ipswich
13/04Reading56-34 Wolverhampton
12/04Ipswich 52-38 Oxford

Quarter-finals

width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
15/09Eastbourne41-49 Lakeside
14/09Lakeside59-33 Eastbourne
13/09Swindon55-37 Reading
16/08Ipswich49-44Reading
13/07Reading Racers53-40Ipswich
09/07Coventry53-40 Poole
14/06Swindon 63-27 Peterborough

Semi-finals

width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
15/10Reading Racers38-54Swindon
06/10Lakeside45-45 Coventry
05/10Coventry52-41 Lakeside
19/09Poole31-44 Coventry

Final

First leg

Second leg

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.[7]

width=25pxPos. width=200pxRider width=100pxPts width=50pxTotal width=50pxSF width=50pxFinal
1 3 3 3 3 2 14x3
2 0 2 3 2 3 1022
3 3 3 2 2 3 13x1
4 3 1 2 3 3 1230
5 1 3 1 3 2 101
6 2 2 0 1 3 8 0
7 2 0 3 1 2 8
8 2 3 0 0 2 7
9 0 2 1 3 1 7
10 0 1 2 2 1 6
11 Rory Schlein1 1 3 1 0 6
12 Travis McGowan 3 2 0 0 1 6
13 0 1 1 2 1 5
14 2 0 2 1 0 5
15 0 0 1 0 0 1
16 1 0 0 0 0 1

Pairs

The Elite League Pairs Championship was held at the King's Lynn Stadium on 7 April and was won by Poole Pirates.[8]

Group A
width=20Poswidth=80Teamwidth=30Ptswidth=200Riders
1 Reading 22Hancock 13, McGowan 9
2Poole 21Crump 13, Pedersen B 8
3 Coventry 21 Nicholls 11, Schlein 10
4 Eastbourne18 Pedersen N 15, Bridger 3
5 Ipswich8 Jansson 6, Louis 2
Group B
width=20Poswidth=80Teamwidth=30Ptswidth=200Riders
1 Peterborough 24Andersen 16, Iversen 8
2 Swindon 23Adams 14, Ulamek 9
3 Lakeside 19Shields 14, Kylmakorpi 5
4 Oxford12Jensen 12, Eriksson 0
5Wolves 12 Karlsson 8, Hamill 4

Semi finals

Final

Leading final averages

width=200Riderwidth=200Teamwidth=40Average
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
Eastbourne 8.52

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Coventry

Eastbourne

Ipswich

Lakeside

Oxford (withdrew from league)

Peterborough

Poole

Reading

Swindon

Wolverhampton

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Historic league tables. Speedway Archive.
  2. Web site: Oxford Speedway Resignation . 2007-06-29 . BSPA.
  3. Web site: 2007 league tables. Speedway GB.
  4. Web site: Coventry results 2007 . Speedway Researcher . 26 October 2023.
  5. Web site: Speedway riders, history and results. wwosbackup. 1 August 2021.
  6. Web site: 2007 Elite League Knockout Cup. Speedway archive.
  7. Web site: Elite League Riders' Championship . Speedway History . 9 June 2023.
  8. Web site: 2007 Elite League Pairs . Speedway Updates . 20 May 2023.