The 2001 Elite League speedway season was the 67th season of top division of speedway in the United Kingdom and in 2001 was governed by the Speedway Control Board (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).
Season summary In 2001, the league consisted of nine teams and operated on a standard format without play-offs. Oxford Cheetahs won their first title since 1989. Leigh Adams was brought in from King's Lynn to lead the team that retained fellow Australian riders Todd Wiltshire and Steve Johnston, Czech brothers Lukáš Dryml and Aleš Dryml Jr. and Dane Brian Andersen. In a closely fought three way title battle they claimed the crown ahead of Poole and Coventry. Poole were led by three times World Champion Tony Rickardsson who would claim his fourth Speedway World Championship during the season. Jason Crump was runner-up in the World Championship and topped the league averages for King's Lynn.
League Final table Pos M W D L F A Pts Bon Tot1 Oxford Cheetahs 32 20 5 7 1495 1367 45 13 582 Poole Pirates 32 21 2 9 1538 1325 44 13 573 Coventry Bees 32 21 2 9 1518 1356 44 11 554 Ipswich Witches 32 17 2 13 1444 1429 36 7 435 Peterborough Panthers 30 12 2 16 1356 1329 26 7 336 King's Lynn Knights 31 12 1 19 1381 1467 25 7 327 Eastbourne Eagles 32 11 3 18 1373 1463 25 7 328 Wolverhampton Wolves 32 12 0 20 1397 1478 24 4 289 Belle Vue Aces 30 7 1 22 1196 1484 15 1 16 Peterborough's home fixtures with Belle Vue were not held.
'A' Fixtures
+awarded 'B' Fixtures
Elite League Knockout Cup The 2001 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 63rd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Peterborough Panthers were the winners of the competition.
First round Date Team one Score Team two04/04 Poole 50-40 Ipswich17/05 Ipswich 56-34 Poole
Second round Date Team one Score Team two09/07 Reading 50-40 Exeter08/07 Stoke 41-48 Hull12/05 Coventry 39-50 Peterborough12/05 Eastbourne 50-40Oxford11/05 Oxford 53-37 Eastbourne11/05 Peterborough 50-40 Coventry09/05 King's Lynn 56-34 Belle Vue07/05 Belle Vue 39-47 King's Lynn
Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two09/10 Ipswich 46-44 Oxford14/09 Oxford 45-45 Ipswich14/09 Peterborough 49-41 King's Lynn12/09 King's Lynn 38-33 Peterborough
Final
First leg
Second leg
Peterborough Panthers were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 93-87.
Craven Shield
Anglia Pos Team M W D L Pts1 Peterborough440082 King's Lynn420243 Ipswich40040
Midland Pos Team M W D L Pts1Wolverhampton 440082 Coventry420243 Belle Vue40040
South PosTeam M W D L Pts1 Poole440082 Oxford410323 Eastbourne41032
Final Leg Team one Team two Team three Score 1 Peterborough Poole Wolverhampton 42–43–23 2Wolverhampton Peterborough Poole 41–39–28 3Poole Peterborough Wolverhampton 46–30–32
Riders' Championship Jason Crump won the Elite League Riders' Championship for the second time. The final was held at Owlerton Stadium on 20 September.
Pos. Rider Pts Total SF Final1 Jason Crump 3 3 3 3 214x32 Scott Nicholls 3 1 3 2 3 12x23 Nicki Pedersen 1 3 2 3 2 11314 Mikael Karlsson 2 2 2 3 211205 Craig Boyce 0 1 3 2 3 916 Tony Rickardsson 3 3 2 1 0 907 Ryan Sullivan 3 1 1 1 3 9 8 Lee Richardson 2 3 2 2 0 9 9 Leigh Adams 1 2 1 1 3 8 10 Mark Loram 0 2 0 3 2 7 11 Sam Ermolenko 2 1 1 2 1 7 12 Jason Lyons 1 2 3 0 0 6 13 Dean Barker 2 0 0 1 1 4 14 Krzysztof Cegielski 1 0 1 0 1 3 15 Steve Johnston 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 David Norris 0 0 0 0 17 David Howe (res) 1 1 18 Paul Lee (res) 0 0
Leading final averages Rider Team Average Jason CrumpKing's Lynn10.39 Scott NichollsIpswich10.11 Leigh AdamsOxford10.08 Tony RickardssonPoole9.66 Ryan SullivanPeterborough9.52 Billy HamillCoventry9.26 Greg HancockCoventry9.05 Nicki PedersenKing's Lynn9.01 Mikael KarlssonWolverhampton9.00 Peter Karlsson King's Lynn 8.75
Riders & final averages Belle Vue
8.00 7.78 6.74 6.33 6.14 5.81 4.74 4.21 4.13 4.00 3.79 3.65
Coventry
9.26 9.05 7.90 7.44 5.39 5.17 2.88
Eastbourne
8.16 7.60 6.80 6.70 6.46 6.07 6.00 5.42 5.39 5.06
Ipswich
10.11 8.06 7.79 7.35 6.35 2.66 2.08
King's Lynn
10.39 9.01 8.75 6.76 6.64 5.20 4.71 4.00 2.08 1.83
Oxford
10.08 7.16 6.99 6.75 6.47 6.12 2.73
Peterborough
9.52 8.37 7.31 6.59 6.18 5.86 5.66 5.23 0.38
Poole
9.66 8.34 8.16 6.73 6.53 6.51 5.86 4.87 4.42
Wolverhampton
9.00 7.34 7.33 5.71 5.62 4.70 2.76 1.69
See also Speedway in the United Kingdom List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References