The 1999 Elite League speedway season was the 65th season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom. It was the third 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 increased to ten teams with the Hull Vikings and the Peterborough Panthers moving up from the Premier League, and the Swindon Robins dropping down. The league operated on a standard format without play-offs.
Despite coming up a division Peterborough completely rebuilt their team for the season. They brought in three Australians Jason Crump from Oxford Cheetahs, Ryan Sullivan from Poole Pirates and Craig Watson from Newport Wasps, in addition to recalling Zdeněk Tesař. Poole ran Peterborough close, only losing the league by one point and losing in the cup final to them.
Final table Pos M W D L F A Pts Bon Tot1 Peterborough Panthers181224889734268342 Poole Pirates 18 12 0 6 899 724 24 9 333 King's Lynn Knights 18 11 1 6 823 804 23 6 294 Coventry Bees 18 11 1 6 821 804 23 5 285 Ipswich Witches 18 11 0 7 815 710 22 4 266 Belle Vue Aces 18 9 1 8 848 773 19 5 247 Hull Vikings 18 6 1 11 785 834 13 3 168 Oxford Cheetahs 18 5 0 13 754 869 10 3 139 Eastbourne Eagles 18 5 1 12 745 879 12 1 1310 Wolverhampton Wolves 18 4 0 14 736 884 8 1 9
Fixtures and results
Elite League Knockout Cup The 1999 Speedway Star Knockout Cup was the 61st edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Peterborough Panthers were the winners of the competition.
First round Date Team one Score Team two26/06 Eastbourne 47-43 Ipswich17/06 Ipswich 51-39 Eastbourne28/05 Belle Vue 53-37 Kings Lynn26/05 Kings Lynn 55-35 Belle Vue Second round Date Team one Score Team two08/10 Peterborough 56-34 Ipswich03/09 Poole 59-31 Kings Lynn02/09 Ipswich 44-46 Peterborough13/08 Kings Lynn 46-44 Poole12/07 Reading 46-44 Sheffield30/06 Hull 49-41 Wolverhampton28/06 Wolverhampton 48-42 Hull19/06 Coventry 51-39 Oxford Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two15/10 Peterborough 50-40 Hull13/10 Hull 47-42 Peterborough13/10 Poole 49-41 Coventry09/10 Coventry 40-49 Poole
Final The second leg of the final was due to be completed on 22 October but was abandoned after just two heats due to heavy rain.
First leg
Second leg
Peterborough Panthers were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 92-88.
Craven Shield Pos M W D L Tot1 Oxford171313272 Coventry181206243 Peterborough181026224 Poole18837195 Wolverhampton 18 9 0 9 186 Ipswich 18 8 0 10 167 Hull 18 7 0 11 148 Eastbourne 18 7 0 11 149 King's Lynn 18 5 3 10 1310 Belle Vue 17 5 1 11 11
Semi-final Team one Team two Score Coventry Oxford 55–35, 45–45 Poole Peterborough 47–43, 38–52
Final Team one Team two Score Coventry Peterborough 55–37, 35–55
Riders' Championship Jason Crump won the Elite League Riders' Championship, held at the Brandon Stadium on 23 October.
Pos. Rider Pts Total SF Final1 Jason Crump 3 2 1 3 3 12x32 Todd Wiltshire 3 1 3 1 3 11323 Jason Lyons 3 3 1 2 1 10214 Mark Loram 3 2 3 1 3 12x05 Peter Karlsson 1 1 3 2 2 91 6 Mikael Karlsson 2 3 2 0 2 9 07 Billy Hamill 0 3 1 1 3 8 8 Ryan Sullivan 1 0 3 3 1 8 9 Joe Screen 1 1 2 2 2 8 10 Leigh Adams 1 3 0 3 0 7 11 Chris Louis 2 0 2 3 0 7 12 Brian Andersen 2 0 1 1 2 6 13 Ronnie Correy 0 2 0 2 1 5 14 Craig Boyce 2 0 2 0 0 4 15 Gary Havelock 0 2 0 0 1 3 16 Dean Barker 0 1 0 0 0 1
Leading averages Rider Team Average Jason CrumpPeterborough10.67 Mark LoramPoole9.80 Tony RickardssonKings Lynn9.64 Leigh AdamsKings Lynn9.47 Greg HancockCoventry9.31 Tomasz GollobIpswich9.24 Ryan SullivanPeterborough9.05 Chris LouisIpswich8.96 Billy HamillCoventry8.91 Joe Screen Hull 8.76
Riders & final averages Belle Vue
8.66 8.27 8.27 8.00 7.28 3.25 2.80 2.67 2.33 2.00 1.60 1.00
Coventry
9.31 8.91 7.67 6.47 5.91 5.62 5.43 5.33 3.01
Eastbourne
7.81 7.56 7.09 7.03 6.41 6.07 5.60 2.45 1.40
Hull
8.76 8.60 6.36 5.86 5.60 5.52 5.35 4.67 3.80 1.66
Ipswich
9.24 8.96 7.30 6.33 6.33 4.99 4.82 3.35
King's Lynn
9.64 9.47 7.56 7.22 6.78 4.85 4.45 3.79 3.21 2.18
Oxford
8.18 7.23 6.99 6.74 6.51 5.40 5.08
Peterborough
10.67 9.05 7.12 5.97 5.83 5.53 5.47
Poole
9.80 8.64 8.42 7.41 6.59 6.20 2.29 1.81
Wolverhampton
8.27 8.08 7.64 6.98 6.65 5.96 5.12 4.73 2.10
See also Speedway in the United Kingdom List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References