2012 Elite League speedway season

Summary

The Poole Pirates were the defending champions after winning in 2011. Poole nearly repeated the success of the previous season but fell just short. They topped the regular season table for the third year running and won the Knockout Cup for the third year running but lost in the play off final to Swindon Robins. Darcy Ward and Chris Holder were exceptional for the Pirates again but Swindon's triumph (their first since 1967) was put down to a group of riders all maintaining consistent scores. They were Danes Hans Andersen and Peter Kildemand, Australians Troy Batchelor, Nick Morris and Jason Doyle (the latter recruited from Poole) and Sheffield born Simon Stead.

Lakeside Hammers and British speedway was rocked by the news that one of their leading riders Lee Richardson had been killed in a race at the Olympic Stadium in Wrocław, Poland on 13 May. The Hammers did well to finish in a play off place without their main heat leader. Richardson was the 1999 World Under-21 champion and a leading British international. Richardson died of injuries he suffered after touching the wheels of the rider just in front and being thrown into the fence. In recent years fatal accidents had become less frequent and this accident highlighted the dangers still involved in the sport. In part the accident was the catalyst for the decision to make air fences mandatory at tracks the following season.

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 Andersen 11 Kildemand 10 Alden 8 Stead 8 Morris 6 Batchelor 5 Lampart 3 Ward 15 Holder 13 Kasprzak 10 Masters 3 Kling 2 Howarth 1

Second leg Kasprzak 16 Holder 12 Harris 8 Eklof 5 Kling 3 Lindgren 1 Kildemand 11 Andersen 8 Stead 8 Batchelor 7 Alden 5 Morris 5 Lampart 0

The Swindon Robins were declared Elite League Champions, winning on aggregate 95-89.

Elite League Knockout Cup

The 2012 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 74th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Poole Pirates were the winners of the competition for the third consecutive year. The Knockout Cup was then suspended for four years until it was held again under the new name 2017 SGB Premiership Team KO Cup.

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Nicholls 10 Szczepaniak 7 Summers 6 Kennett 5 Larsen 4 Hall 3 Harris 3 Iversen 15 Schlein 11 Kasprzak 9 Masters 9 Lindgren 7 Eklof 1

Kasprzak 14 Iversen 13 Schlein 10 Howarth 7 Risager 4 Lindgren 2 Szczepaniak 13 Nicholls 11 Harris 6 Kennett 5 Summers 2 Larsen 2 Johnson 1

The Poole Pirates were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 102-78.

Riders' Championship

Chris Holder won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Abbey Stadium on 20 October.

• f=fell, exc=excluded, ret=retired

Leading averages

Riders & averages

Belle Vue

• 7.59
• 7.51
• 7.49
• 5.68
• 5.47
• 5.18
• 5.09
• 4.88
• 4.87
• 2.97

Birmingham

• 7.84
• 7.68
• 7.29
• 7.18
• 6.63
• 6.26
• 4.63
• 2.06

Coventry

• 8.59
• 8.54
• 7.19
• 6.87
• 6.27
• 6.03
• 5.42
• 4.61
• 4.60
• 4.00

Eastbourne

• 8.00
• 7.29
• 7.09
• 6.95
• 6.59
• 6.51
• 5.58

King's Lynn

• 9.51
• 7.24
• 6.97
• 6.79
• 6.23
• 6.05
• 5.96
• 5.76
• 5.68

Lakeside

• 8.76
• 8.74
• 8.33
• 6.94
• 6.21
• 5.89
• 5.67
• 5.12
• 5.12
• 4.00

Peterborough

• 8.55
• 8.29
• 7.42
• 7.19
• 7.18
• 5.42
• 5.16
• 4.21

Poole

• 10.90
• 10.31
• 10.18
• 8.08
• 6.58
• 4.34
• 4.29
• 4.25
• 3.87
• 3.62
• 3.17

Swindon

• 8.95
• 8.41
• 7.97
• 7.89
• 7.13
• 6.79
• 6.42
• 5.83
• 5.52

Wolverhampton

• 9.09
• 9.08
• 7.04
• 6.34
• 6.28
• 5.83
• 3.66
• 2.64
• 1.27

References

References

1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
2. "2012 league tables". Speedway GB.
3. "Speedway riders, history and results".
4. "Speedway's Lee Richardson 'aware of the danger'".
5. "Speedway clubs face air safety fence cash worry".
6. "2012 fixtures & results". British Speedway.
7. "2012 fixtures & results". British Speedway.
8. "SWINDON: ROBINS 51 POOLE 44 (EL GRAND FINAL.1)".
9. "SWINDON: POOLE 45 ROBINS 44 (EL GRAND FINAL.2) - SWINDON ARE CHAMPIONS!".
10. "2012 Elite League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
11. "COVENTRY: BEES 38 POOLE 52 (KOC FINAL.1)".
12. "COVENTRY: POOLE 50 BEES 40 (KOC FINAL.2)".
13. "Elite League Riders' Championship".
14. "ELITE LEAGUE RIDERS' CHAMPIONSHIP".