The 2016 Elite League was the 82nd season of the top division of speedway leagues in Great Britain. The Elite League ran between March and October 2016. The Poole Pirates were the defending champions after winning their third consecutive title in 2015. The lineup of teams for 2016 stayed the same as in 2015, with the same eight teams competing. It was the last time that the competition would be known as the Elite League.
Regulation changes At the annual Elite League AGM, which was held during October and November 2015, it was announced that speedway bosses would continue to give more opportunities to young talent. All 8 Elite League teams would continue to track two young British draft riders, who would start the season at reserve. However unlike recent years these riders would be given Elite League averages after four meetings, giving them the chance to move into the top five of the team if they performed well. As a result of the reserve riders being given averages the overall points limit that teams must adhere to was raised from 34 to 40.5. In February 2016, it was announced that Elite League teams could sign an eighth stand-in rider, who could race in positions 2 to 5. The rider must be foreign and new to the Elite League. Lakeside Hammers signed Dennis Jonsson as their eight rider for the season.
Teams
Results Teams faced each other four times: twice home and away. The first of the home and away meetings were called the 'A' fixtures, and the second were the 'B' fixtures.
'A' Fixtures
'B' Fixtures
Final league table Leicester Vs King's Lynn (B Fixture) was not raced
Club Home Away 1 Belle Vue Aces Q 28 12 0 2 4 3 0 3 4 1330 1178 +152 64 2 Poole Pirates Q 28 13 0 1 2 2 1 4 5 1394 1153 +241 59 3 Wolverhampton Wolves Q 28 13 0 1 3 1 0 4 6 1332 1210 +122 58 4 Lakeside Hammers Q 28 13 0 1 1 1 0 1 11 1323 1232 +91 47 5 Swindon Robins 28 10 0 4 3 1 1 0 9 1263 1267 -4 47 6 King's Lynn Stars 27 7 1 6 2 1 1 1 8 1112 1323 -211 36 7 Coventry Bees 28 9 0 5 1 0 0 2 11 1201 1348 -147 33 8 Leicester Lions 27 5 2 6 0 1 0 1 12 1103 1347 -244 21
Elite League play-offs Draw
Semi-finals
Grand final
Riders' Championship Freddie Lindgren won the Riders' Championship for the second time. The final was held at Brandon Stadium on 8 October.
Pos. Rider Pts Total SF Final1 Freddie Lindgren 3 2 1 3 3 12x32 Niels Kristian Iversen 2 3 3 3 011323 Chris Harris 1 0 2 3 39214 Edward Kennett 3 3 3 2 314x05 Kim Nilsson 1 3 3 2 11016 Danny King 2 3 0 2 1807 Kyle Newman 2 2 1 1 288 Robert Lambert 1 1 2 3 189 Paul Starke 2 F/exc 2 1 2710 Nick Morris 0 1 3 F/exc 2611 Patrick Hougaard 0 1 F/exc 2 3612 Adam Ellis 3 2 FX 0 0513 Scott Nicholls 1 2 0 0 2514 Sam Masters 3 1 1 0 0 515 Rohan Tungate EF 0 2 1 1416 Tom Bacon (res) 0 0 1 1 0217 Joe Jacobs - - - - -018 Conor Dwyer (res) 0 0 f=fell, exc=excluded, ret=retired ef=engine failure t-touched tapes
Final Leading averages
Rider Team Average Jason Doyle Swindon 9.58 Niels Kristian Iversen Kings Lynn 9.04 Chris Holder Poole 8.95 Andreas Jonsson Lakeside 8.45 Krzysztof Kasprzak Coventry 7.91 Matej Žagar Belle Vue 7.48 Craig Cook Belle Vue 7.37 Danny King Coventry 7.22 Freddie Lindgren Wolverhampton 7.21 Sam Masters Wolverhampton 7.18
Riders and final averages Belle Vue Aces
7.48 7.37 7.08 6.59 5.95 5.82 5.14
Source:
Coventry Bees
7.91 6.58 7.22 6.00 4.80 4.76 4.65 4.54 3.81
Source:
King's Lynn Stars
9.04 7.08 6.04 5.47 5.26 5.12 5.00 4.99 4.15 3.67 3.47
Rory Schlein replaced Mads Korneliussen on 7 July in the King's Lynn Stars team. Nicklas Porsing replaced Rory Schlein on 1 September in the King's Lynn Stars team.
Lakeside Hammers
8.45 7.16 6.88 6.09 6.00 5.83 5.20 4.80 3.65
Source:
Leicester Lions
6.36 6.22 5.91 5.67 5.45 5.40 4.94 4.90 4.69 3.52
Source: Aaron Summers replaced Grzegorz Walasek on 12 April in the Leicester Lions team. Davey Watt replaced Sebastian Ułamek on 11 May in the Leicester Lions team. Ludvig Lindgren replaced Davey Watt on 13 June in the Leicester Lions team.
Poole Pirates
8.95 7.15 6.91 6.80 6.02 6.44 5.60 5.52
Source: Bjarne Pedersen replaced Davey Watt on 26 April in the Poole Pirates team. Antonio Lindbäck replaced Hans Andersen on 19 September in the Poole Pirates team.
Swindon Robins
9.58 6.41 6.05 5.95 5.43 4.84 3.67
Source:
Wolverhampton Wolves
8.41 7.21 7.18 7.06 6.68 6.26 5.91 5.13 4.15 2.81
Source: Peter Karlsson replaced Mikkel Bech on 3 June in the Wolverhampton Wolves team. Tai Woffinden replaced Joonas Kylmäkorpi on 11 August in the Wolverhampton Wolves team.
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
Notes
References