2006 Elite League speedway season
The 2006 Elite League speedway season was the 72nd season of the top division of speedway in the United Kingdom and governed by the Speedway Control Board (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).[1][2]
| League | Sky Sports Elite League | 
|---|---|
| Champions | Peterborough Panthers | 
| Knockout Cup | Coventry Bees | 
| Craven Shield | Poole Pirates | 
| Elite Shield | Coventry Bees | 
| Individual | Jason Crump | 
| Pairs | Belle Vue Aces | 
| Highest average | Jason Crump | 
| Division/s below | Premier League Conference League | 
Season summary
    
In 2006, the league consisted of eleven teams, after the newly named Reading Bulldogs, moved up from the Premier League. The Championship was won by the Peterborough Panthers by a single race point in the play-off final.[3]
Peterborough and Reading battled each other throughout the season finishing level on points in the regular season table before Peterborough edged Reading in the Play off final. Peterborough had a strong all round squad and included Danish trio of Hans Andersen, Jesper Jensen and Niels Kristian Iversen, in addition to Australian Ryan Sullivan.[4] Reading who had come up from the division below had recruited Greg Hancock as their main heat leader who finished 7th in the league averages which were headed once again by Australian stars Jason Crump and Leigh Adams.
Final table
    
| Home | Away | Bonus | ||||||||||||
| Pos | Team | M | W | D | L | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | W | L | Tot | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peterborough Panthers | 40 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 1942 | 1731 | 48 | 16 | 4 | 64 | 
| 2 | Reading Bulldogs | 40 | 16 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 10 | 1934 | 1756 | 51 | 13 | 7 | 64 | 
| 3 | Swindon Robins | 40 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 1893 | 1786 | 47 | 14 | 6 | 61 | 
| 4 | Coventry Bees | 40 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 15 | 1856 | 1835 | 47 | 11 | 9 | 58 | 
| 5 | Belle Vue Aces | 40 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 1880 | 1761 | 42 | 15 | 5 | 57 | 
| 6 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 40 | 16 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 1827 | 1840 | 42 | 10 | 10 | 52 | 
| 7 | Poole Pirates | 40 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 1880 | 1806 | 38 | 13 | 6 | 51 | 
| 8 | Ipswich Witches | 40 | 17 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 1847 | 1837 | 38 | 8 | 12 | 46 | 
| 9 | Eastbourne Eagles | 40 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 1791 | 1860 | 41 | 5 | 15 | 46 | 
| 10 | Oxford Cheetahs | 40 | 11 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 1696 | 1989 | 24 | 2 | 18 | 26 | 
| 11 | Arena Essex Hammers | 40 | 11 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1658 | 2003 | 22 | 3 | 17 | 25 | 
| = Qualified for Play Off finals | 
Play-offs
    
Semi-final decided over one leg. Grand Final decided by aggregate scores over two legs.
Semi-finals
Final
First leg
Second leg
The Peterborough Panthers were declared League Champions, winning on aggregate 95-94.
Elite League Knockout Cup
    

The 2006 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 68th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Coventry Bees were the winners of the competition.[5]
First round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two | 
|---|---|---|---|
| 13/04 | Swindon | 40-50 | Reading | 
| 10/04 | Reading | 47-43 | Swindon | 
| 06/04 | Peterborough | 57-37 | Arena Essex | 
| 03/04 | Wolverhampton | 54-40 | Oxford | 
| 31/03 | Arena Essex | 59-35 | Peterborough | 
| 29/03 | Oxford | 43-47 | Wolverhampton | 
Quarter-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two | 
|---|---|---|---|
| 10/07 | Belle Vue | 56-38 | Arena Essex | 
| 07/07 | Arena Essex | 44-46 | Belle Vue | 
| 07/07 | Coventry | 56-40 | Ipswich | 
| 07/07 | Reading | 51-42 | Poole | 
| 05/07 | Poole | 58-34 | Reading | 
| 03/07 | Wolverhampton | 41-51 | Eastbourne | 
| 01/07 | Eastbourne | 55-38 | Wolverhampton | 
| 01/06 | Ipswich | 48-42 | Coventry | 
Semi-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two | 
|---|---|---|---|
| 29/09 | Coventry | 61-31 | Eastbourne | 
| 28/09 | Poole | 43-34 | Belle Vue | 
| 16/09 | Eastbourne | 46-44 | Coventry | 
| 11/09 | Belle Vue | 53-41 | Poole | 
Final
    
First leg
Second leg
The Coventry Bees were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 101-85.
Riders' Championship
    
Jason Crump won the Riders' Championship for the third time. The final was held at Wimborne Road on 1 October.[6]
| Pos. | Rider | Pts | Total | SF | Final | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | .svg.png.webp) Jason Crump | 3 3 3 3 3 | 15 | x | 3 | 
| 2 |  Nicki Pedersen | 3 2 3 3 2 | 13 | x | 2 | 
| 3 |  Greg Hancock | 2 2 3 2 3 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 
| 4 |  Scott Nicholls | 2 3 1 2 2 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 
| 5 |  Hans Andersen | 1 1 3 1 3 | 9 | 1 | |
| 6 | .svg.png.webp) Todd Wiltshire | 3 0 2 2 2 | 9 | 0 | |
| 7 | .svg.png.webp) Leigh Adams | 0 3 2 3 0 | 8 | ||
| 8 |  Billy Hamill | 1 2 1 1 3 | 8 | ||
| 9 | .svg.png.webp) Rory Schlein | 2 2 1 1 1 | 7 | ||
| 10 | .svg.png.webp) Adam Shields | 1 1 2 2 1 | 7 | ||
| 11 | .svg.png.webp) Craig Boyce | 0 0 0 3 2 | 5 | ||
| 12 |  Krzysztof Kasprzak | 0 3 1 - - | 4 | ||
| 13 |  Simon Stead | 3 0 0 0 1 | 4 | ||
| 14 |  Jesper B. Monberg | 0 1 2 1 0 | 4 | ||
| 15 |  Mark Loram | 2 1 - - - | 3 | ||
| 16 |  Mikael Max | 1 0 0 0 1 | 2 | ||
| 17 |  Matt Bates (res) | 0 0 0 0 | 0 | 
Pairs
    
The Elite League Pairs Championship was held at the Abbey Stadium on 4 June and was won by Belle Vue Aces.[7]
| 
 | 
 
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Final
- Swindon 5 Belle Vue 4 - Adams, Crump, Stead, Ulamek
Leading averages
    
| Rider | Team | Average | 
|---|---|---|
| .svg.png.webp) Jason Crump | Belle Vue | 11.21 | 
| .svg.png.webp) Leigh Adams | Swindon | 10.47 | 
|  Hans Andersen | Peterborough | 10.40 | 
|  Peter Karlsson | Wolverhampton | 9.94 | 
|  Nicki Pedersen | Eastbourne | 9.92 | 
|  Bjarne Pedersen | Poole | 9.39 | 
|  Greg Hancock | Reading | 9.28 | 
|  Scott Nicholls | Coventry | 9.05 | 
|  Mark Loram | Ipswich | 8.92 | 
|  Jesper B Jensen | Peterborough | 8.76 | 
Riders & final averages
    
Arena Essex
-   Joonas Kylmäkorpi 8.08 Joonas Kylmäkorpi 8.08
-   Andreas Jonsson 7.78 Andreas Jonsson 7.78
-   Mikael Max 6.87 Mikael Max 6.87
-   Leigh Lanham 6.70 Leigh Lanham 6.70
-  .svg.png.webp) Steve Johnston 6.53 Steve Johnston 6.53
-   Paul Hurry 6.48 Paul Hurry 6.48
-   Henning Bager 6.41 Henning Bager 6.41
-   Brent Werner 3.77 Brent Werner 3.77
-   Mariusz Puszakowski 3.68 Mariusz Puszakowski 3.68
-   Andreas Messing 2.88 Andreas Messing 2.88
-   Łukasz Romanek 1.40 Łukasz Romanek 1.40
Belle Vue
-  .svg.png.webp) Jason Crump 11.21 Jason Crump 11.21
-   Simon Stead 8.08 Simon Stead 8.08
-   Joe Screen 7.75 Joe Screen 7.75
-   Kenneth Bjerre 7.51 Kenneth Bjerre 7.51
-   James Wright	4.89 James Wright	4.89
-   Phil Morris 4.26 Phil Morris 4.26
-   Tom P. Madsen 3.61 Tom P. Madsen 3.61
-  .svg.png.webp) Joel Parsons 1.90 Joel Parsons 1.90
Coventry
-   Scott Nicholls 9.05 Scott Nicholls 9.05
-  .svg.png.webp) Rory Schlein 7.93 Rory Schlein 7.93
-   Chris Harris 7.84 Chris Harris 7.84
-   Jacek Rempala 7.13 Jacek Rempala 7.13
-   Billy Janniro 6.59 Billy Janniro 6.59
-   Martin Smolinski 6.16 Martin Smolinski 6.16
-   Oliver Allen 5.83 Oliver Allen 5.83
-  .svg.png.webp) Troy Batchelor 5.54 Troy Batchelor 5.54
-   Morten Risager 4.54 Morten Risager 4.54
Eastbourne
-   Nicki Pedersen 9.92 Nicki Pedersen 9.92
-  .svg.png.webp) Adam Shields 7.79 Adam Shields 7.79
-   David Norris 7.66 David Norris 7.66
-   Dean Barker 7.14 Dean Barker 7.14
-   Edward Kennett 5.29 Edward Kennett 5.29
-  .svg.png.webp) Kevin Doolan 5.04 Kevin Doolan 5.04
-   Lewis Bridger 4.88 Lewis Bridger 4.88
-   Andrew Moore 4.06 Andrew Moore 4.06
-   Andrew Appleton 4.00 Andrew Appleton 4.00
-  .svg.png.webp) Cameron Woodward 3.42 Cameron Woodward 3.42
Ipswich
-   Mark Loram 8.92 Mark Loram 8.92
-   Piotr Protasiewicz 8.10 Piotr Protasiewicz 8.10
-   Chris Louis 8.02 Chris Louis 8.02
-   Kim Jansson 6.50 Kim Jansson 6.50
-   Robert Miśkowiak 6.47 Robert Miśkowiak 6.47
-   Danny King 5.58 Danny King 5.58
-   Carl Wilkinson 4.09 Carl Wilkinson 4.09
-   Tobias Kroner 3.62 Tobias Kroner 3.62
-   Jan Jaroš 2.99 Jan Jaroš 2.99
Oxford
-   Tony Rickardsson 9.76 (7 matches only) Tony Rickardsson 9.76 (7 matches only)
-  .svg.png.webp) Todd Wiltshire 7.98 Todd Wiltshire 7.98
-  .svg.png.webp) Davey Watt 6.97 Davey Watt 6.97
-   Adam Skórnicki 6.61 Adam Skórnicki 6.61
-   David Howe 6.27 David Howe 6.27
-   Eric Andersson 5.10 Eric Andersson 5.10
-   Stanisław Burza 4.15 Stanisław Burza 4.15
-   Luboš Tomíček Jr. 4.12 Luboš Tomíček Jr. 4.12
-   Freddie Eriksson 3.84 Freddie Eriksson 3.84
-   Adam Pietraszko 2.29 Adam Pietraszko 2.29
Peterborough
-   Hans N. Andersen 10.40 Hans N. Andersen 10.40
-   Jesper B. Jensen 8.76 Jesper B. Jensen 8.76
-  .svg.png.webp) Ryan Sullivan 8.23 Ryan Sullivan 8.23
-   Niels Kristian Iversen 7.82 Niels Kristian Iversen 7.82
-   Karol Ząbik 5.55 Karol Ząbik 5.55
-   Piotr Świderski 5.28 Piotr Świderski 5.28
-   Richard Hall 4.72 Richard Hall 4.72
-   Ulrich Østergaard 4.67 Ulrich Østergaard 4.67
Poole
-   Bjarne Pedersen 9.39 Bjarne Pedersen 9.39
-   Antonio Lindbäck 8.38 Antonio Lindbäck 8.38
-   Krzysztof Kasprzak 7.65 Krzysztof Kasprzak 7.65
-   Grzegorz Walasek 7.22 Grzegorz Walasek 7.22
-  .svg.png.webp) Craig Boyce 6.09 Craig Boyce 6.09
-   Jonas Davidsson 5.47 Jonas Davidsson 5.47
-   Daniel Davidsson 4.09 Daniel Davidsson 4.09
-  .svg.png.webp) Matthew Wethers 3.63 Matthew Wethers 3.63
-   Shaun Tacey 2.77 Shaun Tacey 2.77
Reading
-   Greg Hancock 9.28 Greg Hancock 9.28
-   Matej Žagar 8.13 Matej Žagar 8.13
-   Janusz Kołodziej 7.60 Janusz Kołodziej 7.60
-   Charlie Gjedde 7.52 Charlie Gjedde 7.52
-  .svg.png.webp) Travis McGowan 7.01 Travis McGowan 7.01
-  .svg.png.webp) Mark Lemon 6.39 Mark Lemon 6.39
-   Andy Smith 5.52 Andy Smith 5.52
-   Zdeněk Simota 5.43 Zdeněk Simota 5.43
Swindon
-  .svg.png.webp) Leigh Adams 10.47 Leigh Adams 10.47
-   Tomasz Chrzanowski 7.72 Tomasz Chrzanowski 7.72
-   Sebastian Ułamek 7.65 Sebastian Ułamek 7.65
-   Lee Richardson 7.16 Lee Richardson 7.16
-   Adrian Miedziński 5.98 Adrian Miedziński 5.98
-   Renat Gafurov 5.48 Renat Gafurov 5.48
-   Mads Korneliussen 4.91 Mads Korneliussen 4.91
-   Sebastian Aldén 4.47 Sebastian Aldén 4.47
-   Ritchie Hawkins 3.40 Ritchie Hawkins 3.40
Wolverhampton
-   Peter Karlsson 9.94 Peter Karlsson 9.94
-   Billy Hamill 8.37 Billy Hamill 8.37
-   Freddie Lindgren 8.12 Freddie Lindgren 8.12
-   Ronnie Correy 5.56 Ronnie Correy 5.56
-   Christian Hefenbrock 5.19 Christian Hefenbrock 5.19
-   Magnus Karlsson 4.71 Magnus Karlsson 4.71
-   William Lawson 4.37 William Lawson 4.37
-   Ben Wilson 1.76 Ben Wilson 1.76
See also
    
    
References
    
- "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
- "2006 league tables". Speedway GB.
- Bamford, Robert (2007-03-01). Tempus Speedway Yearbook 2007. NPI Media Group. ISBN 0-7524-4250-3.
- "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
- "2006 Elite League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
- "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - MODERN ERA (1991-PRESENT)". British Speedway. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
- "2006 Elite League Pairs". Speedway Updates. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
