The 1998 Elite League speedway season was the 64th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the second year known as the Elite League, governed by the Speedway Control Board (SCB) in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).
Summary In 1998, the league decreased to nine teams with the closure of the Bradford Dukes at the end of their championship winning season in 1997. The Peterborough Panthers dropped down to the Premier League but were replaced by the Oxford Cheetahs. The league operated on a standard format without play-offs.
Ipswich Witches won the league (their first since 1984) and cup double and were led by the world's leading rider Tony Rickardsson. Rickardsson topped the averages for the second consecutive season and was well supported by Pole Tomasz Gollob in his maiden British season. English riders Chris Louis and Scott Nicholls added even more strength and became British Champion and British Under-21 Champion respectively during the season.
Final table Pos M W D L F A Pts Bon Tot1 Ipswich Witches 32 26 1 5 1653 1211 53 16 692 Belle Vue Aces 32 20 0 12 1524 1353 40 12 523 Coventry Bees 32 18 1 13 1474 1401 37 11 484 Swindon Robins 32 15 1 16 1429 1450 31 7 385 Eastbourne Eagles 32 15 0 17 1430 1449 30 7 376 Wolverhampton Wolves 32 14 1 17 1421 1444 29 8 377 Oxford Cheetahs 32 13 2 17 1388 1490 28 5 338 Poole Pirates 32 11 1 14 1348 1529 23 5 289 King's Lynn Knights 32 8 1 23 1270 1610 17 1 18
'A' Fixtures
'B' Fixtures
Elite League Knockout Cup The 1998 Speedway Star Knockout Cup was the 60th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams and the second under its new name. Ipswich Witches were the winners of the competition.
First round
Group A Date Team one Score Team two27/03 Belle Vue 50-40 Coventry28/03 Coventry 51-39 Belle Vue29/03 Swindon 41-49 Wolverhampton30/03 Wolverhampton 47-42 Oxford03/04 Oxford 45-45 Coventry06/04 Wolverhampton 50-40 Swindon10/04 Swindon 46-44 Oxford11/04 Coventry 47-43 Swindon12/04 Belle Vue 43-47 Wolverhampton13/04 Wolverhampton 45-45 Belle Vue17/04 Belle Vue 46-43 Oxford18/04 Coventry 48-42 Oxford20/04 Wolverhampton 45-45 Coventry24/04 Belle Vue 41-48 Swindon24/04 Oxford 39-51 Wolverhampton25/04 Coventry 54-36 Wolverhampton30/04 Swindon 40-50 Belle Vue03/05 Oxford 48-42 Belle Vue08/05 Oxford 58-32 Swindon11/05 Swindon 41-49 Coventry Pos Team P W D L1 Wolverhampton 85212 Coventry 85213 Belle Vue 83144 Oxford 82155 Swindon 8206
Group B Date Team one Score Team two19/03 Ipswich 60-30 Kings Lynn22/03 Eastbourne 65-25 Kings Lynn26/03 Ipswich 56-33 Poole29/03 Eastbourne 52-38 Poole01/04 Kings Lynn 41-31 Eastbourne02/04 Ipswich 49-41 Eastbourne11/04 Eastbourne 44-46 Ipswich22/04 Kings Lynn 34-55 Ipswich22/04 Poole 47-43 Eastbourne24/04 Kings Lynn 47-43 Poole26/04 Poole 48-42 Kings Lynn06/05 Poole 39-51 Ipswich Pos Team P W D L1 Ipswich 66002 Eastbourne 62043 King's Lynn 62044 Poole 6204
Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two22/08 Coventry 54-36 Wolverhampton29/06 Wolverhampton 49-41 Coventry16/07 Ipswich 57-33 Eastbourne04/07 Eastbourne 42-48 Ipswich
Final
The first leg was due to be held on 9 October at Foxhall Stadium but was abandoned after 5 heats due to heavy rain. Coventry were leading 17-13 at the time.
First leg
Second leg
Ipswich were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 95-85.
Craven Shield End of season competition for the top 6 league teams
First Round Team one Team two Score Wolverhampton Coventry 40–50, 41–49Swindon Eastbourne 68–22, 41–49
Semi-final Team one Team two ScoreBelle Vue Coventry 43–47, 38–52Ipswich Swindon 49–41, 50–40
Final Team one Team two ScoreIpswich Coventry 59–31, 37–53
Riders' Championship Tony Rickardsson won the Elite League Riders' Championship, held at the Abbey Stadium in Swindon on 11 October.
Pos. Rider Pts Total SF Final1 Tony Rickardsson 3 2 2 3 3 13x32 Jason Crump 3 3 3 3 2 14x23 Joe Screen 3 2 1 2 3 11214 Leigh Adams 2 1 3 3 2 11305 Jimmy Nilsen 2 2 2 3 2 11 16 Todd Wiltshire 3 3 2 2 0 10 07 Greg Hancock 2 3 0 2 3 10 8 Brian Andersen 0 3 3 0 1 7 9 Ronnie Correy 2 1 3 1 0 7 10 Chris Louis 1 1 0 1 3 6 11 Mark Loram 1 0 1 2 2 6 12 Martin Dugard 1 0 2 1 1 5 13 Craig Boyce 1 0 1 1 0 3 14 Ryan Sullivan 0 2 0 0 0 2 15 David Norris 0 1 0 0 1 2 16 Shane Parker X 0 1 R 1 2 *exc=excluded
Leading final averages Rider Team Average Tony RickardssonIpswich10.35 Billy HamillCoventry10.07 Greg HancockCoventry9.58 Jason CrumpOxford9.54 Tomasz GollobIpswich9.38 Chris LouisIpswich9.35 Ronnie CorreyBelle Vue9.02 Joe ScreenBelle Vue8.99 Martin DugardEastbourne8.70 Leigh AdamsSwindon8.53 Mikael Karlsson Wolverhampton 8.53
Riders & final averages Belle Vue
9.02 8.99 7.50 6.00 5.83 5.57 5.25 4.87 4.00 2.24
Coventry
10.07 9.58 7.67 5.63 4.44 3.42 3.19
Eastbourne
8.70 7.33 7.15 6.86 6.59 6.32 6.00 S 2.82 2.36
Ipswich
10.35 9.38 9.35 6.41 4.98 4.19
King's Lynn
6.81 6.64 5.80 5.59 5.53 5.09 4.72 2.78
Oxford
9.54 6.80 6.31 6.18 5.87 5.27 3.48
Poole
8.17 7.59 7.12 6.40 5.56 5.46 5.25 4.61
Swindon
8.53 8.32 7.55 6.93 6.27 4.78 3.37
Wolverhampton
8.53 8.02 7.42 6.23 4.73 3.77 3.65
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References