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).
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 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.
Coventry bounced back to winning ways completing the league and cup double. 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.
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 Cheetahswithdrew = Qualified for Play Offs
'A' Fixtures
'B' Fixtures
Play-offs Semi-final decided over one leg. Grand Final decided by aggregate scores over two legs.
Semi-finals Coventry Bees 55-38 Poole Pirates Swindon Robins 50-42 Peterborough Panthers
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.
First round Date Team one Score Team two04/05 Lakeside 50-40 Belle Vue30/04 Belle Vue 47-46 Lakeside16/04 Wolverhampton 51-42 Reading13/04 Oxford 45-45 Ipswich13/04 Reading56-34 Wolverhampton12/04 Ipswich 52-38 Oxford
Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two15/09 Eastbourne 41-49 Lakeside14/09 Lakeside 59-33 Eastbourne13/09 Swindon 55-37 Reading16/08 Ipswich 49-44 Reading13/07 Reading Racers 53-40 Ipswich09/07 Coventry 53-40 Poole14/06 Swindon 63-27 Peterborough
Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two15/10 Reading Racers 38-54 Swindon06/10 Lakeside 45-45 Coventry05/10 Coventry 52-41 Lakeside19/09 Poole 31-44 Coventry
Final
First leg
Second leg
The Coventry Bees were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 98-85.
Craven Shield End of season competition
First Round Team one Team two Team three ScorePoole Lakeside Reading 52–29–27PeterboroughReadingPoolenot held Reading Peterborough Lakeside 31–37–40Lakeside Peterborough Poole 36–43–29 Team one Team two Team three ScoreIpswich WolverhamptonCoventry 43–23–42Coventry Ipswich Wolverhampton 31–21–20Wolverhampton Coventry Ipswich 35–49–24 Team one Team two Team three ScoreSwindon Eastbourne Belle Vue 48–39–21EastbourneSwindonBelle Vue 37–39–32Belle Vue Eastbourne Swindon 38–38–34
Final Team one Team two Team three ScorePoole Coventry Swindon 35–40–33Swindon Poole Coventry 35–28–45Coventry Swindon Poole 35–50–23
Riders' Championship Nicki Pedersen won the Riders' Championship for the second time. The final was held at King's Lynn Stadium on 30 August.
Pos. Rider Pts Total SF Final1 Nicki Pedersen 3 3 3 3 2 14x32 Chris Harris 0 2 3 2 3 10223 Leigh Adams 3 3 2 2 3 13x14 Davey Watt 3 1 2 3 3 12305 Bjarne Pedersen 1 3 1 3 2 1016 Krzysztof Kasprzak 2 2 0 1 3 8 07 Troy Batchelor 2 0 3 1 2 8 8 Hans Andersen 2 3 0 0 2 7 9 Scott Nicholls 0 2 1 3 1 7 10 Adam Shields 0 1 2 2 1 6 11 Rory Schlein1 1 3 1 0 6 12 Travis McGowan 3 2 0 0 1 6 13 Freddie Lindgren 0 1 1 2 1 5 14 Tomáš Topinka 2 0 2 1 0 5 15 Chris Louis 0 0 1 0 0 1 16 Chris Mills 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.
Group APosTeamPtsRiders1 Reading 22 Hancock 13, McGowan 92Poole 21 Crump 13, Pedersen B 83 Coventry 21 Nicholls 11, Schlein 104 Eastbourne 18 Pedersen N 15, Bridger 35 Ipswich 8 Jansson 6, Louis 2
Group BPosTeamPtsRiders1 Peterborough 24 Andersen 16, Iversen 82 Swindon 23Adams 14, Ulamek 93 Lakeside 19Shields 14, Kylmakorpi 54 Oxford 12 Jensen 12, Eriksson 05Wolves 12 Karlsson 8, Hamill 4
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 Watt Eastbourne 8.52
Riders & final averages Belle Vue
7.38 7.03 6.75 6.25 6.22 5.54 5.46 4.98 4.00 3.04 1.65
Coventry
9.60 8.90 8.15 6.82 6.70 6.31 6.29 5.83
Eastbourne
10.55 8.52 6.77 6.64 6.29 5.49 5.34 5.33 5.18 4.17
Ipswich
7.89 7.25 6.82 5.90 5.72 4.07 4.00 3.50
Lakeside
9.50 8.17 7.86 7.32 6.14 5.36 5.14 5.01 4.77 4.43 4.33 4.00
Oxford (withdrew from league)
7.00 6.67 5.79 5.71 5.04 4.94 4.00 3.88 3.82
Peterborough
10.38 8.38 7.74 6.59 6.10 6.03 4.46 4.46
Poole
10.71 9.96 6.49 6.24 6.22 5.11 5.00 3.64 2.26
Reading
9.54 8.00 7.21 6.29 5.71 5.24 5.20 5.05 4.81
Swindon
10.77 8.48 8.31 7.62 7.19 6.10 4.59
Wolverhampton
9.22 8.35 7.80 7.74 5.20 4.37 4.35 4.28 4.13 2.44
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Speedway in the United Kingdom Knockout Cup (speedway)
References