| Competition: | 2016 Elite League |
| Domesticcup1: | Champions |
| Domesticcup1 Winners: | Wolverhampton Wolves |
| Domesticcup2: | Elite Shield |
| Domesticcup2 Winners: | Poole Pirates |
| Domesticcup3: | Riders' Championship |
| Domesticcup3 Winners: | Freddie Lindgren |
| Highest Average: | Jason Doyle |
| Leagues Below: | 2016 Premier League 2016 National League |
| Prevseason: | 2015 |
| Nextseason: | 2017 |
The 2016 Elite League was the 82nd season of the top division of speedway leagues in Great Britain. The Elite League ran between March and October 2016. The Poole Pirates were the defending champions after winning their third consecutive title in 2015. The lineup of teams for 2016 stayed the same as in 2015, with the same eight teams competing. It was the last time that the competition would be known as the Elite League.
At the annual Elite League AGM, which was held during October and November 2015, it was announced that speedway bosses would continue to give more opportunities to young talent. All 8 Elite League teams would continue to track two young British draft riders, who would start the season at reserve. However unlike recent years these riders would be given Elite League averages after four meetings, giving them the chance to move into the top five of the team if they performed well. As a result of the reserve riders being given averages the overall points limit that teams must adhere to was raised from 34 to 40.5.[1] In February 2016, it was announced that Elite League teams could sign an eighth stand-in rider, who could race in positions 2 to 5. The rider must be foreign and new to the Elite League.[2] Lakeside Hammers signed Dennis Jonsson as their eight rider for the season.[2] [3]
Teams faced each other four times: twice home and away. The first of the home and away meetings were called the 'A' fixtures, and the second were the 'B' fixtures.
Leicester Vs King's Lynn (B Fixture) was not raced
| Club | Home | Away | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=28 | width=28 | width=28 | width=28 | width=28 | width=28 | width=28 | width=28 | ||||||||
| 1 | Belle Vue Aces Q | 28 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1330 | 1178 | +152 | 64 | |
| 2 | Poole Pirates Q | 28 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 1394 | 1153 | +241 | 59 | |
| 3 | Wolverhampton Wolves Q | 28 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 1332 | 1210 | +122 | 58 | |
| 4 | Lakeside Hammers Q | 28 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 1323 | 1232 | +91 | 47 | |
| 5 | Swindon Robins | 28 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 1263 | 1267 | -4 | 47 | |
| 6 | King's Lynn Stars | 27 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1112 | 1323 | -211 | 36 | |
| 7 | Coventry Bees | 28 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 1201 | 1348 | -147 | 33 | |
| 8 | Leicester Lions | 27 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 1103 | 1347 | -244 | 21 | |
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Freddie Lindgren won the Riders' Championship for the second time. The final was held at Brandon Stadium on 8 October.[4] [5]
| width=25px | Pos. | width=200px | Rider | width=100px | Pts | width=50px | Total | width=50px | SF | width=50px | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 2 1 3 3 | 12 | x | 3 | |||||||
| 2 | 2 3 3 3 0 | 11 | 3 | 2 | |||||||
| 3 | 1 0 2 3 3 | 9 | 2 | 1 | |||||||
| 4 | 3 3 3 2 3 | 14 | x | 0 | |||||||
| 5 | 1 3 3 2 1 | 10 | 1 | ||||||||
| 6 | 2 3 0 2 1 | 8 | 0 | ||||||||
| 7 | 2 2 1 1 2 | 8 | |||||||||
| 8 | 1 1 2 3 1 | 8 | |||||||||
| 9 | 2 F/exc 2 1 2 | 7 | |||||||||
| 10 | 0 1 3 F/exc 2 | 6 | |||||||||
| 11 | 0 1 F/exc 2 3 | 6 | |||||||||
| 12 | 3 2 FX 0 0 | 5 | |||||||||
| 13 | 1 2 0 0 2 | 5 | |||||||||
| 14 | 3 1 1 0 0 | 5 | |||||||||
| 15 | EF 0 2 1 1 | 4 | |||||||||
| 16 | Tom Bacon (res) | 0 0 1 1 0 | 2 | ||||||||
| 17 | - - - - - | 0 | |||||||||
| 18 | Conor Dwyer (res) | 0 | 0 |
| width=200 | Rider | width=200 | Team | width=40 | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swindon | 9.58 | ||||
| Kings Lynn | 9.04 | ||||
| Poole | 8.95 | ||||
| Lakeside | 8.45 | ||||
| Coventry | 7.91 | ||||
| Belle Vue | 7.48 | ||||
| Belle Vue | 7.37 | ||||
| Danny King | Coventry | 7.22 | |||
| Wolverhampton | 7.21 | ||||
| Wolverhampton | 7.18 |
Belle Vue Aces
Source:[7]
Coventry Bees
Source:[8]
King's Lynn Stars
Rory Schlein replaced Mads Korneliussen on 7 July in the King's Lynn Stars team.
Nicklas Porsing replaced Rory Schlein on 1 September in the King's Lynn Stars team.
Lakeside Hammers
Source:[9]
Leicester Lions
Source:[10]
Aaron Summers replaced Grzegorz Walasek on 12 April in the Leicester Lions team.
Davey Watt replaced Sebastian Ułamek on 11 May in the Leicester Lions team.
Ludvig Lindgren replaced Davey Watt on 13 June in the Leicester Lions team.
Poole Pirates
Source:[11]
Bjarne Pedersen replaced Davey Watt on 26 April in the Poole Pirates team.
Antonio Lindbäck replaced Hans Andersen on 19 September in the Poole Pirates team.
Swindon Robins
Source:[12]
Wolverhampton Wolves
Source:[13]
Peter Karlsson replaced Mikkel Bech on 3 June in the Wolverhampton Wolves team.
Tai Woffinden replaced Joonas Kylmäkorpi on 11 August in the Wolverhampton Wolves team.
List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions