2011 Elite League speedway season

Summary

It was a great season for the Poole Pirates, who won the Elite League, the Pairs Championship and the Knockout Cup. Claiming a clean sweep of honours. Throughout the 2010 season, it was rumoured that the Ipswich Witches would prefer to compete in the Premier League from 2011 onwards. Although they survived the promotion/relegation battle with the Newcastle Diamonds, it was decided that they would swap divisions with the Birmingham Brummies. On 27 November 2010, The BSPA announced that both Coventry Bees and Peterborough Panthers would not be riding in the top flight after they failed to declare their intent to compete in the 2011 competition. This then led to the King's Lynn Stars being promoted from the Premier League due to the Elite League needing a minimum of 8 teams. On 15 March 2011 it was announced that both the Coventry Bees and Peterborough Panthers would be part of the 2011 Elite League after all.{{cite news| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/9425796.stm

Poole Pirates made up for the previous season's disappointment by winning the league and cup double. The Australian quartet of Darcy Ward, Chris Holder, Davey Watt and Jason Doyle were supported well by Swedes Thomas H. Jonasson and Dennis Andersson as the Poole team deservedly won the title after finishing top of the regular season table for the second consecutive year. The Australian domination also extended to the league averages, which were topped by Chris Holder and the Elite League Riders' Championship won by Rory Schlein of Belle Vue.

League table

Home: 3W = Home win by 7 points or more; 2W = Home win by between 1 and 6 points

Away: 4W = Away win by 7 points or more; 3W = Away win by between 1 and 6 points; 1L = Away loss by 6 points or less

M = Meetings; D = Draws; L = Losses; F = Race points for; A = Race points against; +/- = Race points difference; Pts = Total Points

'A' Fixtures

'B' Fixtures

Championship play-offs

Semi-finals

Leg 1

Leg 2

Grand final

First leg Cameron Woodward 14 Bjarne Pedersen 9 Simon Gustafsson 8 Joonas Kylmäkorpi 8 Lewis Bridger 5 Timo Lahti 5 Chris Holder 12 Darcy Ward 10 Davey Watt 9 Kevin Wölbert 5 Dennis Andersson 3 Ricky Wells 2 Thomas H. Jonasson 0 Second leg Darcy Ward 14 Chris Holder 11 Thomas H. Jonasson 11 Davey Watt 6 Kevin Wölbert 5 Dennis Andersson 5 Ricky Wells 5 EASTBOURNE: POOLE 57 EAGLES 36 (EL GRAND FINAL, 2ND LEG)|website=Speedway GB|access-date=20 June 2021}} Cameron Woodward 14 Simon Gustafsson 8 Joonas Kylmäkorpi 5 Lewis Bridger 4 Bjarne Pedersen 4 Timo Lahti 1

Poole Pirates were declared Elite League Champions, on winning on aggregate 98-85.

Elite League Knockout Cup

The 2011 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 73rd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Poole Pirates were the winners of the competition for the second successive year.

First round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

First leg Rory Schlein 12 Chris Harris 9 Ricky Kling 8 Charlie Gjedde 7 Patrick Hougaard 4 Craig Cook 4 Linus Eklöf 3 Kevin Wölbert 13 Darcy Ward 10 Chris Holder 9 Dennis Andersson 7 Davey Watt 4 Ricky Wells 2 Second leg Chris Holder 13 Dennis Andersson 13 Darcy Ward 12 Kevin Wölbert 9 Davey Watt 7 Ricky Wells 3 Rory Schlein 11 Chris Harris 8 Charlie Gjedde 6 Ricky Kling 6 Patrick Hougaard 4 Linus Eklöf 4 Craig Cook 0

The Poole Pirates were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 102-86.

Riders' Championship

Rory Schlein won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Abbey Stadium on 15 October.

• f=fell, exc=excluded, ret=retired

Pairs

The Elite League Pairs Championship was held at the King's Lynn Stadium on 27 April and was won by Poole Pirates.

Semi finals

• Belle Vue 5 Peterborough 4 - Pedersen, Harris, Schlein, Batchelor
• Poole 5 Wolves 4 - Lindgren, Ward, Holder, Proctor

Final

• Poole 7 Belle Vue 2 - Ward, Holder, Harris, Schlein

Leading averages

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

• 9.10
• 8.56
• 7.70
• 6.48
• 5.70
• 5.60
• 5.22
• 4.65
• 4.48
• 3.30
• 2.00

Birmingham

• 7.65
• 7.46
• 6.84
• 6.52
• 6.16
• 5.73
• 5.39
• 5.33
• 5.10

Coventry

• 8.77
• 8.28
• 7.96
• 6.95
• 6.76
• 6.06
• 5.57
• 4.21
• 3.88

Eastbourne

• 8.61
• 7.92
• 7.75
• 7.69
• 7.22
• 7.19
• 3.06

King's Lynn

• 9.22
• 8.03
• 7.88
• 7.30
• 6.11
• 4.48
• 4.04
• 4.00

Lakeside

• 8.46
• 7.52
• 7.48
• 7.26
• 6.99
• 6.52
• 6.35
• 6.02
• 5.67
• 4.21

Peterborough

• 9.20
• 8.84
• 7.83
• 6.82
• 6.02
• 4.47
• 4.00
• 3.87

Poole

• 10.05
• 9.99
• 7.93
• 7.14
• 6.41
• 6.23
• 6.10
• 5.62
• 4.84
• 1.74

Swindon

• 7.78
• 7.02
• 6.86
• 6.72
• 6.19
• 4.89
• 3.63
• 2.83

Wolverhampton

• 9.66
• 8.78
• 8.34
• 5.76
• 4.56
• 4.43

References

References

1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
2. "2011 league tables". Speedway GB.
3. (2010-11-21). "British Speedway AGM - Key Points". [[BSPA]].
4. (2010-11-27). "British Speedway Statement". [[BSPA]].
5. (2010-11-29). "Kings Lynn Join The Elite". [[BSPA]].
6. "Speedway riders, history and results".
7. "2011 fixtures & results". British Speedway.
8. "2011 fixtures & results". British Speedway.
9. "POOLE: EASTBOURNE 49 PIRATES 41 (EL GRAND FINAL, 1ST LEG)".
10. "2011 Elite League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
11. "POOLE: BELLE VUE 47 PIRATES 45 (KOC FINAL, 1ST LEG)".
12. "POOLE: PIRATES 57 BELLE VUE 39 (KOC FINAL, 2ND LEG)".
13. "Elite League Riders' Championship".
14. "SCHLEIN WINS ELRC".
15. "2011 Elite League Pairs".