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.
Summary The Poole Pirates were the defending champions after winning in 2011. 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.
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. 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.
League table Pos Club M Home Away F A +/- Pts 3W 2W D L 4W 3W D 1L L1 Poole Pirates2810 3 1 0 4 6 0 1 3 1355 1159 722 Swindon Robins28113004411413821173703 Birmingham Brummies2873042114612761276444 Lakeside Hammers2892031203812791290445 Eastbourne Eagles28930211021012651277426 Peterborough Panthers2893110105812661287427 Kings Lynn Stars2862242004812781272368 Coventry Bees2744150124612171229329 Wolverhampton Wolves27 7304001210117812863110 Belle Vue Aces26 32070002121072131915
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
'A' Fixtures
'B' Fixtures
Championship play-offs
Semi-finals
Leg 1
Leg 2
Grand final
First leg
Second leg
The Swindon Robins were declared Elite League Champions, winning on aggregate 95-89.
Elite League Knockout Cup 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. 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 two10/10 Belle Vue 35-42 Birminghamnot staged Birmingham Belle Vue02/06 Lakeside 38-49 Coventry01/06 Coventry 52-41 Lakesidenot staged Swindon Peterboroughnot staged Peterborough Swindon30/05 Poole 50-43 Wolverhampton21/05 Wolverhampton 39-54 Poole Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two25/10 Peterborough 50-43 Poole24/10 Poole 51-39 Peterborough18/10Birmingham 45-45 Coventry12/10 Coventry 51-45 Birmingham
Final
The Poole Pirates were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 102-78.
Riders' Championship Chris Holder won the Riders' Championship. The final was held in Swindon on 20 October.
Pos. Rider Pts Total SF Final1 Chris Holder 3 3 3 0 3 12x32 Niels Kristian Iversen 3 0 3 3 312x23 Chris Harris 2 3 2 2 2113 14 Rory Schlein 2 2 1 3 2102f/exc 5 Michael Jepsen Jensen 3 3 2 3 0111 6 Scott Nicholls 2 3 1 1 31007 Hans Andersen 3 1 3 0 188 Mads Korneliussen 0 1 3 2 2 89 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 3 513 Joonas Kylmäkorpi 0 1 0 3 1 514 Lewis Bridger 2 0 1 1 0 4 15 Freddie Lindgren 0 0 2 0 1 316 Danny King ret 1 1 0 0 2 f=fell, exc=excluded, ret=retired
Leading averages Rider Team Average Darcy WardPoole10.90 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 Lakeside8.74 Chris Harris Coventry 8.59
Riders & averages Belle Vue
7.59 7.51 7.49 5.68 5.47 5.18 5.09 4.88 4.87 2.97
Birmingham
7.84 7.68 7.29 7.18 6.63 6.26 4.63 2.06
Coventry
8.59 8.54 7.19 6.87 6.27 6.03 5.42 4.61 4.60 4.00
Eastbourne
8.00 7.29 7.09 6.95 6.59 6.51 5.58
King's Lynn
9.51 7.24 6.97 6.79 6.23 6.05 5.96 5.76 5.68
Lakeside
8.76 8.74 8.33 6.94 6.21 5.89 5.67 5.12 5.12 4.00
Peterborough
8.55 8.29 7.42 7.19 7.18 5.42 5.16 4.21
Poole
10.90 10.31 10.18 8.08 6.58 4.34 4.29 4.25 3.87 3.62 3.17
Swindon
8.95 8.41 7.97 7.89 7.13 6.79 6.42 5.83 5.52
Wolverhampton
9.09 9.08 7.04 6.34 6.28 5.83 3.66 2.64 1.27
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References