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).[1][2]
League | Sky Sports Elite League |
---|---|
Champions | Oxford Cheetahs |
Knockout Cup | Peterborough Panthers |
Craven Shield | Poole Pirates |
Riders Championship | Jason Crump |
Highest average | Jason Crump |
Division/s below | Premier League Conference League |
In 2001, the league consisted of nine teams and operated on a standard format without play-offs.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5]
Pos | M | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Bon | Tot | |
1 | Oxford Cheetahs | 32 | 20 | 5 | 7 | 1495 | 1367 | 45 | 13 | 58 |
2 | Poole Pirates | 32 | 21 | 2 | 9 | 1538 | 1325 | 44 | 13 | 57 |
3 | Coventry Bees | 32 | 21 | 2 | 9 | 1518 | 1356 | 44 | 11 | 55 |
4 | Ipswich Witches | 32 | 17 | 2 | 13 | 1444 | 1429 | 36 | 7 | 43 |
5 | Peterborough Panthers | 30 | 12 | 2 | 16 | 1356 | 1329 | 26 | 7 | 33 |
6 | King's Lynn Knights | 31 | 12 | 1 | 19 | 1381 | 1467 | 25 | 7 | 32 |
7 | Eastbourne Eagles | 32 | 11 | 3 | 18 | 1373 | 1463 | 25 | 7 | 32 |
8 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 32 | 12 | 0 | 20 | 1397 | 1478 | 24 | 4 | 28 |
9 | Belle Vue Aces | 30 | 7 | 1 | 22 | 1196 | 1484 | 15 | 1 | 16 |
Peterborough v Belle Vue and Belle Vue v Peterborough not held.
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.[6]
First round
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
04/04 | Poole | 50-40 | Ipswich |
17/05 | Ipswich | 56-34 | Poole |
Second round
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
09/07 | Reading | 50-40 | Exeter |
08/07 | Stoke | 41-48 | Hull |
12/05 | Coventry | 39-50 | Peterborough |
12/05 | Eastbourne | 50-40 | Oxford |
11/05 | Oxford | 53-37 | Eastbourne |
11/05 | Peterborough | 50-40 | Coventry |
09/05 | King's Lynn | 56-34 | Belle Vue |
07/05 | Belle Vue | 39-47 | King's Lynn |
Semi-finals
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
09/10 | Ipswich | 46-44 | Oxford |
14/09 | Oxford | 45-45 | Ipswich |
14/09 | Peterborough | 49-41 | King's Lynn |
12/09 | King's Lynn | 38-33 | Peterborough |
Final
First leg
Second leg
Peterborough Panthers were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 93-87.
Jason Crump won the Elite League Riders' Championship for the second time. The final was held at Owlerton Stadium on 20 September.[7]
Pos. | Rider | Pts | Total | SF | Final |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jason Crump | 3 3 3 3 2 | 14 | x | 3 |
2 | Scott Nicholls | 3 1 3 2 3 | 12 | x | 2 |
3 | Nicki Pedersen | 1 3 2 3 2 | 11 | 3 | 1 |
4 | Mikael Karlsson | 2 2 2 3 2 | 11 | 2 | 0 |
5 | Craig Boyce | 0 1 3 2 3 | 9 | 1 | |
6 | Tony Rickardsson | 3 3 2 1 0 | 9 | 0 | |
7 | 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 |
Rider | Team | Average |
---|---|---|
Jason Crump | King's Lynn | 10.39 |
Scott Nicholls | Ipswich | 10.11 |
Leigh Adams | Oxford | 10.08 |
Tony Rickardsson | Poole | 9.66 |
Ryan Sullivan | Peterborough | 9.52 |
Billy Hamill | Coventry | 9.26 |
Greg Hancock | Coventry | 9.05 |
Nicki Pedersen | King's Lynn | 9.01 |
Mikael Karlsson | Wolverhampton | 9.00 |
Peter Karlsson | King's Lynn | 8.75 |
Belle Vue
Coventry
Eastbourne
Ipswich
King's Lynn
Oxford
Peterborough
Poole
Wolverhampton