2006 Elite League speedway season
LeagueSky Sports Elite League
ChampionsPeterborough Panthers
Knockout CupCoventry Bees
Craven ShieldPoole Pirates
Elite ShieldCoventry Bees
IndividualJason Crump
PairsBelle Vue Aces
Highest averageJason Crump
Division/s belowPremier League
Conference League

The 2006 Elite League speedway season was the 72nd season of the top division of speedway in the United Kingdom and governed by the Speedway Control Board (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).[1][2]

Season summary

In 2006, the league consisted of eleven teams, after the newly named Reading Bulldogs, moved up from the Premier League. The Championship was won by the Peterborough Panthers by a single race point in the play-off final.[3]

Peterborough and Reading battled each other throughout the season finishing level on points in the regular season table before Peterborough edged Reading in the Play off final. Peterborough had a strong all round squad and included Danish trio of Hans Andersen, Jesper Jensen and Niels Kristian Iversen, in addition to Australian Ryan Sullivan.[4] Reading who had come up from the division below had recruited Greg Hancock as their main heat leader who finished 7th in the league averages which were headed once again by Australian stars Jason Crump and Leigh Adams.

Final table

Home Away Bonus
Pos Team M W D L W D L F A Pts W L Tot
1Peterborough Panthers4018026014194217314816464
2Reading Bulldogs4016049110193417565113764
3Swindon Robins4019014115189317864714661
4Coventry Bees4018115015185618354711958
5Belle Vue Aces4019012018188017614215557
6Wolverhampton Wolves40161341151827184042101052
7Poole Pirates4018021019188018063813651
8Ipswich Witches4017032018184718373881246
9Eastbourne Eagles4017123017179118604151546
10Oxford Cheetahs4011091019169619892421826
11Arena Essex Hammers4011090020165820032231725
= Qualified for Play Off finals

Play-offs

Semi-final decided over one leg. Grand Final decided by aggregate scores over two legs.

Semi-finals

Final

First leg

Second leg

The Peterborough Panthers were declared League Champions, winning on aggregate 95-94.

Elite League Knockout Cup

Scott Nicholls helped Coventry win the Knockout Cup

The 2006 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 68th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Coventry Bees were the winners of the competition.[5]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
13/04Swindon40-50Reading
10/04Reading47-43Swindon
06/04Peterborough57-37Arena Essex
03/04Wolverhampton54-40Oxford
31/03Arena Essex59-35Peterborough
29/03Oxford43-47Wolverhampton

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
10/07Belle Vue56-38Arena Essex
07/07Arena Essex44-46Belle Vue
07/07Coventry56-40Ipswich
07/07Reading51-42Poole
05/07Poole58-34Reading
03/07Wolverhampton41-51Eastbourne
01/07Eastbourne55-38Wolverhampton
01/06Ipswich48-42Coventry

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
29/09Coventry61-31Eastbourne
28/09Poole43-34Belle Vue
16/09Eastbourne46-44Coventry
11/09Belle Vue53-41Poole

Final

First leg

Second leg

The Coventry Bees were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 101-85.

Riders' Championship

Jason Crump won the Riders' Championship for the third time. The final was held at Wimborne Road on 1 October.[6]

Pos.RiderPtsTotalSFFinal
1Australia Jason Crump3 3 3 3 315x3
2Denmark Nicki Pedersen3 2 3 3 213x2
3United States Greg Hancock2 2 3 2 31231
4England Scott Nicholls2 3 1 2 21020
5Denmark Hans Andersen1 1 3 1 391
6Australia Todd Wiltshire3 0 2 2 290
7Australia Leigh Adams0 3 2 3 08
8United States Billy Hamill1 2 1 1 38
9Australia Rory Schlein2 2 1 1 17
10Australia Adam Shields1 1 2 2 17
11Australia Craig Boyce0 0 0 3 25
12Poland Krzysztof Kasprzak0 3 1 - -4
13England Simon Stead3 0 0 0 14
14Denmark Jesper B. Monberg0 1 2 1 04
15England Mark Loram2 1 - - -3
16Sweden Mikael Max1 0 0 0 12
17England Matt Bates (res)0 0 0 00

Pairs

The Elite League Pairs Championship was held at the Abbey Stadium on 4 June and was won by Belle Vue Aces.[7]

Final

  • Swindon 5 Belle Vue 4 - Adams, Crump, Stead, Ulamek

Leading averages

Rider Team Average
Australia Jason CrumpBelle Vue11.21
Australia Leigh AdamsSwindon10.47
Denmark Hans AndersenPeterborough10.40
Sweden Peter KarlssonWolverhampton9.94
Denmark Nicki PedersenEastbourne9.92
Denmark Bjarne PedersenPoole9.39
United States Greg HancockReading9.28
England Scott NichollsCoventry9.05
England Mark LoramIpswich8.92
Denmark Jesper B JensenPeterborough8.76

Riders & final averages

Arena Essex

Belle Vue

Coventry

Eastbourne

Ipswich

Oxford

Peterborough

Poole

Reading

Swindon

Wolverhampton

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ↑ "2006 league tables". Speedway GB.
  3. ↑ Bamford, Robert (2007-03-01). Tempus Speedway Yearbook 2007. NPI Media Group. ISBN 0-7524-4250-3.
  4. ↑ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  5. ↑ "2006 Elite League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  6. ↑ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - MODERN ERA (1991-PRESENT)". British Speedway. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  7. ↑ "2006 Elite League Pairs". Speedway Updates. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
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