# 2013 Elite League speedway season

The 2013 Elite League speedway season (also known as the Sky Sports Elite League for sponsorship reasons) was the 79th season of the top division of UK speedway and the took place between March and October 2013.

## Summary

The Swindon Robins were the defending champions after winning in 2012.
Birmingham Brummies finished top of the regular season table but lost in the play off to Poole Pirates, who continued to enjoy British League success. It was their fifth success in ten years and was instrumented by their Australian duo Chris Holder and Darcy Ward and Poles Maciej Janowski and Przemysław Pawlicki.

## League table

* Key:
* Championship play-offs
* Belle Vue were deducted 3 points after a Speedway Control Bureau hearing.
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; Pts = Total Points

### 'A' Fixtures

| Home \ Away | BV | BIR | COV | EAS | KL | LH | PET | PP | SWI | WOL |
| Belle Vue Aces | | 49–41 | 52–41 | 57–37 | 50–40 | 43–50 | 54–39 | 40–50 | 46–44 | 43–47 |
| Birmingham Brummies | 54–39 | | 55–37 | 62–31 | 47–43 | 56–38 | 46–44 | 54–40 | 43–37 | 46–44 |
| Coventry Bees | 45–45 | 41–49 | | 52–38 | 47–43 | 57–33 | 50–40 | 43–41 | 56–38 | 31–59 |
| Eastbourne Eagles | 60–33 | 51–41 | 51–39 | | 53–39 | 52–41 | 54–36 | 53–42 | 48–42 | 47–46 |
| King's Lynn Stars | 52–38 | 50–40 | 49–41 | 51–39 | | 48–42 | 41–33 | 49–41 | 54–40 | 53–37 |
| Lakeside Hammers | 52–38 | 48–42 | 55–40 | 49–40 | 53–39 | | 51–39 | 60–32 | 43–47 | 53–39 |
| Peterborough Panthers | 45–47 | 45–45 | 37–56 | 54–39 | 40–50 | 58–36 | | 59–34 | 40–50 | 55–38 |
| Poole Pirates | 53–39 | 46–46 | 56–38 | 53–39 | 48–45 | 45–48 | 39–51 | | 49–41 | 42–48 |
| Swindon Robins | 60–33 | 45–47 | 59–36 | 49–43 | 49–46 | 63–27 | 54–38 | 50–43 | | 54–38 |
| Wolverhampton Wolves | 59–33 | 41–49 | 56–36 | 59–34 | 53–39 | 50–40 | 51–43 | 45–44 | 46–44 | |

### 'B' Fixtures

| Home \ Away | BV | BIR | COV | EAS | KL | LH | PET | PP | SWI | WOL |
| Belle Vue Aces | | n/a | 59–35 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 49–41 | 28–35 | 42–47 | 42–48 |
| Birmingham Brummies | n/a | | 61–35 | 48–46 | n/a | 51–42 | n/a | n/a | 52–44 | 57–33 |
| Coventry Bees | 51–39 | 40–49 | | n/a | 48–46 | n/a | 40–50 | n/a | n/a | 50–43 |
| Eastbourne Eagles | n/a | 46–44 | n/a | | n/a | 49–41 | 53–43 | 35–55 | n/a | 47–43 |
| King's Lynn Stars | n/a | n/a | 48–43 | n/a | | 53–40 | 47–43 | 39–50 | 39–51 | n/a |
| Lakeside Hammers | n/a | 50–40 | n/a | 56–37 | 50–43 | | n/a | 50–43 | 43–47 | n/a |
| Peterborough Panthers | 42–36 | n/a | 70–20 | 53–42 | 54–39 | n/a | | n/a | 52–40 | n/a |
| Poole Pirates | 57–34 | n/a | n/a | 56–38 | 47–43 | 62–28 | n/a | | n/a | 46–44 |
| Swindon Robins | 42–48 | 52–40 | n/a | n/a | 56–37 | 54–38 | 44–49 | n/a | | n/a |
| Wolverhampton Wolves | 42–48 | 51–39 | 55–37 | 55–38 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 49–42 | n/a | |

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

Leg 1
Leg 2

### Grand final

First leg
Second leg
The Poole Pirates were declared Elite League Champions, winning on aggregate 104-79.

## Knockout Cup

The Knockout Cup was not held during 2013.

## Riders' Championship

Rory Schlein won the Riders' Championship for the second time. The final was held at Abbey Stadium on 19 October.
| Pos. | Rider | Pts | Total | SF | Final |
| 1 | Rory Schlein | ef 3 3 3 | 9 | 2 | 3 |
| 2 | Niels Kristian Iversen | 3 2 3 2 | 11 | x | 2 |
| 3 | Craig Cook | 3 ef 3 3 | 9 | x | 1 |
| 4 | Hans Andersen | 3 1 2 2 | 8 | 3 | ef |
| 5 | Jason Doyle | 3 3 2 1 | 9 | 1 |
| 6 | Troy Batchelor | 2 3 f/exc 2 | 7 | 0 |
| 7 | Scott Nicholls | 1 2 1 3 | 7 |
| 8 | Peter Kildemand | 2 2 3 f/exc | 7 |
| 9 | Freddie Lindgren | f 1 2 3 | 7 |
| 10 | Chris Harris | 2 2 2 0 | 6 |
| 11 | Grzegorz Zengota | 1 3 1 1 | 6 |
| 12 | Kenneth Bjerre | 1 1 0 2 | 4 |
| 13 | Davey Watt | 2 0 ef | 2 |
| 14 | Oliver Greenwood (res) | 0 1 1 | 2 |
| 15 | Bjarne Pedersen | ef 1 | 1 |
| 16 | Paul Starke (res) | 1 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Krzysztof Buczkowski | ef ef ef 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Darcy Ward | ef ef | 0 |
* f=fell, exc=excluded, ret=retired ef=engine failure

## Final leading averages

| Rider | Team | Average |
| Tai Woffinden | Wolverhampton | 9.93 |
| Chris Holder | Poole | 9.73 |
| Niels Kristian Iversen | Kings Lynn | 9.68 |
| Freddie Lindgren | Wolverhampton | 9.53 |
| Darcy Ward | Poole | 9.44 |
| Hans Andersen | Swindon | 9.24 |
| Matej Žagar | Belle Vue | 9.12 |
| Krzysztof Buczkowski | Peterborough | 8.80 |
| Kenneth Bjerre | Peterborough | 8.78 |
| Ty Proctor | Wolverhampton | 8.76 |

## Riders & averages

Belle Vue
* Matej Žagar 9.12
* Craig Cook 8.16
* Kevin Wolbert 5.95
* Magnus Zetterström 5.53
* Kauko Nieminen 5.39
* Ulrich Østergaard 4.96
* Aleš Dryml 4.85
* Artur Mroczka 4.57
Birmingham
* Jason Doyle 8.24
* Martin Smolinski 8.00
* Danny King 7.94
* Ben Barker 7.29
* Chris Harris 7.50
* Josh Auty 5.77
* Nicolas Covatti 5.46
Coventry
* Scott Nicholls 7.88
* Krzysztof Kasprzak 7.85
* Grzegorz Zengota 6.73
* Oliver Allen 4.41
* Aaron Summers 5.47
* Michał Szczepaniak 5.45
* Stuart Robson 5.19
* Mateusz Szczepaniak 3.11
* Adam Roynon 2.15
Eastbourne
* Bjarne Pedersen 8.50
* Cameron Woodward 7.32
* Mikkel Michelsen 6.70
* Kim Nilsson 6.23
* Lukáš Dryml 6.06
* Simon Gustafsson 5.68
* Timo Lahti 5.54
* Adam Shields 4.41
* Denis Gizatullin 4.36
King's Lynn
* Niels Kristian Iversen 9.68
* Mads Korneliussen 7.64
* Simon Stead 7.60
* Rory Schlein 7.08
* Richie Worrall 6.53
* Sebastian Aldén 6.19
* Kozza Smith 5.45
* Nicolai Klindt 5.19
* Lasse Bjerre 4.65
* Nicklas Porsing 4.00
* Andžejs Ļebedevs 3.65
Lakeside
* Peter Karlsson 8.52
* Davey Watt 7.86
* Lewis Bridger 7.01
* Piotr Swiderski 6.84
* Sebastian Ułamek 6.70
* Richard Lawson 6.02
* Kim Nilsson 5.74
* Kevin Doolan 4.94
* Robert Mear 4.17
Peterborough
* Krzysztof Buczkowski 8.80
* Kenneth Bjerre 8.78
* Kenni Larsen 7.82
* Joonas Kylmäkorpi 7.62
* Patrick Hougaard 6.80
* Linus Sundström 6.59
* Ryan Fisher 6.41
* Norbert Kościuch 5.46
* Dakota North 4.87
* Nicolai Klindt 3.15
Poole
* Chris Holder 9.73
* Darcy Ward 9.44
* Greg Hancock 8.63
* Maciej Janowski 7.44
* Thomas H. Jonasson 7.28
* Josh Grajczonek 6.06
* Rohan Tungate 5.33
* Dawid Stachyra 4.56
* Kyle Howarth 4.35
* Micky Dyer 3.86
Swindon
* Hans N. Andersen 9.24
* Peter Kildemand 8.74
* Troy Batchelor 8.32
* Edward Kennett 7.37
* Nick Morris 7.15
* Kyle Howarth 6.03
* Kacper Gomolski 5.22
* Ashley Birks 3.46
Wolverhampton
* Tai Woffinden 9.93
* Freddie Lindgren 9.53
* Ty Proctor 8.76
* Adam Skornicki 6.84
* Ricky Wells 5.83
* Jacob Thorssell 5.55
* Ludvig Lindgren 5.29