1998 Elite League speedway season

Last updated

1998 Elite League speedway season
League Sky Sports Elite League
Champions Ipswich Witches
Knockout Cup Ipswich Witches
Craven Shield Ipswich Witches
Individual Tony Rickardsson
Highest average Tony Rickardsson
Division/s below Premier League
Conference League

The 1998 Elite League speedway season was the 64th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the second year known as the Elite League, governed by the Speedway Control Board (SCB) in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA). [1]

Contents

Summary

In 1998, the league decreased to nine teams with the closure of the Bradford Dukes at the end of their championship winning season in 1997. The Peterborough Panthers dropped down to the Premier League but were replaced by the Oxford Cheetahs. The league operated on a standard format without play-offs. [2]

Ipswich Witches won the league (their first since 1984) and cup double and were led by the world's leading rider Tony Rickardsson. Rickardsson topped the averages for the second consecutive season and was well supported by Pole Tomasz Gollob in his maiden British season. English riders Chris Louis and Scott Nicholls added even more strength and became British Champion and British Under-21 Champion respectively during the season. [3]

Final table

PosMWDLFAPtsBonTot
1 Ipswich Witches 32261516531211531669
2 Belle Vue Aces 322001215241353401252
3 Coventry Bees 321811314741401371148
4 Swindon Robins 30151161429145031738
5 Eastbourne Eagles 30150171430144930737
6 Wolverhampton Wolves 32141171421144429837
7 Oxford Cheetahs 32132171388149028533
8 Poole Pirates 32111141348152923528
9 King's Lynn Knights 3281231270161017118

Elite League Knockout Cup

The 1998 Speedway Star Knockout Cup was the 60th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams and the second under its new name. Ipswich Witches were the winners of the competition. [4]

First round

Group A

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
27/03Belle Vue50-40Coventry
28/03Coventry51-39Belle Vue
29/03Swindon41-49Wolverhampton
30/03Wolverhampton47-42Oxford
03/04Oxford45-45Coventry
06/04Wolverhampton50-40Swindon
10/04Swindon46-44Oxford
11/04Coventry47-43Swindon
12/04Belle Vue43-47Wolverhampton
13/04Wolverhampton45-45Belle Vue
17/04Belle Vue46-43Oxford
18/04Coventry48-42Oxford
20/04Wolverhampton45-45Coventry
24/04Belle Vue41-48Swindon
24/04Oxford39-51Wolverhampton
25/04Coventry54-36Wolverhampton
30/04Swindon40-50Belle Vue
03/05Oxford48-42Belle Vue
08/05Oxford58-32Swindon
11/05Swindon41-49Coventry
PosTeamPWDL
1Wolverhampton8521
2Coventry8521
3Belle Vue8314
4Oxford8215
5Swindon8206

Group B

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
19/03Ipswich60-30Kings Lynn
22/03Eastbourne65-25Kings Lynn
26/03Ipswich56-33Poole
29/03Eastbourne52-38Poole
01/04Kings Lynn41-31Eastbourne
02/04Ipswich49-41Eastbourne
11/04Eastbourne44-46Ipswich
22/04Kings Lynn34-55Ipswich
22/04Poole47-43Eastbourne
24/04Kings Lynn47-43Poole
26/04Poole48-42Kings Lynn
06/05Poole39-51Ipswich
PosTeamPWDL
1Ipswich6600
2Eastbourne6204
3King's Lynn6204
4Poole6204

Semi-finals

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
22/08Coventry54-36Wolverhampton
29/06Wolverhampton49-41Coventry
16/07Ipswich57-33Eastbourne
04/07Eastbourne42-48Ipswich

Final

The first leg was due to be held on 9 October at Foxhall Stadium but was abandoned after 5 heats due to heavy rain. Coventry were leading 17-13 at the time.

First leg

Coventry Bees
Jason Crump (guest) 15
Greg Hancock 13
Brian Andersen 8
Shaun Tacey 6
Andreas Jonsson 1
Stuart Robson 0		43 - 47 Ipswich Witches
Tony Rickardsson 15
Tomasz Gollob 11
Scott Nicholls 10
Chris Louis 6
Antonín Šváb Jr. 3
Savalas Clouting 2
[5]
Brandon Stadium

Second leg

Ipswich Witches
Tomasz Gollob 12
Tony Rickardsson 11
Chris Louis 10
Scott Nicholls 6
Antonín Šváb Jr. 5
Savalas Clouting 4		48 - 42 Coventry Bees
Greg Hancock 18
Brian Andersen 12
Mark Loram (guest) 5
Shaun Tacey 3
Andreas Jonsson 2
Stuart Robson 2
[5]
Foxhall Stadium

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

Riders' Championship

Tony Rickardsson won the Elite League Riders' Championship, held at the Abbey Stadium on 11 October. [6]

Pos.RiderPtsTotalSFFinal
1 Flag of Sweden.svg Tony Rickardsson 3 2 2 3 313x3
2 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jason Crump 3 3 3 3 214x2
3 Flag of England.svg Joe Screen 3 2 1 2 31121
4 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Leigh Adams 2 1 3 3 21130
5 Flag of Sweden.svg Jimmy Nilsen 2 2 2 3 2111
6 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Todd Wiltshire 3 3 2 2 0100
7 Flag of the United States.svg Greg Hancock 2 3 0 2 310
8 Flag of Denmark.svg Brian Andersen 0 3 3 0 17
9 Flag of the United States.svg Ronnie Correy 2 1 3 1 07
10 Flag of England.svg Chris Louis 1 1 0 1 36
11 Flag of England.svg Mark Loram 1 0 1 2 26
12 Flag of England.svg Martin Dugard 1 0 1 2 26
13 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Craig Boyce 1 0 1 1 03
14 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ryan Sullivan 0 2 0 0 02
15 Flag of England.svg David Norris 0 1 0 0 12
16 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Shane Parker exc 0 1 0 12
17 Flag of England.svg Garry Stead (res)2 02

Leading final averages

RiderTeamAverage
Flag of Sweden.svg Tony Rickardsson Ipswich10.35
Flag of the United States.svg Billy Hamill Coventry10.07
Flag of the United States.svg Greg Hancock Coventry9.58
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jason Crump Oxford9.54
Flag of Poland.svg Tomasz Gollob Ipswich9.38
Flag of England.svg Chris Louis Ipswich9.35
Flag of the United States.svg Ronnie Correy Belle Vue9.02
Flag of England.svg Joe Screen Belle Vue8.99
Flag of England.svg Martin Dugard Eastbourne8.70
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Leigh Adams Swindon8.53
Flag of Sweden.svg Mikael Karlsson Wolverhampton8.53

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Coventry

Eastbourne

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Oxford

Poole

Swindon

Wolverhampton

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. ↑ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ↑ "1998 league tables". Speedway GB.
  3. ↑ "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  4. ↑ "1998 Elite League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  5. 1 2 "Coventry Bees 1998 season" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  6. ↑ "Screen provides the chief thrills" . Manchester Evening News. 12 October 1998. Retrieved 8 June 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
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