1999 Elite League speedway season

1999 Elite League speedway season
LeagueSky Sports Elite League
ChampionsPeterborough Panthers
Knockout CupPeterborough Panthers
Craven ShieldPeterborough Panthers
Riders ChampionshipJason Crump
Highest averageJason Crump
Division/s belowPremier League
Conference League

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).[1]

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.[2]

Despite coming up a division Peterbrough 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.[3] 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 Tot
1 Peterborough Panthers 18 12 2 4 889 734 26 8 34
2 Poole Pirates 18 12 0 6 899 724 24 9 33
3 King's Lynn Knights 18 11 1 6 823 804 23 6 29
4 Coventry Bees 18 11 1 6 821 804 23 5 28
5 Ipswich Witches 18 11 0 7 815 710 22 4 26
6 Belle Vue Aces 18 9 1 8 848 773 19 5 24
7 Hull Vikings 18 6 1 11 785 834 13 3 16
8 Oxford Cheetahs 18 5 0 13 754 869 10 3 13
9 Eastbourne Eagles 18 5 1 12 745 879 12 1 13
10 Wolverhampton Wolves 18 4 0 14 736 884 8 1 9

Fixtures & results

Home \ Away BV COV EAS HV IPS KL OX PET PP WOL
Belle Vue Aces 44–45 58–32 56–33 55–35 48–42 57–35 53–37 46–44 60–30
Coventry Bees 45–45 49–41 49–41 42–48 44–46 51–39 47–44 49–41 48–42
Eastbourne Eagles 37–53 47–44 48–42 44–46 47–43 55–35 43–47 44–46 50–40
Hull Vikings 47–43 39–50 53–37 52–38 45–47 49–40 45–45 53–36 61–29
Ipswich Witches 46–44 46–47 58–32 51–39 46–44 48–41 48–42 50–43 51–39
King's Lynn Knights 54–36 57–33 55–35 47–43 48–45 47–43 45–45 48–44 43–47
Oxford Cheetahs 46–44 39–51 46–47 56–34 47–43 48–42 42–48 39–51 57–34
Peterborough Panthers 60–30 48–44 52–38 59–32 55–34 56–34 60–30 48–42 59–31
Poole Pirates 58–33 53–37 54–36 57–33 53–36 61–28 61–29 54–36 51–39
Wolverhampton Wolves 47–43 44–46 58–32 46–44 43–46 44–45 47–42 42–48 40–50
Source: [4]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

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.[5]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
26/06 Eastbourne 47-43 Ipswich
17/06 Ipswich 51-39 Eastbourne
28/05 Belle Vue 53-37 Kings Lynn
26/05 Kings Lynn 55-35 Belle Vue

Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
08/10 Peterborough 56-34 Ipswich
03/09 Poole 59-31 Kings Lynn
02/09 Ipswich 44-46 Peterborough
13/08 Kings Lynn 46-44 Poole
12/07 Reading 46-44 Sheffield
30/06 Hull 49-41 Wolverhampton
28/06 Wolverhampton 48-42 Hull
19/06 Coventry 51-39 Oxford

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
15/10 Peterborough 50-40 Hull
13/10 Hull 47-42 Peterborough
13/10 Poole 49-41 Coventry
09/10 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.[6]

First leg

Poole Pirates
Matej Ferjan 13
49 - 41Peterborough Panthers
Jason Crump 13
[7]

Second leg

Peterborough Panthers
Jason Crump 15
Ryan Sullivan 11
Zdeněk Tesař 8
Nigel Sadler 6
Jan Andersen 5
Marián Jirout 4
David Howe 2
51 - 39Poole Pirates
Lee Richardson 13
Mark Loram 11
Gary Havelock 7
Bohumil Brhel (guest) 6
Oliver Allen 2
Matej Ferjan 0
Magnus Zetterström R/R

Peterborough Panthers were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 92-88.

Riders' Championship

Jason Crump won the Elite League Riders' Championship, held at the Brandon Stadium on 23 October.[8][9]

Pos. Rider Pts Total SF Final
1 Australia Jason Crump 3 2 1 3 3 12 x 3
2 Australia Todd Wiltshire 3 1 3 1 3 11 3 2
3 Australia Jason Lyons 3 3 1 2 1 10 2 1
4 England Mark Loram 3 2 3 1 3 12 x 0
5 Sweden Peter Karlsson 1 1 3 2 2 9 1
6 Sweden Mikael Karlsson 2 3 2 0 2 9 0
7 United States Billy Hamill 0 3 1 1 3 8
8 Australia Ryan Sullivan 1 0 3 3 1 8
9 England Joe Screen 1 1 2 2 2 8
10 Australia Leigh Adams 1 3 0 3 0 7
11 England Chris Louis 2 0 2 3 0 7
12 Denmark Brian Andersen 2 0 1 1 2 6
13 United States Ronnie Correy 0 2 0 2 1 5
14 Australia Craig Boyce 2 0 2 0 0 4
15 England Gary Havelock 0 2 0 0 1 3
16 England Dean Barker 0 1 0 0 0 1

Leading averages

Rider Team Average
Australia Jason Crump Peterborough 10.67
England Mark Loram Poole 9.80
Sweden Tony Rickardsson Kings Lynn 9.64
Australia Leigh Adams Kings Lynn 9.47
United States Greg Hancock Coventry 9.31
Poland Tomasz Gollob Ipswich 9.24
Australia Ryan Sullivan Peterborough 9.05
England Chris Louis Ipswich 8.96
United States Billy Hamill Coventry 8.91
England Joe Screen Hull 8.76

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Coventry

Eastbourne

Hull

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Oxford

Peterborough

Poole

Wolverhampton

See also

References

  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ "1999 league tables". Speedway GB.
  3. ^ "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  4. ^ "1999 fixtures & results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  5. ^ "1999 Elite League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  6. ^ "1999 Speedway Star Knockout Cup final". Speedway Star. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  7. ^ "Speedway". Reading Evening Post. 21 October 1999. Retrieved 31 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "1999 Elite League Riders Championship". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  9. ^ "Super second for Wiltshire". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 8 June 2023.