2003 Elite League speedway season

Season summary

In 2003, the league decreased to eight teams, after the King's Lynn dropped to the Premier League and reverted back to their traditional name of Stars. They also lost the promotion of Nigel Wagstaff, who took over at Oxford, which resulted in he name Cheetahs replaced with the Silver Machine name from King's Lynn. King's Lynn's leading riders Nicki Pedersen and Sebastian Ułamek also switched to Oxford. Freddie Eriksson went to Ipswich. Oxford also brought in former World Champion Greg Hancock from Coventry but lost Leigh Adams and Lukáš Dryml to Poole.

Poole's decision to recruit Adams and Dryml was instrumental because they went on to claim the title. Adams finished top of the league averages and he was backed up by their five time World Champion Tony Rickardsson and the vastly improved form of Magnus Zetterström. Poole went on to complete the double by winning the Knockout Cup.

League

Final table

'A' Fixtures

'B' Fixtures

Play-offs

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

Semi-finals

• Poole Pirates 48-42 Oxford Silver Machine
• Coventry Bees 60-30 Peterborough Panthers

Final

First leg Andreas Jonsson 15 Lee Richardson 7 Jason Bunyan 7 Billy Hamill 6 Billy Janniro 4 Robson 4 Ryan Fisher 1 Tony Rickardsson 11 Todd Wiltshire 9 Leigh Adams 7 Bjarne Pedersen 6 Aleš Dryml Jr. 4 Davey Watt 4 Antonio Lindbäck 4

Second leg Aleš Dryml Jr. 14 Tony Rickardsson 13 Leigh Adams 11 Mark Loram 8 Bjarne Pedersen 5 Antonio Lindbäck 4 Davey Watt 0 Andreas Jonsson 13 Ryan Fisher 6 Billy Janniro 6 Lee Richardson 4 Joe Screen 3 Robson 2 Jason Bunyan 1

The Poole Pirates were declared League Champions, winning on aggregate 100-79.

Elite League Knockout Cup

The 2003 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 65th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Poole Pirates were the winners of the competition.

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

First leg Tony Rickardsson 13 Leigh Adams 12 Mark Loram 8 Aleš Dryml Jr. 5 Bjarne Pedersen 3 Garry Stead 3 Antonio Lindbäck 2 Billy Janniro 14 Lee Richardson 10 Ryan Fisher 8 Andreas Jonsson 7 Jason Bunyan 2 Stuart Robson 1 Billy Hamill R/R

Second leg Andreas Jonsson 12 Ryan Fisher 10 Lee Richardson 7 Mikael Max (guest) 7 Billy Janniro 7 Jason Bunyan 2 Stuart Robson 1 Leigh Adams 12 Tony Rickardsson 12 Bjarne Pedersen 8 Mark Loram 6 Garry Stead 3 Aleš Dryml Jr. 2 Antonio Lindbäck 1

The Poole Pirates were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 90-88.

British League Cup

Th British League Cup (BL Cup for short) was the supplementary competition for both the Elite League and Premier League for the 2003 season.

Group A

Group B

• Arena Essex had not completed their fixtures at the time of the quarter-final draw, which led to Rye House progressing from the group. Group C

Group D

Group E

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Riders' Championship

Lee Richardson won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Brandon Stadium on 18 October.

• r-retired

Leading final averages

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

• 10.79
• 8.24
• 7.93
• 6.78
• 6.52
• 6.21
• 5.23
• 5.15
• 4.79
• 4.78
• 4.31
• 2.67
• 2.46

Coventry

• 9.23
• 8.78
• 8.49
• 7.72
• 6.84
• 5.97
• 3.71
• 3.27
• 2.82

Eastbourne

• 8.48
• 8.08
• 8.05
• 7.83
• 7.81
• 7.44
• 7.36
• 5.89
• 5.70
• 5.08
• 4.00
• 4.00
• 2.67

Ipswich

• 9.41
• 6.53
• 6.46
• 5.93
• 5.93
• 5.91
• 5.60
• 5.47
• 4.83
• 4.70
• 4.07
• 4.00

Oxford

• 9.33
• 9.28
• 8.64
• 7.82
• 7.81
• 6.52
• 6.43
• 6.37
• 6.30
• 5.57
• 4.84
• 4.77
• 4.46
• 2.72

Peterborough

• 9.23
• 8.76
• 7.28
• 7.22
• 6.97
• 6.93
• 6.23
• 5.86

Poole

• 10.14
• 10.07
• 9.64
• 8.52
• 7.66
• 7.20
• 7.06
• 6.48
• 6.10
• 5.83
• 4.55
• 4.33

Wolverhampton

• 9.28
• 9.10
• 7.45
• 7.40
• 7.02
• 7.01
• 6.57
• 6.00
• 5.80
• 5.67
• 4.88
• 2.95

References

References

1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
2. "2003 league tables". Speedway GB.
3. "HISTORY ARCHIVE".
4. Bamford/Shailes, Robert/Glynn. (2007). "The Story of Oxford Speedway". Tempus Publishing Ltd.
5. "Speedway riders, history and results".
6. "DRYML BOYS PLAY PART IN 2003 TITLE SUCCESS".
7. "2003 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher.
8. "2003 Elite League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
9. (14 January 2003). "Sudden Sam is back at Wolves".
10. "2003 fixtures and results". Speedway Researcher.
11. "2003 fixtures and results". Speedway Researcher.
12. "2003 fixtures and results". Speedway Researcher.
13. "2003 fixtures and results". Speedway Researcher.
14. "2003 fixtures and results". Speedway Researcher.
15. "Richardson claims ELRC".