# 2016 Elite League speedway season

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.

## 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

| Home \ Away | BV | COV | KL | LH | LEI | PP | SWI | WOL |
| Belle Vue Aces | | 50–42 | 45–21 | 50–40 | 48–42 | 49–41 | 40–50 | 56–37 |
| Coventry Bees | 46–43 | | 46–47 | 54–30 | 49–41 | 47–46 | 42–50 | 38–52 |
| King's Lynn Stars | 39–54 | 46–44 | | 51–39 | 51–42 | 38–55 | 45–45 | 48–42 |
| Lakeside Hammers | 53–39 | 60–33 | 56–36 | | 56–34 | 50–40 | 51–39 | 53–37 |
| Leicester Lions | 41–52 | 46–44 | 45–45 | 33–56 | | 46–46 | 50–42 | 39–51 |
| Poole Pirates | 41–49 | 60–29 | 65–25 | 57–33 | 58–35 | | 61–31 | 51–39 |
| Swindon Robins | 51–40 | 55–35 | 55–38 | 50–40 | 43–47 | 44–46 | | 44–48 |
| Wolverhampton Wolves | 46–43 | 51–41 | 49–44 | 54–38 | 58–31 | 55–35 | 62–30 | |

### 'B' Fixtures

| Home \ Away | BV | COV | KL | LH | LEI | PP | SWI | WOL |
| Belle Vue Aces | | 59–34 | 41–49 | 63–29 | 52–40 | 48–45 | 52–40 | 46–44 |
| Coventry Bees | 42–48 | | 41–48 | 57–33 | 50–40 | 47–43 | 56–34 | 46–44 |
| King's Lynn Stars | 50–40 | 41–49 | | 48–42 | 54–38 | 39–53 | 41–51 | 40–52 |
| Lakeside Hammers | 48–45 | 57–35 | 60–32 | | 66–26 | 42–48 | 58–35 | 55–37 |
| Leicester Lions | 43–47 | 52–41 | n/a | 44–46 | | 52–38 | 44–46 | 47–43 |
| Poole Pirates | 52–41 | 56–36 | 61–29 | 52–41 | 58–32 | | 50–40 | 52–38 |
| Swindon Robins | 33–39 | 55–36 | 52–38 | 52–41 | 57–33 | 50–42 | | 50–41 |
| Wolverhampton Wolves | 39–51 | 52–41 | 61–29 | 51–41 | 50–40 | 48–42 | 51–39 | |

## Final league table

Leicester Vs King's Lynn (B Fixture) was not raced
| Pos. | Club | M | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | F | A | +/− | Pts |
| Pos. | Club | M | W | D | L | 4W | 3W | D | 1L | L | F | A | +/− | Pts |
| 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 | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Grand final | Grand final | Grand final | Grand final | Grand final |
| 4 | Lakeside Hammers | 41 | 28 | 69 | | | | | |
| 1 | Belle Vue Aces | 49 | 63 | 112 | | | | | |
| 1 | Belle Vue Aces | 49 | 63 | 112 | 1 | Belle Vue Aces | 36 | 50 | 86 |
| | | | | | 3 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 54 | 42 | 96 |
| 2 | Poole Pirates | 51 | 35 | 86 | 3 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 54 | 42 | 96 |
| 3 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 39 | 55 | 94 | | | | | |

### Semi-finals

| 21 September 2016 | Report | Lakeside Hammers | 41–49 | Belle Vue Aces | Arena Essex Raceway Referee(s): Mick Bates |
| 21 September 2016 | Report | Poole Pirates | 51–39 | Wolverhampton Wolves | Poole Stadium Referee(s): Chris Gay |
| 28 September 2016 | Report | Belle Vue Aces | 63–28 | Lakeside Hammers | National Speedway Stadium Referee(s): Craig Ackroyd |
| 28 September 2016 | Report | Wolverhampton Wolves | 55–35 | Poole Pirates | Monmore Green Stadium Referee(s): Phil Griffin |

### Grand final

| 3 October 2016 | Report | Wolverhampton Wolves Kyle Howarth 12 Freddie Lindgren 9 Jacob Thorssell 9 Tai Woffinden 8 Sam Masters 8 Max Clegg 4 Peter Karlsson 4 | 54–36 | Belle Vue Aces Craig Cook 10 Steve Worrall 8 Scott Nicholls 6 Richie Worrall 6 Matej Žagar 5 Max Fricke 1 Joe Jacobs 0 | Monmore Green Stadium Referee(s): Chris Durno |
| 5 October 2016 | Report | Belle Vue Aces Matej Žagar 10 Max Fricke 9 Joe Jacobs 9 Craig Cook 8 Richie Worrall 7 Steve Worrall 4 Scott Nicholls 3 | 50–42 | Wolverhampton Wolves Freddie Lindgren 14 Tai Woffinden 11 Peter Karlsson 8 Sam Masters 3 Kyle Howarth 3 Jacob Thorssell 2 Max Clegg 1 | National Speedway Stadium Referee(s): Willie Dishington |

## 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 | Final |
| 1 | Freddie Lindgren | 3 2 1 3 3 | 12 | x | 3 |
| 2 | Niels Kristian Iversen | 2 3 3 3 0 | 11 | 3 | 2 |
| 3 | Chris Harris | 1 0 2 3 3 | 9 | 2 | 1 |
| 4 | Edward Kennett | 3 3 3 2 3 | 14 | x | 0 |
| 5 | Kim Nilsson | 1 3 3 2 1 | 10 | 1 |
| 6 | Danny King | 2 3 0 2 1 | 8 | 0 |
| 7 | Kyle Newman | 2 2 1 1 2 | 8 |
| 8 | Robert Lambert | 1 1 2 3 1 | 8 |
| 9 | Paul Starke | 2 F/exc 2 1 2 | 7 |
| 10 | Nick Morris | 0 1 3 F/exc 2 | 6 |
| 11 | Patrick Hougaard | 0 1 F/exc 2 3 | 6 |
| 12 | Adam Ellis | 3 2 FX 0 0 | 5 |
| 13 | Scott Nicholls | 1 2 0 0 2 | 5 |
| 14 | Sam Masters | 3 1 1 0 0 | 5 |
| 15 | Rohan Tungate | EF 0 2 1 1 | 4 |
| 16 | Tom Bacon (res) | 0 0 1 1 0 | 2 |
| 17 | Joe Jacobs | - - - - - | 0 |
| 18 | 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
* Matej Žagar 7.48
* Craig Cook 7.37
* Max Fricke 7.08
* Scott Nicholls 6.59
* Steve Worrall 5.95
* Richie Worrall 5.82
* Joe Jacobs 5.14
Source:
Coventry Bees
* Krzysztof Kasprzak 7.91
* Chris Harris 6.58
* Danny King 7.22
* Jason Garrity 6.00
* Adam Roynon 4.80
* Josh Bates 4.76
* Kacper Woryna 4.65
* Ben Barker 4.54
* James Sarjeant 3.81
Source:
King's Lynn Stars
* Niels Kristian Iversen 9.04
* Robert Lambert 7.08
* Mads Korneliussen 6.04
* Simon Lambert 5.47
* Troy Batchelor 5.26
* Rory Schlein 5.12
* Lewis Rose 5.00
* Nicklas Porsing 4.99
* Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen 4.15
* Kai Huckenbeck 3.67
* Carl Wilkinson 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
* Andreas Jonsson 8.45
* Edward Kennett 7.16
* Kim Nilsson 6.88
* Lewis Bridger 6.09
* Ben Morley 6.00
* Richard Lawson 5.83
* Piotr Świderski 5.20
* Lewis Kerr 4.80
* Robert Mear 3.65
Source:
Leicester Lions
* Nicolai Klindt 6.36
* Patrick Hougaard 6.22
* Szymon Wozniak 5.91
* Ludvig Lindgren 5.67
* Grzegorz Walasek 5.45
* Davey Watt 5.40
* Paul Starke 4.94
* Josh Auty 4.90
* Aaron Summers 4.69
* Sebastian Ułamek 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
* Chris Holder 8.95
* Hans N. Andersen 7.15
* Bjarne Pedersen 6.91
* Davey Watt 6.80
* Krzysztof Buczkowski 6.02
* Brady Kurtz 6.44
* Adam Ellis 5.60
* Kyle Newman 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
* Jason Doyle 9.58
* Nick Morris 6.41
* Rohan Tungate 6.05
* Josh Grajczonek 5.95
* Justin Sedgmen 5.43
* Charles Wright 4.84
* Stefan Nielsen 3.67
Source:
Wolverhampton Wolves
* Tai Woffinden 8.41
* Fredrik Lindgren 7.21
* Sam Masters 7.18
* Jacob Thorssell 7.06
* Joonas Kylmäkorpi 6.68
* Mikkel Bech 6.26
* Peter Karlsson 5.91
* Kyle Howarth 5.13
* Max Clegg 4.15
* Ashley Morris 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.