# 2015 Elite League speedway season

The 2015 Elite League speedway season was the 81st season of the top division of UK speedway and the nineteenth season of the Elite League that took place between March and October 2015. The Poole Pirates were the defending champions after winning their second consecutive title in 2014.

## Summary

Both the Birmingham Brummies and the Eastbourne Eagles elected to ride in the National League in 2015, meaning the Elite League featured just 8 teams as opposed to the 10 teams that started the 2014 season.
The Poole Pirates won the Elite League for a record third successive year, beating the Belle Vue Aces in the two-legged Grand Final. The Aces – in their first Grand Final since 2005 – hosted the first leg at Kirkmanshulme Lane, and at one point trailed by 13 points. However, a tactical ride (offering double points) from Matej Žagar started their comeback, and despite trailing by 10 with 3 heats to go, the Aces managed to secure a 46–46 draw. At Poole Stadium, the Pirates repeated their fast start and the Aces could not gain the lead at any point during the meeting; in the penultimate heat, Kacper Gomólski sealed the title for Poole, the Pirates ultimately winning 92–90 on aggregate.
As well as winning the overall championship, the Pirates finished the regular season with the most points for the second season in succession, while the team also won the Elite Shield at the start of the season, defeating the King's Lynn Stars 96–85 on aggregate. The Elite League Riders' Championship was won by Australian rider Jason Doyle, a member of the Leicester Lions team.

## Regulation changes

At the annual Elite League AGM, which was held in November 2014, it was announced that the points limit for the top 5 members of the teams would be raised from 32 to 34. It was also decided that the fixture list for 2015 would be compiled in a matter which was described as "sympathetic" to riders competing in the Grand Prix series, with no fixtures to be ridden in the week prior to a Grand Prix. The effect of this was to potentially result in more of the top riders in World Speedway returning to race in the Elite League in the future. However, there was a visa issue for non-EU riders, meaning that many American and Australian riders were unable to race in the Elite League, unless the issue was resolved.

## Teams
### Personnel and stadia

| Team | Team Manager | Captain | Stadium |
| Belle Vue | Mark Lemon | Scott Nicholls | Kirkmanshulme Lane |
| Coventry | Gary Havelock | Chris Harris | Brandon Stadium |
| King's Lynn | Rob Lyon | Rory Schlein | Norfolk Arena |
| Lakeside | Neil Vatcher | Andreas Jonsson | Arena Essex Raceway |
| Leicester | Norrie Allan | Jason Doyle | Beaumont Park Stadium |
| Poole | Neil Middleditch | Maciej Janowski | Wimborne Road Stadium |
| Swindon | Alun Rossiter | Troy Batchelor | Abbey Stadium |
| Wolverhampton | Peter Adams | Peter Karlsson | Monmore Green Stadium |

## 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 | | 39–51 | 52–38 | 52–37 | 55–37 | 49–44 | 46–44 | 54–39 |
| Coventry Bees | 48–42 | | 57–33 | 39–24 | 51–39 | 41–48 | 36–55 | 50–42 |
| King's Lynn Stars | 50–43 | 49–41 | | 58–34 | 51–39 | 48–45 | 53–40 | 50–40 |
| Lakeside Hammers | 44–46 | 42–47 | 51–39 | | 59–31 | 44–48 | 62–28 | 44–46 |
| Leicester Lions | 50–40 | 42–51 | 34–50 | 51–42 | | 43–47 | 52–38 | 53–37 |
| Poole Pirates | 45–45 | 41–50 | 58–34 | 53–39 | 52–38 | | 54–36 | 55–35 |
| Swindon Robins | 48–42 | 47–43 | 55–37 | 47–43 | 50–40 | 33–47 | | 53–40 |
| Wolverhampton Wolves | 49–41 | 48–42 | 40–50 | 52–38 | 49–43 | 55–38 | 39–51 | |

### 'B' Fixtures

| Home \ Away | BV | COV | KL | LH | LEI | PP | SWI | WOL |
| Belle Vue Aces | | 45–45 | 55–35 | 52–41 | 53–37 | 53–39 | 48–42 | 57–33 |
| Coventry Bees | 47–43 | | 48–42 | 52–38 | 54–36 | 54–36 | 47–43 | 60–32 |
| King's Lynn Stars | 49–41 | 48–42 | | 63–29 | 44–46 | 47–46 | 51–39 | 56–37 |
| Lakeside Hammers | 51–42 | 45–45 | 50–39 | | 57–35 | 40–50 | 43–50 | 57–34 |
| Leicester Lions | 52–40 | 42–48 | 44–46 | 39–51 | | 38–52 | 49–42 | 48–42 |
| Poole Pirates | 53–40 | 53–37 | 62–30 | 60–30 | 64–29 | | 45–45 | 60–33 |
| Swindon Robins | 39–53 | 49–31 | 53–39 | 50–39 | 51–39 | 50–42 | | 60–32 |
| Wolverhampton Wolves | 36–57 | 40–50 | 49–41 | 60–33 | 44–46 | 47–46 | 38–52 | |

## Final league table

| 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 | Poole Pirates (Q) | 28 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 1383 | 1131 | +252 | 65 |
| 2 | Coventry Bees (Q) | 28 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1278 | 1189 | +89 | 61 |
| 3 | Swindon Robins (Q) | 28 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 1290 | 1240 | +50 | 57 |
| 4 | Belle Vue Aces (Q) | 28 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 1325 | 1223 | +102 | 53 |
| 5 | King's Lynn Stars | 28 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 1276 | 1263 | +13 | 51 |
| 6 | Leicester Lions | 28 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 1172 | 1360 | −188 | 28 |
| 7 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 28 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 1168 | 1385 | −217 | 28 |
| 8 | Lakeside Hammers | 28 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 1207 | 1308 | −101 | 27 |

## Play-offs
### Draw

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Grand final | Grand final | Grand final | Grand final | Grand final |
| 4 | Belle Vue Aces | 50 | 47 | 97 | | | | | |
| 3 | Swindon Robins | 36 | 43 | 79 | | | | | |
| 3 | Swindon Robins | 36 | 43 | 79 | 4 | Belle Vue Aces | 46 | 44 | 90 |
| | | | | | 1 | Poole Pirates | 46 | 46 | 92 |
| 2 | Coventry Bees | 45 | 31 | 76 | 1 | Poole Pirates | 46 | 46 | 92 |
| 1 | Poole Pirates | 45 | 58 | 103 | | | | | |

### Semi-finals

| 14 September 2015 | Report | Belle Vue Aces | 50–36 | Swindon Robins | Kirkmanshulme Lane Referee(s): Peter Clarke |
| 18 September 2015 | Report | Coventry Bees | 45–45 | Poole Pirates | Brandon Stadium Referee(s): Chris Durno |
| 21 September 2015 | Report | Swindon Robins | 43–47 | Belle Vue Aces | Abbey Stadium Referee(s): Mick Posselwhite |
| 21 September 2015 | Report | Poole Pirates | 58–31 | Coventry Bees | Poole Stadium Referee(s): Jim Lawrence |

### Grand Final

| 28 September 2015 | Report | Belle Vue Aces Žagar 14 Cook 12 Nicholls 8 Grajczonek 5 Fricke 4 Worrall 2 Nielsen 1 | 46–46 | Poole Pirates Holder 10 Starke 9 Newman 9 North 7 Watt 5 Janowski 4 Gomolski 2 | Kirkmanshulme Lane Referee(s): Graham Flint |
| 30 September 2015 | Report | Poole Pirates Janowski 11 Newman 7 Watt 7 Gomolski 7 North 6 Holder 4 Starke 4 | 46–44 | Belle Vue Aces Cook 13 Nicholls 10 Žagar 5 Grajczonek 5 Fricke 4 Nielsen 4 Worrall 3 | Poole Stadium Referee(s): Mick Bates |

## Riders' Championship

Jason Doyle won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Beaumont Park Stadium on 1 March.
| Pos. | Rider | Pts | Total | SF | Final |
| 1 | Jason Doyle | 2 3 3 2 2 | 12 | 3 | 3 |
| 2 | Niels Kristian Iversen | 3 3 2 1 3 | 12 | x | 2 |
| 3 | Maciej Janowski | 1 3 3 3 3 | 13 | x | 1 |
| 4 | Troy Batchelor | 1 3 2 0 3 | 9 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | Scott Nicholls | 1 1 3 3 2 | 10 | 1 |
| 6 | Hans Andersen | 3 1 3 0 3 | 10 | 0 |
| 7 | Szymon Woźniak | 2 2 1 3 0 | 9 |
| 8 | Freddie Lindgren | 3 2 2 0 1 | 8 |
| 9 | Chris Holder | 2 2 2 1 1 | 8 |
| 10 | Matej Žagar | 3 1 ret 1 2 | 7 |
| 11 | Bjarne Pedersen | 1 2 ret 2 1 | 6 |
| 12 | Kenneth Bjerre | 2 1 1 2 ret | 6 |
| 13 | Nick Morris | exc 0 1 3 1 | 5 |
| 14 | Richard Lawson | 0 0 0 2 2 | 4 |
| 15 | Mikkel Bech | 0 0 0 1 ret | 1 |
| 16 | Chris Harris | 0 ret | 0 |
| 17 | Josh Auty (res) | 0 f/exc | 0 |
| 18 | Josh Bates (res) | ret 0 | 0 |
* f=fell, exc=excluded, ret=retired ef=engine failure t-touched tapes

## Final leading averages

| Rider | Team | Average |
| Jason Doyle | Leicester | 9.39 |
| Maciej Janowski | Poole | 9.38 |
| Niels Kristian Iversen | Kings Lynn | 9.09 |
| Kyle Newman | Poole | 8.41 |
| Andreas Jonsson | Lakeside | 8.40 |
| Chris Harris | Coventry | 8.34 |
| Rory Schlein | King's Lynn | 8.15 |
| Jason Garrity | Coventry | 8.09 |
| Matej Žagar | Belle Vue | 8.03 |
| Scott Nicholls | Belle Vue | 7.92 |

## Riders & final averages

Unless otherwise stated, all listed riders were declared at the start of the 2015 Elite League season.
Belle Vue
* Matej Žagar 8.03
* Scott Nicholls 7.92
* Craig Cook 7.86
* Steve Worrall 6.98
* Josh Grajczonek 6.64
* Max Fricke 6.52
* Stefan Nielsen 4.93
* Simon Stead 4.53
Coventry
* Chris Harris 8.34
* Jason Garrity 8.09
* Joonas Kylmäkorpi 7.45
* Hans N. Andersen 7.29
* Danny King 6.84
* Stuart Robson 5.64
* James Sarjeant 5.23
* Kyle Howarth 4.36
King's Lynn
* Niels Kristian Iversen 9.09
* Rory Schlein 8.15
* Robert Lambert 7.65
* Lewis Kerr 7.15
* Kenneth Bjerre 6.24
* Nicklas Porsing 5.23
* Václav Milík, Jr. 5.14
* Ashley Morris 4.21
Lakeside
* Andreas Jonsson 8.40
* Kim Nilsson 7.24
* Mikkel Bech 7.16
* Ashley Birks 7.13
* Edward Kennett 6.63
* Richard Lawson 6.63
* Adam Ellis 4.89
Leicester
* Jason Doyle 9.39
* Josh Auty 7.29
* Sam Masters 6.50
* Grzegorz Walasek 6.49
* Szymon Woźniak 5.97
* Bjarne Pedersen 4.20
* Piotr Świderski 4.47
* Simon Lambert 3.69
Poole
* Maciej Janowski 9.38
* Kyle Newman 8.41
* Chris Holder 7.86
* Davey Watt 7.57
* Josh Grajczonek 7.25
* Kacper Gomólski 6.72
* Dakota North 6.70
* Paul Starke 5.34
Swindon
* Darcy Ward 10.40 (10 matches only)
* Adrian Miedziński 8.21 (2 matches only)
* Peter Kildemand 7.88
* Grzegorz Zengota 7.70
* Troy Batchelor 7.55
* Nick Morris 7.42
* Aaron Summers 7.24
* Charles Wright 6.63
* Kyle Howarth 6.38
* Lewis Rose 3.73
* Eduard Krčmář 2.50
Wolverhampton
* Peter Karlsson 7.16
* Fredrik Lindgren 7.13
* Ricky Wells 6.58
* Lewis Blackbird 6.37
* Jacob Thorssell 5.97
* Tobiasz Musielak 5.11
* Josh Bates 4.34