# 2012 Elite League speedway season

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

* 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

| Home \ Away | BV | BIR | COV | EAS | KL | LH | PET | PP | SWI | WOL |
| Belle Vue Aces | | 33–57 | n/a | 45–47 | 42–50 | 42–51 | 57–31 | 40–52 | 33–60 | 54–40 |
| Birmingham Brummies | 50–43 | | 46–44 | 56–34 | 51–41 | 55–35 | 47–43 | 36–54 | 37–53 | 50–42 |
| Coventry Bees | 59–31 | 40–50 | | 38–52 | 47–43 | 60–31 | 48–42 | 44–49 | 42–48 | 52–40 |
| Eastbourne Eagles | 55–40 | 54–38 | 48–45 | | 49–41 | 45–51 | 50–45 | 35–37 | 51–39 | 54–38 |
| King's Lynn Stars | 51–40 | 42–48 | 46–44 | 59–31 | | 43–49 | 43–47 | 49–41 | 45–45 | 58–35 |
| Lakeside Hammers | 61–32 | 53–39 | 47–43 | 55–36 | 59–36 | | 59–37 | 42–48 | 50–40 | 55–37 |
| Peterborough Panthers | 47–46 | 51–42 | 49–41 | 58–36 | 49–41 | 61–32 | | 39–51 | 55–38 | 46–44 |
| Poole Pirates | 49–41 | 46–46 | 52–38 | 54–38 | 48–45 | 46–44 | 50–39 | | 48–42 | 52–38 |
| Swindon Robins | 56–39 | 49–43 | 54–39 | 53–38 | 50–43 | 53–37 | 56–37 | 49–41 | | 60–33 |
| Wolverhampton Wolves | 51–42 | 49–41 | 42–47 | 51–41 | 51–41 | 47–43 | 57–35 | 43–47 | 42–48 | |

### 'B' Fixtures

| Home \ Away | BV | BIR | COV | EAS | KL | LH | PET | PP | SWI | WOL |
| Belle Vue Aces | | 47–43 | n/a | 55–36 | 38–55 | 48–42 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Birmingham Brummies | 54–41 | | 49–41 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 43–47 | 44–46 | 48–45 |
| Coventry Bees | n/a | 47–43 | | n/a | 48–42 | n/a | 52–40 | n/a | 45–48 | 45–45 |
| Eastbourne Eagles | 61–29 | n/a | n/a | | 53–37 | 51–39 | 47–43 | n/a | n/a | 61–32 |
| King's Lynn Stars | 58–32 | n/a | 45–45 | 51–39 | | n/a | 46–44 | n/a | 41–52 | n/a |
| Lakeside Hammers | 57–38 | n/a | n/a | 47–43 | n/a | | 52–40 | 41–48 | 36–53 | n/a |
| Peterborough Panthers | n/a | n/a | 45–45 | 54–38 | 50–43 | 57–36 | | 49–44 | n/a | n/a |
| Poole Pirates | n/a | 55–38 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 57–37 | 56–33 | | 49–41 | 52–38 |
| Swindon Robins | n/a | 48–42 | 51–39 | n/a | 45–43 | 55–39 | n/a | 50–43 | | n/a |
| Wolverhampton Wolves | 46–44 | 53–40 | 51–39 | 47–42 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 41–49 | n/a | |

## 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 two |
| 10/10 | Belle Vue | 35-42 | Birmingham |
| not staged | Birmingham | | Belle Vue |
| 02/06 | Lakeside | 38-49 | Coventry |
| 01/06 | Coventry | 52-41 | Lakeside |
| not staged | Swindon | | Peterborough |
| not staged | Peterborough | | Swindon |
| 30/05 | Poole | 50-43 | Wolverhampton |
| 21/05 | Wolverhampton | 39-54 | Poole |
Semi-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 25/10 | Peterborough | 50-43 | Poole |
| 24/10 | Poole | 51-39 | Peterborough |
| 18/10 | Birmingham | 45-45 | Coventry |
| 12/10 | Coventry | 51-45 | Birmingham |
Final
| 26 October | Coventry Bees Nicholls 10 Szczepaniak 7 Summers 6 Kennett 5 Larsen 4 Hall 3 Harris 3 | 38–52 | Poole Pirates Iversen 15 Schlein 11 Kasprzak 9 Masters 9 Lindgren 7 Eklof 1 | Brandon Stadium |
| 29 October | Poole Pirates Kasprzak 14 Iversen 13 Schlein 10 Howarth 7 Risager 4 Lindgren 2 | 50–40 | Coventry Bees Szczepaniak 13 Nicholls 11 Harris 6 Kennett 5 Summers 2 Larsen 2 Johnson 1 | Wimborne Road |
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 at Abbey Stadium on 20 October.
| Pos. | Rider | Pts | Total | SF | Final |
| 1 | Chris Holder | 3 3 3 0 3 | 12 | x | 3 |
| 2 | Niels Kristian Iversen | 3 0 3 3 3 | 12 | x | 2 |
| 3 | Chris Harris | 2 3 2 2 2 | 11 | 3 | 1 |
| 4 | Rory Schlein | 2 2 1 3 2 | 10 | 2 | f/exc |
| 5 | Michael Jepsen Jensen | 3 3 2 3 0 | 11 | 1 | |
| 6 | Scott Nicholls | 2 3 1 1 3 | 10 | 0 | |
| 7 | Hans Andersen | 3 1 3 0 1 | 8 |
| 8 | Mads Korneliussen | 0 1 3 2 2 | 8 |
| 9 | 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 | 5 |
| 13 | Joonas Kylmäkorpi | 0 1 0 3 1 | 5 |
| 14 | Lewis Bridger | 2 0 1 1 0 | 4 |
| 15 | Freddie Lindgren | 0 0 2 0 1 | 3 |
| 16 | Danny King | ret 1 1 0 0 | 2 |
* f=fell, exc=excluded, ret=retired

## Leading averages

| Rider | Team | Average |
| Darcy Ward | Poole | 10.90 |
| 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 | Lakeside | 8.74 |
| Chris Harris | Coventry | 8.59 |

## Riders & averages

Belle Vue
* Craig Cook 7.59
* Charlie Gjedde 7.51
* Rory Schlein 7.49
* Aleš Dryml Jr. 5.68
* Renat Gafurov 5.47
* Adam Shields 5.18
* Patrick Hougaard 5.09
* Josh Grajczonek 4.88
* Mark Lemon 4.87
* Linus Eklöf 2.97
Birmingham
* Bjarne Pedersen 7.84
* Danny King 7.68
* Sebastian Ulamek 7.29
* Ben Barker 7.18
* Josh Auty 6.63
* Martin Smolinski 6.26
* Nicolas Covatti 4.63
* Tomasz Piszcz 2.06
Coventry
* Chris Harris 8.59
* Scott Nicholls 8.54
* Kenni Larsen 7.19
* Edward Kennett 6.87
* Aaron Summers 6.27
* Michał Szczepaniak 6.03
* Adam Roynon 5.42
* Henning Bager 4.61
* Josef Franc 4.60
* Leigh Lanham 4.00
Eastbourne
* Joonas Kylmakorpi 8.00
* Timo Lahti 7.29
* Simon Gustafsson 7.09
* Cameron Woodward 6.95
* Lukáš Dryml 6.59
* Lewis Bridger 6.51
* Denis Gizatullin 5.58
King's Lynn
* Niels Kristian Iversen 9.51
* Mads Korneliussen 7.24
* Maciej Janowski 6.97
* David Howe 6.79
* Kevin Wölbert 6.23
* Mateusz Szczepaniak 6.05
* Daniel Nermark 5.96
* Ulrich Østergaard 5.76
* Joe Screen 5.68
Lakeside
* Peter Karlsson 8.76
* Lee Richardson 8.74
* Davey Watt 8.33
* Richie Worrall 6.94
* Kim Nilsson 6.21
* Kauko Nieminen 5.89
* Stuart Robson 5.67
* Robert Mear 5.12
* Justin Sedgmen 5.12
* Jonas Davidsson 4.00
Peterborough
* Linus Sundström 8.55
* Kenneth Bjerre 8.29
* Krzysztof Buczkowski 7.42
* Michael Jepsen Jensen 7.19
* Norbert Kościuch 7.18
* Oliver Allen 5.42
* Jesper B. Monberg 5.16
* Richard Lawson 4.21
Poole
* Darcy Ward 10.90
* Chris Holder 10.31
* Krzysztof Kasprzak 10.18
* Adrian Miedziński 8.08
* Dennis Andersson 6.58
* Sam Masters 4.34
* Ludvig Lindgren 4.29
* Ricky Kling 4.25
* Kyle Howarth 3.87
* Linus Eklöf 3.62
* Todd Kurtz 3.17
Swindon
* Hans N. Andersen 8.95
* Troy Batchelor 8.41
* Peter Kildemand 7.97
* Jason Doyle 7.89
* Sebastian Aldén 7.13
* Simon Stead 6.79
* Nick Morris 6.42
* Dawid Lampart 5.83
* Robin Aspegren 5.52
Wolverhampton
* Tai Woffinden 9.09
* Freddie Lindgren 9.08
* Ricky Wells 7.04
* Ty Proctor 6.34
* Robert Miśkowiak 6.28
* Nicolai Klindt 5.83
* Pontus Aspgren 3.66
* Jacob Thorssell 2.64
* Lukasz Sowka 1.27