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2002 Elite League speedway season
British motorcycle speedway season
British motorcycle speedway season
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| competition | Sky Sports Elite League |
| domesticcup1 | Champions |
| domesticcup1 winners | Wolverhampton Wolves |
| domesticcup2 | Knockout Cup |
| domesticcup2 winners | Eastbourne Eagles |
| domesticcup3 | Craven Shield |
| domesticcup3 winners | Poole Pirates |
| domesticcup4 | Riders Championship |
| domesticcup4 winners | Tony Rickardsson |
| highest average | Tony Rickardsson |
| leagues below | Premier League |
| Conference League | |
| prevseason | 2001 |
| nextseason | 2003 |
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). It was the first time that playoffs were introduced to determine the champions.
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.
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. 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.
League
Final table
| 9 | King's Lynn Silver Machine | 32 | 7 | 1 | 24 | 1247 | 1626 | 15 | 3 | 18 |
|---|
Peterborough v Oxford not held.
| = Qualified for Play Offs |
|---|
'A' Fixtures
'B' Fixtures
Play-offs
Quarter-final and Semi-final decided over one leg. Grand Final decided by aggregate scores over two legs.
Quarter-finals
- Wolverhampton Wolves 50-39 Peterborough Panthers
- Coventry Bees 59-31 Poole Pirates
Semi-finals
- Wolverhampton Wolves 51-39 Coventry Bees
Final
First leg Mikael Karlsson 13 Peter Karlsson 12 Paul Hurry 9 Jesper B. Jensen 5 David Howe 5 Chris Neath 3 Adam Skórnicki 2 Mark Loram 10 Stefan Andersson 10 Joe Screen 9 David Norris 8 Dean Barker 2 Savalas Clouting 2 Adam Shields 0
Second leg Mark Loram 12 Billy Janniro 12 Dean Barker 6 Stefan Andersson 5 Joe Screen 5 David Norris 4 Edward Kennett 2 Mikael Karlsson 14 Peter Karlsson 10 David Howe 8 Adam Skórnicki 6 Jesper B. Jensen 3 Chris Neath 3 Paul Hurry 0
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.
First round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 08/04 | Wolverhampton | 57-33 | Poole |
| 03/04 | Poole | 45-45 | Wolverhampton |
Quarter-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27/05 | Reading | 47-43 | Arena Essex |
| 29/04 | Wolverhampton | 61-29 | Oxford |
| 27/04 | Coventry | 36-35 | Kings Lynn |
| 26/04 | Oxford | 45-45 | Wolverhampton |
| 24/04 | Kings Lynn | 42-48 | Coventry |
| 22/04 | Belle Vue | 51-39 | Peterborough |
| 20/04 | Eastbourne | 54-36 | Ipswich |
| 19/04 | Peterborough | 59-31 | Belle Vue |
| 18/04 | Ipswich | 39-51 | Eastbourne |
Semi-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01/07 | Wolverhampton | 40-49 | Eastbourne |
| 29/06 | Coventry | 49-41 | Peterborough |
| 29/06 | Eastbourne | 52-38 | Wolverhampton |
| 28/06 | Peterborough | 50-40 | Coventry |
Final
First leg David Norris 14 Mark Loram 14 Dean Barker 8 Adam Shields 7 Stefan Andersson 6 Joe Screen 5 Savalas Clouting 1 Lee Richardson (guest) 13 Mark Lemon (guest) 9 Zdeněk Tesař 9 Shane Parker 3 Chris Harris 1 Jason King 0 R/R
Second leg Ryan Sullivan 15 Shane Parker 10 Magnus Zetterström 8 Chris Harris 6 Piotr Protasiewicz 6 Simon Stead 5 Zdeněk Tesař 1 Mark Loram 9 Joe Screen 9 Dean Barker 9 Steve Johnston 7 Adam Shields 3 Stefan Andersson 2 Paul Lee 0
The Eastbourne Eagles were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 94-86.
Craven Shield
Anglia
| 3 | King's Lynn | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
|---|
Midland
| 3 | Wolverhampton | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
|---|
South
| 3 | Oxford | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
|---|
Final
| Leg | Team one | Team two | Team three | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poole | Coventry | Ipswich | 44–32–32 |
| 2 | Ipswich | Coventry | Poole | 45–33–30 |
| 3 | Coventry | Poole | Ipswich | 36–40–32 |
Riders' Championship
Tony Rickardsson won the Riders' Championship for the second time. The final was held at Wimborne Road on 21 August.
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Leading final averages
| Rider | Team | Average |
|---|---|---|
| SWE Tony Rickardsson | Poole | 10.88 |
| AUS Jason Crump | Belle Vue | 10.44 |
| AUS Ryan Sullivan | Peterborough | 10.34 |
| AUS Leigh Adams | Oxford | 10.10 |
| SWE Mikael Karlsson | Wolverhampton | 9.93 |
| ENG Scott Nicholls | Ipswich | 9.76 |
| ENG Mark Loram | Eastbourne | 9.56 |
| SWE Andreas Jonsson | Coventry | 9.39 |
| SWE Peter Karlsson | Wolverhampton | 9.23 |
| ENG Lee Richardson | Coventry | 8.97 |
Riders & final averages
Belle Vue
- 10.44
- 8.41
- 6.89
- 6.38
- 5.67
- 4.71
- 4.57
- 3.95
- 2.38
- 1.24
- 1.10
Coventry
- 9.39
- 8.97
- 8.72
- 6.87
- 5.82
- 5.81
- 5.28
- 1.52
Eastbourne
- 9.56
- 8.46
- 7.81
- 7.21
- 7.17
- 6.54
- 5.88
- 4.14
Ipswich
- 9.76
- 7.91
- 7.15
- 6.51
- 5.95
- 5.10
- 4.95
- 4.76
- 4.00
- 3.52
King's Lynn
- 8.47
- 7.26
- 6.33
- 5.53
- 5.23
- 4.27
- 4.21
- 3.58
- 3.40
Oxford
- 10.10
- 6.83
- 6.29
- 5.56
- 5.50
- 4.92
- 4.00
- 2.90
- 2.67
- 2.07
Peterborough
- 10.34
- 6.98
- 6.88
- 6.54
- 6.47
- 6.13
- 5.87
- 5.00
- 3.75
- 3.08
Poole
- 10.88
- 6.82
- 6.70
- 6.56
- 6.32
- 6.20
- 6.00
- 5.41
- 4.43
- 4.34
- 3.88
Wolverhampton
- 9.93
- 9.23
- 7.32
- 7.27
- 6.80
- 6.67
- 5.81
- 4.08
- 1.56
References
References
- "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
- "HISTORY ARCHIVE".
- "2002 league tables". Speedway GB.
- "Speedway riders, history and results".
- "Tony Rickardsson".
- "2002 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher.
- (26 September 2002). "Speedway".
- "2002 Elite League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
- "2002 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher.
- "2002 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher.
- "2002 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher.
- "Rickardsson roars to create Poole history".
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