The 2000 Elite League speedway season was the 66th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom. It was the fourth known as the Elite League and was governed by the Speedway Control Board (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).
Season summary In 2000, the league decreased to nine teams with the Hull Vikings dropping back down to the Premier League after just one season. The league operated on a standard format without play-offs.
Eastbourne Eagles claimed the millennium season league title but only finished two points clear of King's Lynn Knights. Martin Dugard topped scored for the Eagles but was well supported by their new signing Joe Screen from Hull Vikings. Three other English riders finished with averages in excess of 7 which was the crucial difference during the season. They were David Norris, Paul Hurry and Dean Barker. The King's Lynn Australian pairing of Leigh Adams and Jason Crump topped the league averages but did not have the back up that Eastbourne relied on. King's Lynn gained consolation when winning the Knockout Cup.
Final table Pos M W D L F A Pts Bon Tot1 Eastbourne Eagles 32 24 1 7 1544 1322 49 13 622 King's Lynn Knights 32 22 2 8 1564 1321 46 14 603 Ipswich Witches 32 16 3 13 1456 1409 35 11 464 Coventry Bees 32 16 3 13 1442 1427 35 8 435 Poole Pirates 32 14 4 14 1437 1426 32 8 406 Wolverhampton Wolves 32 15 3 14 1396 1467 33 6 397 Peterborough Panthers 32 11 2 19 1431 1425 24 7 318 Oxford Cheetahs 31 9 1 21 1296 1477 19 3 229 Belle Vue Aces 31 5 3 23 1248 1540 13 1 14 Oxford v Belle Vue not held.
'A' Fixtures
'B' Fixtures
Elite League Knockout Cup The 2000 Speedway Star Knockout Cup was the 62nd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. King's Lynn Stars were the winners of the competition.
First round Date Team one Score Team two12/05 Oxford 45-45 Poole10/05 Poole 47-43 Oxford
Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two04/09 Belle Vue 40-44 Coventry02/08 King's Lynn 52-38 Ipswich09/06 Peterborough 52-38 Poole26/06 Wolverhampton 51-39 Eastbourne24/06 Eastbourne 44-46 Wolverhampton27/05 Coventry 49-41 Belle Vue25/05 Ipswich 48-42 King's Lynn10/05 Poole 47-43 Peterborough
Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two19/10 King's Lynn 63-27 Wolverhampton18/10 Wolverhampton 43-47 King's Lynn14/10 Coventry 47-43 Peterborough13/10 Peterborough 47-43 Coventry22/10 (replay) Peterborough 46-44 Coventry17/10 (replay) Coventry 45-45 Peterborough
Final
First leg
Second leg
King's Lynn Knights were declared Knockout Cup Champions, on aggregate score 100-80.
Craven Shield
Anglia Pos Team M W D L Pts1 King's Lynn430162 Peterborough411233 Ipswich41123
Midland Pos Team M W D L Pts1 Coventry320142 Wolverhampton320143 Belle Vue20020
South PosTeam M W D L Pts1 Poole421152 Oxford420243 Eastbourne41123
Final Leg Team one Team two Team three Score 1Poole Coventry King's Lynn 39–38–31 2Coventry King's Lynn Poole not staged 3King's Lynn Poole Coventry 34–31–43
Riders' Championship Ryan Sullivan won the Elite League Riders' Championship, held at the Brandon Stadium on 21 October.
Pos. Rider Pts Total SF Final1 Ryan Sullivan 1 3 3 3 2 12x32 Greg Hancock 3 3 2 2 2 12x23 Nicki Pedersen 2 3 0 3 1 9314 Scott Nicholls 0 2 3 3 2 10205 Chris Louis 0 1 2 3 3 916 Todd Wiltshire 3 3 0 2 1 907 Mark Loram 3 1 1 1 3 9 8 Jason Crump 2 2 0 2 3 9 9 Billy Hamill 2 2 3 2 0 9 10 Peter Karlsson 3 0 1 1 38 11 Paul Hurry 2 1 2 1 1 7 12 Sam Ermolenko 1 0 3 1 1 6 13 Leigh Adams 1 1 1 0 2 5 14 Shane Parker 1 0 2 0 0 3 15 David Norris 1 0 2 0 0 3 16 Matt Cambridge (res) 0 0 0 0 17 Carl Downs (res) 00
Leading final averages Rider Team Average Leigh AdamsKings Lynn10.17 Jason CrumpKings Lynn10.15 Mark LoramPoole10.10 Martin DugardEastbourne9.67 Chris LouisIpswich9.57 Tomasz GollobIpswich9.52 Ryan SullivanPeterborough9.18 Greg HancockCoventry9.00 Joe ScreenEastbourne8.82 Billy HamillCoventry8.77
Riders & final averages Belle Vue
8.34 7.02 7.00 6.45 6.20 6.20 5.78 5.58 5.37 5.38 4.64 3.76 2.20
Coventry
9.00 8.77 7.63 5.35 5.34 5.30 5.26 4.56
Eastbourne
9.67 8.82 7.73 7.34 7.20 7.02 5.73 2.89
Ipswich
9.57 9.52 6.53 6.51 6.13 4.65 4.15 3.51 3.46
King's Lynn
10.17 10.15 7.98 6.86 6.57 5.88 4.40 4.14
Oxford
8.24 7.97 7.36 6.93 5.49 5.27 4.57 4.54 4.26
Peterborough
9.18 8.69 6.85 6.84 5.92 5.82 5.67 5.46 4.50 4.47
Poole
10.10 8.57 7.60 7.21 5.17 4.26 3.41 1.28
Wolverhampton
8.32 7.94 7.75 7.48 5.79 5.55 3.72
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References