The SGB Premiership Pairs (formerly the Elite League Pairs) is a motorcycle speedway contest between the top two riders from each club competing in the SGB Premiership in the United Kingdom.
History The Championship was a reincarnation of the British League Pairs Championship, which ran from 1976 until 1987. After the eighth running of the competition in 2011 the Championship was discontinued. However the pairs returned for the top tier once again in 2017 and was called the SGB Premiership Pairs Championship and won by the King's Lynn Stars riders Chris Holder & Robert Lambert. From 2004 until 2011 it was known as the Elite League Pairs because the top league in the UK was called the Elite League at the time.
Rules In the Qualification Heats, riders are allocated starting gates. For the Semi-Finals, the group winners have first choice of gate positions (A&C or B&D). Gate A is on the inside of the track, whilst Gate D is on the outside. For the Final, the gate positions (A&C and B&D) are decided by the toss of a coin. A pair finishing third and second will score five points, whereas a pair finishing first and last will score only four. Race points scored over all Qualification Heats are used to determine the final group placings.
Winners Year Winners 2nd place Elite League Pairs 2004 Swindon Robins(Leigh Adams & Charlie Gjedde) Belle Vue Aces(Jason Crump & Joe Screen) 2005 Swindon Robins(Leigh Adams & Lee Richardson) Belle Vue Aces(Jason Crump & Joe Screen) 2006 Belle Vue Aces(Jason Crump & Simon Stead) Swindon Robins(Leigh Adams & Sebastian Ułamek) 2007 Poole Pirates(Jason Crump & Bjarne Pedersen) Reading Bulldogs(Greg Hancock & Travis McGowan) 2008"Bees come good in Pairs", Sky Sports, 18 August 2008, retrieved 29 July 2012 Coventry Bees(Hans Andersen & Chris Harris) Swindon Robins(Leigh Adams & Mads Korneliussen) 2009"Pirates storm to Pairs title", Sky Sports, 11 August 2009, retrieved 29 July 2012 Poole Pirates(Hans Andersen & Chris Holder) Eastbourne Eagles(Lewis Bridger & Davey Watt) 2010Chard Phil (2010) "Speedway: Middlo wants pairs rules change", Bournemouth Echo, 8 September 2010, retrieved 29 July 2012 Coventry Bees(Chris Harris & Krzysztof Kasprzak) Poole Pirates(Chris Holder & Bjarne Pedersen) 2011 Poole Pirates(Chris Holder & Darcy Ward) Belle Vue Aces(Chris Harris & Rory Schlein) Not held between 2012 and 2016 SGB Premiership Pairs 2017 King's Lynn Stars(Chris Holder & Robert Lambert) Wolverhampton Wolves(Jacob Thorssell & Freddie Lindgren) Not held between 2018 and 2021 2022 Ipswich Witches(5 rounds) Belle Vue Aces(5 rounds) 2023 Belle Vue Aces(Dan Bewley, Brady Kurtz & Jake Mulford) Peterborough Panthers(Richie Worrall, Ben Cook & Jordan Jenkins)
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway Pairs champions British League Pairs Championship
References