# 2011 Elite League speedway season

The 2011 Elite League speedway season (also known as the Sky Sports Elite League for sponsorship reasons) was the 77th season of the top division of UK speedway and took place between 26 March and 20 October 2011. The Coventry Bees were the defending champions after winning in 2010.

## Summary

It was a great season for the Poole Pirates, who won the Elite League, the Pairs Championship and the Knockout Cup. Claiming a clean sweep of honours. Throughout the 2010 season, it was rumoured that the Ipswich Witches would prefer to compete in the Premier League from 2011 onwards. Although they survived the promotion/relegation battle with the Newcastle Diamonds, it was decided that they would swap divisions with the Birmingham Brummies. On 27 November 2010, The BSPA announced that both Coventry Bees and Peterborough Panthers would not be riding in the top flight after they failed to declare their intent to compete in the 2011 competition. This then led to the King's Lynn Stars being promoted from the Premier League due to the Elite League needing a minimum of 8 teams. On 15 March 2011 it was announced that both the Coventry Bees and Peterborough Panthers would be part of the 2011 Elite League after all.
Poole Pirates made up for the previous season's disappointment by winning the league and cup double. The Australian quartet of Darcy Ward, Chris Holder, Davey Watt and Jason Doyle were supported well by Swedes Thomas H. Jonasson and Dennis Andersson as the Poole team deservedly won the title after finishing top of the regular season table for the second consecutive year. The Australian domination also extended to the league averages, which were topped by Chris Holder and the Elite League Riders' Championship won by Rory Schlein of Belle Vue.

## 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 | | 50–42 | 45–45 | 44–45 | 52–42 | 43–47 | 53–40 | 44–46 | 62–30 | 47–43 |
| Birmingham Brummies | 43–47 | | 51–39 | 43–49 | 52–38 | 52–40 | 49–44 | 42–48 | 48–42 | 48–47 |
| Coventry Bees | 56–38 | 48–45 | | 46–39 | 49–44 | 58–34 | 54–38 | 49–42 | 42–48 | 50–43 |
| Eastbourne Eagles | 54–39 | 66–24 | 53–40 | | 45–48 | 50–43 | 55–41 | 57–39 | 59–34 | 57–38 |
| King's Lynn Stars | 48–42 | 50–43 | 50–40 | 43–46 | | 65–30 | 55–41 | 50–43 | 58–37 | 50–43 |
| Lakeside Hammers | 48–45 | 61–31 | 42–30 | 44–46 | 61–32 | | 55–41 | 48–42 | 56–38 | 48–45 |
| Peterborough Panthers | 50–24 | 50–37 | 46–44 | 52–38 | 48–45 | 50–42 | | 49–44 | 63–27 | 59–34 |
| Poole Pirates | 47–42 | 48–42 | 55–31 | 55–39 | 58–36 | 58–36 | 55–35 | | 50–42 | 56–36 |
| Swindon Robins | 41–49 | 42–51 | 50–40 | 51–41 | 42–48 | 43–47 | 47–43 | 49–43 | | 50–45 |
| Wolverhampton Wolves | 56–36 | 46–43 | 48–42 | 46–44 | 47–43 | 53–42 | 51–38 | 42–51 | 48–42 | |

### 'B' Fixtures

| Home \ Away | BV | BIR | COV | EAS | KL | LH | PET | PP | SWI | WOL |
| Belle Vue Aces | | 45–44 | n/a | n/a | 47–43 | 58–35 | n/a | 44–46 | n/a | 45–45 |
| Birmingham Brummies | 52–43 | | 48–42 | n/a | n/a | 38–54 | 50–43 | n/a | n/a | 57–36 |
| Coventry Bees | 41–49 | n/a | | 51–42 | 45–45 | n/a | 49–41 | n/a | 56–37 | n/a |
| Eastbourne Eagles | n/a | n/a | 53–40 | | 46–44 | n/a | n/a | 57–35 | 59–34 | 63–29 |
| King's Lynn Stars | 48–42 | n/a | 44–48 | 50–42 | | n/a | 47–43 | n/a | 48–45 | n/a |
| Lakeside Hammers | 48–41 | 51–42 | n/a | n/a | n/a | | 66–26 | 40–38 | n/a | 47–46 |
| Peterborough Panthers | n/a | 53–41 | 54–40 | n/a | 46–44 | 53–40 | | n/a | 54–36 | n/a |
| Poole Pirates | 45–48 | n/a | n/a | 54–40 | n/a | 44–43 | n/a | | 53–41 | 54–42 |
| Swindon Robins | n/a | n/a | 43–47 | 46–44 | 43–47 | n/a | 49–43 | 43–50 | | n/a |
| Wolverhampton Wolves | 52–41 | 48–45 | n/a | 49–41 | n/a | 47–43 | n/a | 45–44 | n/a | |

## Championship play-offs
### Semi-finals

Leg 1
Leg 2

### Grand final

First leg
Second leg
Poole Pirates were declared Elite League Champions, on winning on aggregate 98-85.

## Elite League Knockout Cup

The 2011 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 73rd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Poole Pirates were the winners of the competition for the second successive year.
First round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 08/08 | Peterborough | 47-45 | Coventry |
| 06/07 | Coventry | 42-48 | Peterborough |
Quarter-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 15/09 | Peterborough | 43-47 | Belle Vue |
| 14/09 | Belle Vue | 50-40 | Peterborough |
| 25/07 | Wolverhampton | 45-45 | Eastbourne |
| 22/06 | Poole | 55-41 | Swindon |
| 18/06 | Eastbourne | 50-40 | Wolverhampton |
| 16/06 | Swindon | 28-62 | Poole |
| 10/06 | Lakeside | 63- 29 | Birmingham |
| 09/06 | Birmingham | 36-41 | Lakeside |
Semi-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 12/10 | Belle Vue | 42-33 | Lakeside |
| 30/09 | Lakeside | 48-45 | Belle Vue |
| 17/09 | Eastbourne | 39-51 | Poole |
| 14/09 | Poole | 46-44 | Eastbourne |

### Final

First leg
Second leg
The Poole Pirates were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 102-86.

## Riders' Championship

Rory Schlein won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Abbey Stadium on 15 October.
| Pos. | Rider | Pts | Total | SF | Final |
| 1 | Rory Schlein | 3 3 2 3 2 | 13 | x | 3 |
| 2 | Scott Nicholls | 1 1 3 3 3 | 11 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Freddie Lindgren | 3 2 2 exc 2 | 9 | 3 | 1 |
| 4 | Bjarne Pedersen | 3 2 3 0 3 | 11 | x | 0 |
| 5 | Chris Holder | 2 0 3 3 1 | 9 | 1 | |
| 6 | Chris Harris | 2 3 1 2 3 | 11 | exc | |
| 7 | Kenneth Bjerre | 0 3 1 3 1 | 8 |
| 8 | Darcy Ward | 2 3 f/exc 2 1 | 8 |
| 9 | Ben Barker | 1 2 1 1 2 | 7 |
| 10 | Niels Kristian Iversen | 3 0 3 0 f | 6 |
| 11 | Hans Andersen | 0 1 0 1 3 | 5 |
| 12 | Danny King | 0 2 1 2 0 | 5 |
| 13 | Nicolai Klindt | 0 1 2 1 fx | 4 |
| 14 | Lee Richardson | 1 1 2 0 ret | 4 |
| 15 | Stuart Robson | 1 0 0 1 2 | 4 |
| 16 | Ryan Fisher | 2 ret 0 2 ret | 2 |
* f=fell, exc=excluded, ret=retired

## Pairs

The Elite League Pairs Championship was held at the King's Lynn Stadium on 27 April and was won by Poole Pirates.
Group A :
| Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
| 1 | Peterborough | 25 | Batchelor 15, Pedersen 10 |
| 2 | Wolves | 21 | Lindgren 14, Proctor 7 |
| 3 | Swindon | 21 | Nicholls 13, Klindt 8 |
| 4 | King's Lynn | 14 | Iversen 11, Bjerre 3 |
| 5 | Birmingham | 9 | Dryml 9, Knight (G) 0 |
Group B :
| Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
| 1 | Poole | 26 | Holder 14, Ward 12 |
| 2 | Belle Vue | 23 | Harris 13, Schlein 10 |
| 3 | Lakeside | 19 | Richardson 10, Shields 9 |
| 4 | Coventry | 12 | Fisher 10, Kennett 2 |
| 5 | Eastbourne | 11 | Kylmaekorpi 9, Woodward 2 |
Semi finals
* Belle Vue 5 Peterborough 4 - Pedersen, Harris, Schlein, Batchelor
* Poole 5 Wolves 4 - Lindgren, Ward, Holder, Proctor
Final
* Poole 7 Belle Vue 2 - Ward, Holder, Harris, Schlein

## Leading averages

| Rider | Team | Average |
| Darcy Ward | Poole | 10.05 |
| Chris Holder | Poole | 9.99 |
| Freddie Lindgren | Wolverhampton | 9.66 |
| Kenneth Bjerre | Kings Lynn | 9.22 |
| Nicki Pedersen | Peterborough | 9.20 |
| Rory Schlein | Belle Vue | 9.10 |
| Troy Batchelor | Peterborough | 8.84 |
| Peter Karlsson | Wolverhampton | 8.78 |
| Edward Kennett | Coventry | 8.77 |
| Bjarne Pedersen | Eastbourne | 8.61 |

## Riders & final averages

Belle Vue
* Rory Schlein 9.10
* Chris Harris 8.56
* Charlie Gjedde 7.70
* Patrick Hougaard 6.48
* Craig Cook 5.70
* Jordan Frampton 5.60
* Ricky Kling 5.22
* Kozza Smith 4.65
* Łukasz Jankowski 4.48
* Tomasz Piszcz 3.30
* Dawid Stachyra 2.00
Birmingham
* Ben Barker 7.65
* Krzysztof Kasprzak 7.46
* Danny King 6.84
* Daniel Nermark 6.52
* Ulrich Østergaard 6.16
* Claus Vissing 5.73
* Aleš Dryml 5.39
* James Wright 5.33
* Kevin Wölbert 5.10
Coventry
* Edward Kennett 8.77
* Emil Sayfutdinov 8.28
* Przemyslaw Pawlicki 7.96
* Ryan Fisher 6.95
* Kenni Larsen 6.76
* Nick Morris 6.06
* Josh Auty 5.57
* Travis McGowan 4.21
* Richard Sweetman 3.88
Eastbourne
* Bjarne Pedersen 8.61
* Joonas Kylmäkorpi 7.92
* Lewis Bridger 7.75
* Lukáš Dryml 7.69
* Simon Gustafsson 7.22
* Cameron Woodward 7.19
* Timo Lahti 3.06
King's Lynn
* Kenneth Bjerre 9.22
* Mads Korneliussen 8.03
* Niels Kristian Iversen 7.88
* Oliver Allen 7.30
* Lasse Bjerre 6.11
* Sam Masters 4.48
* Filip Šitera 4.04
* Tomáš Topinka 4.00
Lakeside
* Lee Richardson 8.46
* Jonas Davidsson 7.52
* Piotr Swiderski 7.48
* Adam Shields 7.26
* Stuart Robson 6.99
* Kim Nilsson 6.52
* Peter Ljung 6.35
* Kauko Nieminen 6.02
* Robert Mear 5.67
* Kyle Legault 4.21
Peterborough
* Nicki Pedersen 9.20
* Troy Batchelor 8.84
* Linus Sundström 7.83
* Krzysztof Buczkowski 6.82
* Norbert Kościuch 6.02
* Kacper Gomólski 4.47
* Dakota North 4.00
* Richard Lawson 3.87
Poole
* Darcy Ward 10.05
* Chris Holder 9.99
* Davey Watt 7.93
* Thomas H. Jonasson 7.14
* Jason Doyle 6.41
* Dennis Andersson 6.23
* Kevin Wölbert 6.10
* Renat Gafurov 5.62
* Christian Hefenbrock 4.84
* Kyle Newman 1.74
Swindon
* Scott Nicholls 7.78
* Nicolai Klindt 7.02
* Simon Stead 6.86
* Maciej Janowski 6.72
* Jesper B. Monberg 6.19
* Cory Gathercole 4.89
* Sergei Darkin 3.63
* Justin Sedgmen 2.83
Wolverhampton
* Freddie Lindgren 9.66
* Peter Karlsson 8.78
* Tai Woffinden 8.34
* Ty Proctor 5.76
* Ludvig Lindgren 4.56
* Ricky Wells 4.43