# 2001 Elite League speedway season

The 2001 Elite League speedway season was the 67th season of top division of speedway in the United Kingdom and in 2001 was governed by the Speedway Control Board (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).

## Season summary

In 2001, the league consisted of nine teams and operated on a standard format without play-offs. Oxford Cheetahs won their first title since 1989. Leigh Adams was brought in from King's Lynn to lead the team that retained fellow Australian riders Todd Wiltshire and Steve Johnston, Czech brothers Lukáš Dryml and Aleš Dryml Jr. and Dane Brian Andersen. In a closely fought three way title battle they claimed the crown ahead of Poole and Coventry. Poole were led by three times World Champion Tony Rickardsson who would claim his fourth Speedway World Championship during the season. Jason Crump was runner-up in the World Championship and topped the league averages for King's Lynn.

## Final table

| Pos | | M | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Bon | Tot |
| 1 | Oxford Cheetahs | 32 | 20 | 5 | 7 | 1495 | 1367 | 45 | 13 | 58 |
| 2 | Poole Pirates | 32 | 21 | 2 | 9 | 1538 | 1325 | 44 | 13 | 57 |
| 3 | Coventry Bees | 32 | 21 | 2 | 9 | 1518 | 1356 | 44 | 11 | 55 |
| 4 | Ipswich Witches | 32 | 17 | 2 | 13 | 1444 | 1429 | 36 | 7 | 43 |
| 5 | Peterborough Panthers | 30 | 12 | 2 | 16 | 1356 | 1329 | 26 | 7 | 33 |
| 6 | King's Lynn Knights | 31 | 12 | 1 | 19 | 1381 | 1467 | 25 | 7 | 32 |
| 7 | Eastbourne Eagles | 32 | 11 | 3 | 18 | 1373 | 1463 | 25 | 7 | 32 |
| 8 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 32 | 12 | 0 | 20 | 1397 | 1478 | 24 | 4 | 28 |
| 9 | Belle Vue Aces | 30 | 7 | 1 | 22 | 1196 | 1484 | 15 | 1 | 16 |
$_{Peterborough'shomefixtureswithBelleVuewerenotheld.}$

### 'A' Fixtures

| Home \ Away | BV | COV | EAS | IPS | KL | OX | PET | PP | WOL |
| Belle Vue Aces | | 42–48 | 49–41 | 45–45 | 46–44 | 47–42 | 47–43 | 42–50 | 44–46 |
| Coventry Bees | 56–34 | | 43–47 | 48–42 | 47–43 | 40–50 | 62–28 | 41–49 | 47–43 |
| Eastbourne Eagles | 51–39 | 45–45 | | 40–50 | 75–0+ | 45–45 | 49–41 | 44–46 | 49–41 |
| Ipswich Witches | 56–34 | 39–51 | 49–29 | | 47–42 | 49–41 | 42–48 | 47–43 | 50–40 |
| King's Lynn Knights | 46–44 | 42–48 | 59–31 | 50–40 | | 44–46 | 50–40 | 49–41 | 51–41 |
| Oxford Cheetahs | 59–31 | 52–38 | 47–43 | 46–44 | 45–45 | | 38–34 | 54–36 | 47–43 |
| Peterborough Panthers | n/a | 46–44 | 45–45 | 42–50 | 55–35 | 44–46 | | 42–48 | 54–36 |
| Poole Pirates | 60–30 | 45–45 | 54–36 | 44–46 | 51–39 | 45–45 | 50–40 | | 54–36 |
| Wolverhampton Wolves | 52–38 | 37–47 | 43–47 | 42–51 | 48–42 | 53–37 | 42–48 | 49–40 | |
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### 'B' Fixtures

| Home \ Away | BV | COV | EAS | IPS | KL | OX | PET | PP | WOL |
| Belle Vue Aces | | 44–46 | 42–30 | 42–48 | 47–43 | 42–48 | 47–42 | 32–58 | 40–50 |
| Coventry Bees | 52–38 | | 65–25 | 48–42 | 48–42 | 47–43 | 40–50 | 52–38 | 448–42 |
| Eastbourne Eagles | 64–26 | 39–51 | | 40–50 | 51–39 | 41–51 | 47–42 | 44–46 | 51–39 |
| Ipswich Witches | 49–41 | 43–47 | 56–34 | | 48–44 | 45–45 | 39–51 | 46–44 | 47–43 |
| King's Lynn Knights | 51–38 | 48–42 | 51–39 | 49–40 | | 44–46 | 48–45 | 42–48 | 53–37 |
| Oxford Cheetahs | 53–36 | 37–53 | 44–46 | 59–31 | 52–38 | | 53–37 | 46–44 | 48–42 |
| Peterborough Panthers | n/a | 455–35 | 62–28 | 57–33 | 49–41 | 45–45 | | 44–46 | 58–32 |
| Poole Pirates | 57–33 | 48–42 | 56–34 | 49–41 | 42–30 | 52–38 | 56–34 | | 54–36 |
| Wolverhampton Wolves | 54–36 | 38–52 | 47–43 | 51–39 | 50–37 | 43–47 | 55–35 | 46–44 | |

## Elite League Knockout Cup

The 2001 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 63rd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Peterborough Panthers were the winners of the competition.
First round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 04/04 | Poole | 50-40 | Ipswich |
| 17/05 | Ipswich | 56-34 | Poole |
Second round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 09/07 | Reading | 50-40 | Exeter |
| 08/07 | Stoke | 41-48 | Hull |
| 12/05 | Coventry | 39-50 | Peterborough |
| 12/05 | Eastbourne | 50-40 | Oxford |
| 11/05 | Oxford | 53-37 | Eastbourne |
| 11/05 | Peterborough | 50-40 | Coventry |
| 09/05 | King's Lynn | 56-34 | Belle Vue |
| 07/05 | Belle Vue | 39-47 | King's Lynn |
Semi-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 09/10 | Ipswich | 46-44 | Oxford |
| 14/09 | Oxford | 45-45 | Ipswich |
| 14/09 | Peterborough | 49-41 | King's Lynn |
| 12/09 | King's Lynn | 38-33 | Peterborough |
Final
First leg
Second leg
Peterborough Panthers were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 93-87.

## Riders' Championship

Jason Crump won the Elite League Riders' Championship for the second time. The final was held at Owlerton Stadium on 20 September.
| Pos. | Rider | Pts | Total | SF | Final |
| 1 | Jason Crump | 3 3 3 3 2 | 14 | x | 3 |
| 2 | Scott Nicholls | 3 1 3 2 3 | 12 | x | 2 |
| 3 | Nicki Pedersen | 1 3 2 3 2 | 11 | 3 | 1 |
| 4 | Mikael Karlsson | 2 2 2 3 2 | 11 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | Craig Boyce | 0 1 3 2 3 | 9 | 1 | |
| 6 | Tony Rickardsson | 3 3 2 1 0 | 9 | 0 | |
| 7 | Ryan Sullivan | 3 1 1 1 3 | 9 | | |
| 8 | Lee Richardson | 2 3 2 2 0 | 9 | | |
| 9 | Leigh Adams | 1 2 1 1 3 | 8 | | |
| 10 | Mark Loram | 0 2 0 3 2 | 7 | | |
| 11 | Sam Ermolenko | 2 1 1 2 1 | 7 | | |
| 12 | Jason Lyons | 1 2 3 0 0 | 6 | | |
| 13 | Dean Barker | 2 0 0 1 1 | 4 | | |
| 14 | Krzysztof Cegielski | 1 0 1 0 1 | 3 | | |
| 15 | Steve Johnston | 0 0 0 0 0 | 0 | | |
| 16 | David Norris | 0 0 0 | 0 | | |
| 17 | David Howe (res) | 1 | 1 | | |
| 18 | Paul Lee (res) | 0 | 0 | | |

## Leading final averages

| Rider | Team | Average |
| Jason Crump | King's Lynn | 10.39 |
| Scott Nicholls | Ipswich | 10.11 |
| Leigh Adams | Oxford | 10.08 |
| Tony Rickardsson | Poole | 9.66 |
| Ryan Sullivan | Peterborough | 9.52 |
| Billy Hamill | Coventry | 9.26 |
| Greg Hancock | Coventry | 9.05 |
| Nicki Pedersen | King's Lynn | 9.01 |
| Mikael Karlsson | Wolverhampton | 9.00 |
| Peter Karlsson | King's Lynn | 8.75 |

## Riders & final averages

Belle Vue
* Peter Karlsson 8.00
* Jimmy Nilsen 7.78
* Jason Lyons 6.74
* Kai Laukkanen 6.33
* Matej Ferjan 6.14
* Andy Smith 5.81
* Tomáš Topinka 4.74
* Neil Collins 4.21
* Henka Gustaffson 4.13
* Tomasz Jędrzejak 4.00
* Wayne Carter 3.79
* Adam Labedzki 3.65
Coventry
* Billy Hamill 9.26
* Greg Hancock 9.05
* Andreas Jonsson 7.90
* Lee Richardson 7.44
* Stuart Robson 5.39
* Billy Janniro 5.17
* Paul Lee 2.88
Eastbourne
* Martin Dugard 8.16
* Joe Screen 7.60
* Dean Barker 6.80
* David Norris 6.70
* Antonín Šváb Jr. 6.46
* Stefan Andersson 6.07
* Roman Povazhny 6.00
* Brent Werner 5.42
* Joonas Kylmäkorpi 5.39
* Marcus Andersson 5.06
Ipswich
* Scott Nicholls 10.11
* Craig Boyce 8.06
* Chris Louis 7.79
* Jarosław Hampel 7.35
* Jeremy Doncaster 6.35
* Jason Bunyan 2.66
* Savalas Clouting 2.08
King's Lynn
* Jason Crump 10.39
* Nicki Pedersen 9.01
* Peter Karlsson 8.75
* Niklas Klingberg 6.76
* Ronni Pedersen 6.64
* Tom P. Madsen 5.20
* Freddie Eriksson 4.71
* Tomasz Bajerski 4.00
* Lee Redmond 2.08
* Joachim Kugelmann 1.83
Oxford
* Leigh Adams 10.08
* Todd Wiltshire 7.16
* Brian Andersen 6.99
* Lukáš Dryml 6.75
* Steve Johnston 6.47
* Aleš Dryml Jr. 6.12
* Andrew Appleton 2.73
Peterborough
* Ryan Sullivan 9.52
* Mark Loram 8.37
* Simon Stead 7.31
* Matej Ferjan 6.59
* Shane Parker 6.18
* David Howe 5.86
* Nigel Sadler 5.66
* Marián Jirout 5.23
* Grant MacDonald 0.38
Poole
* Tony Rickardsson 9.66
* Krzysztof Cegielski 8.34
* Gary Havelock 8.16
* Hans N. Andersen 6.73
* Grzegorz Walasek 6.53
* Lars Gunnestad 6.51
* Magnus Zetterström 5.86
* Craig Watson 4.87
* David Ruud 4.42
Wolverhampton
* Mikael Karlsson 9.00
* Sam Ermolenko 7.34
* Paul Hurry 7.33
* Jesper B. Jensen 5.71
* Daniel Nermark 5.62
* Krzysztof Jabłoński 4.70
* Alun Rossiter 2.76
* Wayne Broadhurst 1.69