2002 Elite League speedway season

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2002 Elite League speedway season
League Sky Sports Elite League
Champions Wolverhampton Wolves
Knockout Cup Eastbourne Eagles
Craven Shield Poole Pirates
Riders Championship Tony Rickardsson
Highest average Tony Rickardsson
Division/s below Premier League
Conference League

The 2002 Elite League speedway season was the 68th season of the top division of speedway in the United Kingdom and in 2002 was governed by the Speedway Control Board (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA). [1] It was the first time that playoffs were introduced to determine the champions. [2]

Contents

Season summary

In 2002, the league consisted of nine teams. The title was decided by a play-off between the top five teams. The team that finished top of the table were seeded directly to the final. The next four met in quarter and semi final rounds. The winner of these rounds qualified for the final. [3]

Eastbourne Eagles topped the regular season table but were defeated by Wolverhampton Wolves for the league title when losing the play off final. It was Wolves third title success in 11 years and the Swedish Karlsson brothers, Peter Karlsson and Mikael Karlsson were once again integral to the Wolves team throughout the season. [4] Eastbourne's season was not a total loss because they beat Peterborough in the final of the Knockout Cup thanks to efforts from their English rider contingent of Mark Loram, Joe Screen and Dean Barker.

Tony Rickardsson became World Champion for the fifth time during the season, topped the league averages, won the Elite League Riders' Championship and helped his club Poole win the Craven Shield. [5]

Final table

PosMWDLFAPtsBonTot
1 Eastbourne Eagles 32203915621316431558
2 Wolverhampton Wolves 322021015491311421254
3 Coventry Bees 32193101492138341950
4 Poole Pirates 321711414551406351146
5 Peterborough Panthers 31150161394139530636
6 Oxford Cheetahs 31142151369140730535
7 Ipswich Witches 32113181375149425631
8 Belle Vue Aces 32113181379148425429
9 King's Lynn Silver Machine 3271241247162615318

Peterborough v Oxford not held.

= Qualified for Play Off final
= Qualified for Play Offs

Play-offs

Quarter-final and Semi-final decided over one leg. Grand Final decided by aggregate scores over two legs.

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

First leg

Second leg

The Wolverhampton Wolves were declared League Champions, winning on aggregate 93-87.

Elite League Knockout Cup

The 2002 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 64th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Eastbourne Eagles were the winners of the competition. [6]

First round

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
08/04Wolverhampton57-33Poole
03/04Poole45-45Wolverhampton

Quarter-finals

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
27/05Reading47-43Arena Essex
29/04Wolverhampton61-29Oxford
27/04Coventry36-35Kings Lynn
26/04Oxford45-45Wolverhampton
24/04Kings Lynn42-48Coventry
22/04Belle Vue51-39Peterborough
20/04Eastbourne54-36Ipswich
19/04Peterborough59-31Belle Vue
18/04Ipswich39-51Eastbourne

Semi-finals

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
01/07Wolverhampton40-49Eastbourne
29/06Coventry49-41Peterborough
29/06Eastbourne52-38Wolverhampton
28/06Peterborough50-40Coventry

Final

First leg

Second leg

The Eastbourne Eagles were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 94-86.

Riders' Championship

Tony Rickardsson won the Riders' Championship for the second time. The final was held at Wimborne Road on 21 August. [7]

Pos.RiderPtsTotalSFFinal
1 Flag of Sweden.svg Tony Rickardsson 1 3 3 3 313x3
2 Flag of Denmark.svg Nicki Pedersen 3 3 3 3 214x2
3 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jason Crump 3 3 3 1 01021
4 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Craig Boyce 1 2 3 2 31130
5 Flag of Sweden.svg Mikael Karlsson 3 3 2 3 1121
6 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ryan Sullivan 3 2 1 3 3120
7 Flag of Sweden.svg Peter Karlsson 2 2 2 2 210
8 Flag of England.svg Joe Screen 2 2 1 2 07
9 Flag of England.svg Scott Nicholls 2 1 0 1 37
10 Flag of Poland.svg Sebastian Ułamek 1 1 0 2 26
11 Flag of England.svg Stuart Robson 1 0 1 1 25
12 Flag of England.svg Mark Loram 2 0 2 0 15
13 Flag of England.svg Gary Havelock 0 0 2 1 14
14 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Davey Watt 0 1 1 0 13
15 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jason Lyons 0 1 01
16 Flag of England.svg Alun Rossiter 0 0 0 0 00

Leading final averages

RiderTeamAverage
Flag of Sweden.svg Tony Rickardsson Poole10.88
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jason Crump Belle Vue10.44
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ryan Sullivan Peterborough10.34
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Leigh Adams Oxford10.10
Flag of Sweden.svg Mikael Karlsson Wolverhampton9.93
Flag of England.svg Scott Nicholls Ipswich9.76
Flag of England.svg Mark Loram Eastbourne9.56
Flag of Sweden.svg Andreas Jonsson Coventry9.39
Flag of Sweden.svg Peter Karlsson Wolverhampton9.23
Flag of England.svg Lee Richardson Coventry8.97

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Coventry

Eastbourne

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Oxford

Peterborough

Poole

Wolverhampton

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ↑ "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  3. ↑ "2002 league tables". Speedway GB.
  4. ↑ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  5. ↑ "Tony Rickardsson". wwosbackup. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  6. ↑ "2002 Elite League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  7. ↑ "Rickardsson roars to create Poole history". Dorest Echo. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
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