League | 2012 Sky Sports Elite League |
---|---|
Champions | Swindon Robins |
Knockout Cup | Poole Pirates |
Elite Shield | Poole Pirates |
Riders Championship | Chris Holder |
Highest average | Darcy Ward |
Division/s below | 2012 Premier League 2012 National League |
The 2012 Elite League speedway season (also known as the Sky Sports Elite League for sponsorship reasons) was the 78th season of the top division of UK speedway and took place between March and October 2012.[1]
The Poole Pirates were the defending champions after winning in 2011.[2] Poole nearly repeated the success of the previous season but fell just short. They topped the regular season table for the third year running and won the Knockout Cup for the third year running but lost in the play off final to Swindon Robins. Darcy Ward and Chris Holder were exceptional for the Pirates again but Swindon's triumph (their first since 1967) was put down to a group of riders all maintaining consistent scores. They were Danes Hans Andersen and Peter Kildemand, Australians Troy Batchelor, Nick Morris and Jason Doyle (the latter recruited from Poole) and Sheffield born Simon Stead.[3]
Lakeside Hammers and British speedway was rocked by the news that one of their leading riders Lee Richardson had been killed in a race at the Olympic Stadium in Wrocław, Poland on 13 May. The Hammers did well to finish in a play off place without their main heat leader. Richardson was the 1999 World Under-21 champion and a leading British international. Richardson died of injuries he suffered after touching the wheels of the rider just in front and being thrown into the fence.[4] In recent years fatal accidents had become less frequent and this accident highlighted the dangers still involved in the sport. In part the accident was the catalyst for the decision to make air fences mandatory at tracks the following season.[5]
Pos | Club | M | Home | Away | F | A | +/- | Pts | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3W | 2W | D | L | 4W | 3W | D | 1L | L | |||||||
1 | Poole Pirates | 28 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1355 | 1159 | 72 | |
2 | Swindon Robins | 28 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1382 | 1173 | 70 | |
3 | Birmingham Brummies | 28 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 1276 | 1276 | 44 | |
4 | Lakeside Hammers | 28 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 1279 | 1290 | 44 | |
5 | Eastbourne Eagles | 28 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 1265 | 1277 | 42 | |
6 | Peterborough Panthers | 28 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 1266 | 1287 | 42 | |
7 | Kings Lynn Stars | 28 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 1278 | 1272 | 36 | |
8 | Coventry Bees | 28 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 1217 | 1229 | 32 | |
9 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 28 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 1178 | 1286 | 31 | |
10 | Belle Vue Aces | 28 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 1072 | 1319 | 15 |
Key: | |
---|---|
Championship play-offs | |
Home: 3W = Home win by 7 points or more; 2W = Home win by between 1 and 6 points
Away: 4W = Away win by 7 points or more; 3W = Away win by between 1 and 6 points; 1L = Away loss by 6 points or less
M = Meetings; D = Draws; L = Losses; F = Race points for; A = Race points against; +/- = Race points difference; Pts = Total Points
Leg 1
Lakeside | 43 – 47 | Poole Pirates |
---|---|---|
Birmingham | 35 – 55 | Swindon |
---|---|---|
Leg 2
Poole | 61 – 30 | Lakeside |
---|---|---|
Swindon | 55 - 37 | Birmingham |
---|---|---|
First leg
Swindon Andersen 11 Kildemand 10 Alden 8 Stead 8 Morris 6 Batchelor 5 Lampart 3 | 51 - 44 | Poole Ward 15 Holder 13 Kasprzak 10 Masters 3 Kling 2 Howarth 1 |
---|---|---|
[6] |
Second leg
Poole Kasprzak 16 Holder 12 Harris 8 Eklof 5 Kling 3 Lindgren 1 | 45 (89) - 44 (95) | Swindon Kildemand 11 Andersen 8 Stead 8 Batchelor 7 Alden 5 Morris 5 Lampart 0 |
---|---|---|
[7] |
The Swindon Robins were declared Elite League Champions, winning on aggregate 95-89.
The 2012 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 74th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Poole Pirates were the winners of the competition for the third consecutive year.[8] The Knockout Cup was then suspended for four years until it was held again under the new name 2017 SGB Premiership Team KO Cup.
Quarter-finals
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
10/10 | Belle Vue | 35-42 | Birmingham |
not staged | Birmingham | Belle Vue | |
02/06 | Lakeside | 38-49 | Coventry |
01/06 | Coventry | 52-41 | Lakeside |
not staged | Swindon | Peterborough | |
not staged | Peterborough | Swindon | |
30/05 | Poole | 50-43 | Wolverhampton |
21/05 | Wolverhampton | 39-54 | Poole |
Semi-finals
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
25/10 | Peterborough | 50-43 | Poole |
24/10 | Poole | 51-39 | Peterborough |
18/10 | Birmingham | 45-45 | Coventry |
12/10 | Coventry | 51-45 | Birmingham |
Final
26 October | [9] | Coventry Bees Nicholls 10 Szczepaniak 7 Summers 6 Kennett 5 Larsen 4 Hall 3 Harris 3 |
38–52 | Poole Pirates Iversen 15 Schlein 11 Kasprzak 9 Masters 9 Lindgren 7 Eklof 1 |
Brandon Stadium |
29 October | [10] | Poole Pirates Kasprzak 14 Iversen 13 Schlein 10 Howarth 7 Risager 4 Lindgren 2 |
50–40 | Coventry Bees Szczepaniak 13 Nicholls 11 Harris 6 Kennett 5 Summers 2 Larsen 2 Johnson 1 |
Wimborne Road |
The Poole Pirates were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 102-78.
Chris Holder won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Abbey Stadium on 20 October.[11][12]
Pos. | Rider | Pts | Total | SF | Final |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Chris Holder | 3 3 3 0 3 | 12 | x | 3 |
2 | Niels Kristian Iversen | 3 0 3 3 3 | 12 | x | 2 |
3 | Chris Harris | 2 3 2 2 2 | 11 | 3 | 1 |
4 | Rory Schlein | 2 2 1 3 2 | 10 | 2 | f/exc |
5 | Michael Jepsen Jensen | 3 3 2 3 0 | 11 | 1 | |
6 | Scott Nicholls | 2 3 1 1 3 | 10 | 0 | |
7 | Hans Andersen | 3 1 3 0 1 | 8 | ||
8 | Mads Korneliussen | 0 1 3 2 2 | 8 | ||
9 | Ryan Fisher | 1 2 2 2 0 | 7 | ||
10 | Peter Kildemand | 1 2 f/exc 1 2 | 6 | ||
11 | Sam Masters | 1 2 0 2 1 | 6 | ||
12 | Peter Karlsson | 1 0 0 1 3 | 5 | ||
13 | Joonas Kylmäkorpi | 0 1 0 3 1 | 5 | ||
14 | Lewis Bridger | 2 0 1 1 0 | 4 | ||
15 | Freddie Lindgren | 0 0 2 0 1 | 3 | ||
16 | Danny King | ret 1 1 0 0 | 2 |
Rider | Team | Average |
---|---|---|
Darcy Ward | Poole | 10.90 |
Chris Holder | Poole | 10.31 |
Krzysztof Kasprzak | Poole | 10.18 |
Niels Kristian Iversen | King’s Lynn | 9.51 |
Tai Woffinden | Wolverhampton | 9.09 |
Freddie Lindgren | Wolverhampton | 9.08 |
Hans Andersen | Swindon | 8.95 |
Peter Karlsson | Lakeside | 8.76 |
Lee Richardson | Lakeside | 8.74 |
Chris Harris | Coventry | 8.59 |
Belle Vue
Birmingham
Coventry
Eastbourne
King's Lynn
Lakeside
Peterborough
Poole
Swindon
Wolverhampton