1989 British League season

Last updated

1989 British League season
League Sunbrite British League
Champions Oxford Cheetahs
Knockout Cup Cradley Heathens
Individual Shawn Moran
Highest average Hans Nielsen
Division/s below 1989 National League

The 1989 British League season (also known as the Sunbrite British League for sponsorship reasons) was the 55th season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 25th known as the British League. [1]

Contents

Summary

The Coventry Bees were the defending champions from 1988. The league was once again run over a 15-heat formula, with 7 riders per team. [2]

Oxford Cheetahs bounced back to winning ways claiming their third title in five years. The team was led by their double world champion Hans Nielsen who by the end of the season would be world champion for the third time and top the averages for an incredible seventh season running. He was backed up by Simon Wigg, Martin Dugard, Andy Grahame, Marvyn Cox and Troy Butler, all of whom averaged from about 6 to 8 points for the season. The defending champions Coventry could only finish 5th after losing Tommy Knudsen for the season. Cradley Heath won thir 8th Knockout Cup in 11 years (it would also be their last). [3]

Final table

PosTeamPLWDLBPPts
1 Oxford Cheetahs 3222191358
2 Wolverhampton Wolves 32192111252
3 Cradley Heathens 32193101051
4 Belle Vue Aces 32192111050
5 Coventry Bees 3215314841
6 Swindon Robins 3212119833
7 Reading Racers 3213118532
8 Bradford Dukes 329221323
9 King's Lynn Stars 328123320

M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points

British League Knockout Cup

The 1989 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 51st edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Cradley Heath Heathens were the winners for the fourth successive year if including the tied 1986 final. [4] [5] [6]

First round

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
21/04Belle Vue57-33King's Lynn
08/04King's Lynn38-52Belle Vue

Quarter-finals

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
26/06Reading51-39Belle Vue
10/06Cradley Heath50-40Oxford
09/06Belle Vue45.5-44.5Reading
09/06Oxford45-45Cradley Heath
13/05Coventry45-45Bradford
06/05Bradford46-44Coventry
22/04Swindon45-45Wolverhampton
10/04Wolverhampton49-41Swindon

Semi-finals

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
26/08Bradford57-33Wolverhampton
19/08Cradley Heath42-48Reading
07/08Wolverhampton60-30Bradford
31/07Reading40-50Cradley Heath

Final

First leg

Wolverhampton Wolves
Ronnie Correy 9
Robert Pfetzing 8
Andy Phillips 7
Graham Jones 7
Jan Stæchmann 3
Brian Karger (guest) 3
Neil Collins 3
41 - 49 Cradley Heath
Kelvin Tatum (guest) 13
Greg Hancock 11
Jimmy Nilsen (guest) 10
Gert Handberg 6
Alan Grahame 6
Simon Cross 2
John Bostin 1
[7]

Second leg

Cradley Heath
Shawn Moran (guest) 14
Simon Cross 12
Kelvin Tatum (guest) 7
Gert Handberg 5
Greg Hancock 5
Alan Grahame 3
John Bostin 0
46 - 44 Wolverhampton Wolves
Jimmy Nilsen (guest) 10
Graham Jones 9
Andy Phillips 6
Robert Pfetzing 6
Ronnie Correy 5
Neil Collins 4
Jan Stæchmann 4
[7]

Cradley Heath were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 95-85.

Riders' Championship

Shawn Moran won the British League Riders' Championship. It was the held at Belle Vue Stadium on 1 October. [8]

Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1 Flag of the United States.svg Shawn Moran 3 3 3 3 315
2 Flag of Denmark.svg Hans Nielsen 3 3 3 3 214
3 Flag of Denmark.svg Brian Karger 2 3 2 2 312
4 Flag of England.svg Martin Dugard 1 2 1 2 39
5 Flag of the United States.svg Ronnie Correy 3 2 3 0 08
6 Flag of Sweden.svg Jimmy Nilsen 0 1 3 1 38
7 Flag of England.svg Kelvin Tatum 2 0 1 3 28
8 Flag of England.svg Alan Grahame 0 2 2 2 28
9 Flag of England.svg Richard Knight 2 0 2 2 17
10 Flag of the United States.svg Rick Miller 3 1 1 1 17
11 Flag of England.svg Simon Wigg 1 1 2 3 07
12 Flag of the United States.svg Lance King 1 3 0 0 15
13 Flag of England.svg Jeremy Doncaster 1 2 0 1 15
14 Flag of Denmark.svg Peter Ravn 2 0 0 1 25
15 Flag of England.svg Paul Thorp 0 1 1 0 02
16 Flag of England.svg Glenn Hornby (res)0 00
17 Flag of England.svg Scott Smith (res)0 00
18 Flag of New Zealand.svg Mitch Shirra 0 r(inj)0

Leading final averages

RiderClubAverage
Flag of Denmark.svg Hans Nielsen Oxford10.91
Flag of Denmark.svg Jan O. Pedersen Cradley10.22
Flag of Denmark.svg Erik Gundersen Cradley9.97
Flag of the United States.svg Sam Ermolenko Wolverhampton9.85
Flag of the United States.svg Shawn Moran Belle Vue9.68
Flag of England.svg Kelvin Tatum Coventry9.49
Flag of England.svg Simon Cross Cradley9.13
Flag of England.svg Jeremy Doncaster Reading8.61
Flag of Sweden.svg Jimmy Nilsen Swindon8.41
Flag of the United States.svg Kelly Moran Belle Vue8.29

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Bradford

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Kings Lynn

Oxford

Reading

Swindon

Wolverhampton


See also

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References

  1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. "1990 league tables". Speedway GB.
  3. "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  4. "1989 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  5. "Heathens scent cup glory" . Sandwell Evening Mail. 17 October 1989. Retrieved 1 October 2021 via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. "Speedway" . Sandwell Evening Mail. 27 October 1989. Retrieved 1 October 2021 via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. 1 2 "Cradley Speedway 1989 season". Cradley Speedway. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  8. "Sad day for Doncaster and Shirra" . Reading Evening Post. 2 October 1989. Retrieved 5 June 2023 via British Newspaper Archive.