The 2022 SGB Premiership was the 87th season of the top tier of British speedway and the 5th known as the SGB Premiership. Sheffield Tigers topped the regular season table and met Belle Vue Aces in the play off final but Belle Vue ran out the winners to claim their 13th league title.
2022 summary The same six clubs as 2021 competed for the league championship, with Swindon once again sitting out due to the development of their stadium. The Rising Star scheme introduced in 2021, has been extended for the 2022 season, allowing clubs to select an additional Rising Star rider as a 'Number 8' for the season.
A new League Cup competition was introduced, with a regional group stage determining the finalists, the event was won by Sheffield Tigers. There was no place for the traditional Knockout Cup. Also re–introduced for the new season, was the SGB Premiership Pairs competition, but over six legs. The event was won by Ipswich Witches, with the sixth leg cancelled due to fixture congestion. However, the additional fixtures created an issue due to the suspension of fixtures during the Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II and the heavy rain during October. In retrospect additional events could have been added after the completion of the league and knockout cup fixtures.
Belle Vue brought in Robert Lambert as a late season injury replacement for Max Fricke and Lambert scored a 15-point maximum in the play off final 1st leg. The signing of Lambert was pivotal as Belle Vue held on to win the play offs on aggregate score, despite Sheffield winning the second leg. Sheffield gained some compensation for the defeat when easily beating King's Lynn in the League Cup final.
Regular season
File:Robert Lambert.jpg League Table Club Home Away 1 Sheffield Tigers 20 10 0 0 2 2 1 1 3 913 845 46 +68 2 Ipswich Witches 20 8 1 1 0 4 1 1 4 892 895 43 -3 3 Belle Vue Aces 20 10 0 0 1 1 0 1 7 962 838 38 +124 4 Wolverhampton Wolves 20 8 0 2 1 1 1 3 5 907 893 34 +14 5 Kings Lynn Stars 20 6 0 4 1 0 0 5 4 901 899 27 +2 6 Peterborough Panthers 20 2 2 6 0 0 1 2 7 782 987 13 -205
A Fixtures
B Fixtures
League Scoring System
Home loss by any number of points = 0 Home draw = (see Super Heat) Home win by any number of points = 3 Away loss by 7 points or more = 0 Away loss by 6 points or less = 1 Away draw = (see Super Heat) Away win by between 1 and 6 points = 3 Away win by 7 points or more = 4 Super Heat win = 3 Super Heat loss = 1
Super Heat In meetings after heat 15 when the score is level, a Super Heat will be used to determine the winner. The Team Manager, at their discretion may select any two of their seven riders. The Super Heat will take place with the following scoring system to determine the winner of the meeting: 1st 4 points, 2nd 3 points, 3rd 2 points, 4th 0 points. If a meeting is abandoned for any reason after the staging of heat 10, the scores are level and no more heats can take place (e.g. Super Heat), the match will be awarded. Each team will be awarded 2 points.
Premiership play-offs
Draw
Home team scores are in bold Overall aggregate scores are in red
Grand Final First leg
Second Leg
League Cup
Group stages
Northern Group
Fixtures
Table
Club Home Away 1 Sheffield Tigers (Q) 4 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 189 171 9 +18 2 Wolverhampton Wolves 4 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 188 172 9 +14 3 Belle Vue Aces 4 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 163 197 0 -34
Southern Group
Fixtures
Table
Club Home Away 1 Kings Lynn Stars (Q) 4 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 197 163 12 +34 2 Peterborough Panthers 4 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 188 172 8 +16 3 Ipswich Witches 4 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 155 205 0 -50
Final The two group winners, the Kings Lynn Stars and the Sheffield Tigers both qualified for the final, which was won by Sheffield over two legs.
First Leg
Second Leg
Pairs Championship Each of the six Premiership club were supposed to have staged a round of the pairs championship at their track, with the highest placed side after the six rounds declared Premiership Pairs Champions but Ipswich were declared winners after only five rounds were held. Teams tracked two of their top four riders, plus the Rising Star as a reserve, at each meeting. The highest placed side after the qualifying heats qualified for the final, with second and third competing in the semi-final.
Standings Pos Team R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 Tot 1 Ipswich Witches 2 12 12 12 8 x 46 2 Belle Vue Aces 6 6 2 8 12 x 34 3 Kings Lynn Stars 12 4 6 4 0 x 26 4 Sheffield Tigers 8 8 8 0 2 x 26 5 Wolverhampton Wolves 4 0 0 6 4 x 14 6 Peterborough Panthers 0 2 4 2 6 x 14 red indicates home team, bold indicates winners
Rounds
Round One
Qualifying Heats Pos Team Pts 1 Sheffield Tigers 26 2 Belle Vue Aces 24 3 Kings Lynn Stars 23 4 Wolverhampton Wolves 23 5 Ipswich Witches 21 6 Peterborough Panthers 18
Semi-final Team One Team Two Score Result Kings Lynn Belle Vue 7-2 Pickering, Lawson, Kurtz, Fricke (F) Final Team One Team Two Score Result Kings Lynn Sheffield 5-4 Holder, Lawson, Pickering, Ellis (Fx)
Round Two
Qualifying Heats Pos Team Pts 1 Sheffield Tigers 29 2 Belle Vue Aces 24 3 Ipswich Witches 24 4 Kings Lynn Stars 23 5 Peterborough Panthers 21 6 Wolverhampton Wolves 14
Semi-final Team One Team Two Score Result Ipswich Belle Vue 6-3 Doyle, Zagar, Batchelor, Kurtz Final Team One Team Two Score Result Ipswich Sheffield 6-3 Doyle, Ellis, Batchelor, Musielak
Round Three
Qualifying Heats Pos Team Pts 1 Ipswich Witches 27 2 Kings Lynn Stars 27 3 Sheffield Tigers 23 4 Peterborough Panthers 21 5 Belle Vue Aces 20 6 Wolverhampton Wolves 17
Semi-final Team One Team Two Score Result Sheffield Kings Lynn 6-3 Holder, Pickering, Ellis, Lawson Final Team One Team Two Score Result Ipswich Sheffield 5-4 Holder, Doyle, King, Ellis
Round Four
Qualifying Heats Pos Team Pts 1 Belle Vue Aces 31 2 Ipswich Witches 27 3 Wolverhampton Wolves 24 4 Kings Lynn Stars 21 5 Peterborough Panthers 20 6 Sheffield Tigers 12
Semi-final Team One Team Two Score Result Ipswich Wolverhampton 6-3 Doyle, Masters, Hume, Batchelor (X/2 Mins), Morris (FX) Final Team One Team Two Score Result Ipswich Belle Vue 7-2 Doyle, Batchelor, Fricke, Kurtz
Leading averages Rider Team Average 1 Jason Doyle Ipswich 10.15 2 Sam Masters Wolverhampton 9.14 3 Tobiasz Musielak Sheffield 8.86 4 Max Fricke Belle Vue 8.62 Matej Žagar Belle Vue 8.62 6 Brady Kurtz Belle Vue 8.59 7 Jack Holder Sheffield 8.56 8 Chris Harris Peterborough 8.30 9 Niels Kristian Iversen King's Lynn 8.10 10 Adam Ellis Sheffield 7.97 averages include league, play offs & league cup, min 6 matches
Squads & final averages
Belle Vue Aces 8.96 (C) 8.76 8.41 7.25 (Rising Star) 6.43 5.89 5.09 n/a
Ipswich Witches 10.53 7.83 6.98 (C) 6.93 6.64 6.00 5.25 (Number 8) 5.65 (Rising Star) 5.14 4.00
King's Lynn Stars 8.32 8.00 (C) 7.45 7.45 7.35 7.03 6.83 5.16 (Rising Star) 3.39 (Number 8) 2.78
Peterborough Panthers 8.14 6.91 6.81 5.73 (C) 5.62 5.53 (Rising Star) 2.77 1.88 (Number 8) 0.44
Sheffield Tigers 9.04 8.67 7.57 (C) 6.77 6.00 5.56 (Rising Star) 5.26 3.56 4.75 (Number 8) 2.67 2.40
Wolverhampton Wolves (C) 9.10 8.23 7.79 7.60 7.33 (Rising Star) 4.25 3.65 (Number 8) 2.00
See also SGB Championship 2022 SGB National Development League 2022 British Speedway League Champions
References