2010 Elite League speedway season

The 2010 Elite League speedway season (also known as the Sky Sports Elite League for sponsorship reasons) was the 76th season of the top division of UK speedway and the 14th since its establishment in 1997.^[1]

2010 Elite League speedway season

League	Sky Sports Elite League
Champions	Coventry Bees
Knockout Cup	Poole Pirates
Elite Shield	Wolverhampton Wolves
Individual	Freddie Lindgren
Pairs	Coventry Bees
Highest average	Freddie Lindgren
Division/s below	2010 Premier League 2010 National League
← 2009 2011 →

Summary

The first fixtures of the season took place on 29 March and the season ended on 27 October. The Wolverhampton Wolves were the defending champions from 2009.^[2]

The negative side of playoffs was experienced during the 2010 season when Coventry Bees claimed the title. Coventry had finished in the fourth and final play off spot, 26 points behind regular season table winners Poole Pirates, who in turn had finished 20 points ahead of their nearest rivals racking up 78 points in total. Coventry went on to win their semi final and then defeat Poole in the final. Although Poole won the Knockout Cup there was a distinct feeling of an injustice. Poole's Australian contingent of Chris Holder, Darcy Ward, Davey Watt and Jason Doyle had been consistent all season except during the play off final and Coventry's Polish duo of Krzysztof Kasprzak and Przemysław Pawlicki both hit great form on the night.^[3]

League table

Pos	Club	M	Home				Away					F	A	+/-	Pts
			3W	2W	D	L	4W	3W	D	1L	L
1	Poole Pirates	32	16	0	0	0	5	2	0	4	5	1667	1278		78
2	Wolverhampton Wolves	32	15	1	0	0	0	3	1	3	9	1527	1432		61
3	Peterborough Panthers	32	12	2	0	2	2	1	0	2	11	1495	1464		53
4	Coventry Bees	32	9	2	1	4	2	4	0	0	10	1469	1475		52
5	Lakeside Hammers	32	11	2	1	2	1	1	1	1	12	1447	1503		48
6	Swindon Robins	32	8	2	0	6	1	2	2	2	9	1476	1493		44
7	Eastbourne Eagles	32	9	3	2	2	0	1	0	3	12	1406	1533		41
8	Belle Vue Aces	32	10	2	1	3	0	1	0	2	13	1413	1539		40
9	Ipswich Witches	32	4	5	0	7	0	0	1	2	13	1386	1569		26

Key:
Championship play-offs
Relegation play-offs

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

Home \ Away	BV	COV	EAS	IPS	LH	PET	PP	SWI	WOL
Belle Vue Aces		51–41	59–36	55–37	57–38	51–41	36–55	51–39	47–43
Coventry Bees	42–48		53–40	50–44	53–40	41–51	39–54	49–46	44–46
Eastbourne Eagles	55–41	50–40		45–45	45–45	47–43	49–41	43–47	45–48
Ipswich Witches	51–42	45–47	49–43		43–50	50–43	44–46	46–47	50–43
Lakeside Hammers	54–40	59–32	53–43	49–43		58–37	53–40	55–40	51–44
Peterborough Panthers	51–41	50–40	43–47	51–42	56–39		47–43	57–36	57–36
Poole Pirates	59–36	63–29	63–29	63–30	70–24	54–39		58–35	57–35
Swindon Robins	57–38	42–48	60–36	56–36	44–46	54–39	44–52		51–45
Wolverhampton Wolves	50–43	56–38	46–44	54–39	56–38	55–40	50–43	50–42

Source: ^[4]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

'B' Fixtures

Home \ Away	BV	COV	EAS	IPS	LH	PET	PP	SWI	WOL
Belle Vue Aces		37–53	55–35	51–44	47–37	56–38	48–44	39–53	45–45
Coventry Bees	65–27		58–35	52–44	51–41	58–34	53–42	45–45	52–43
Eastbourne Eagles	57–35	56–39		50–42	53–40	56–37	48–42	47–43	49–41
Ipswich Witches	48–42	41–49	47–43		49–43	50–46	33–59	56–37	44–46
Lakeside Hammers	49–44	49–41	49–41	55–37		39–51	43–46	45–45	49–41
Peterborough Panthers	54–40	44–46	57–36	50–39	51–42		49–44	51–42	57–35
Poole Pirates	55–37	58–35	61–31	52–40	56–33	50–39		51–41	53–39
Swindon Robins	57–35	44–46	50–34	53–40	51–44	47–49	40–53		48–45
Wolverhampton Wolves	56–39	50–40	61–29	57–38	56–37	50–43	50–40	55–40

Source: ^[5]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Championship play-offs

Semi-finals

Leg 1

13 September 2010

Wolverhampton Wolves	44.5 – 44.5	Poole Pirates
Freddie Lindgren 14.5	report	Bjarne Pedersen 10

Monmore Green, Wolverhampton

Referee: Craig Ackroyd

13 September 2010

Coventry Bees	52 – 38	Peterborough Panthers
Krzysztof Kasprzak 10+1	report	Rory Schlein 10

Brandon stadium, Brandon

Leg 2

20 September 2010

Poole Pirates	53 – 41	Wolverhampton Wolves
Bjarne Pedersen 13		Freddie Lindgren 14+1

Referee: Mick Bates

20 September 2010

Peterborough Panthers	44 - 49	Coventry Bees
Krzysztof Buczkowski 14+1		Chris Harris 13

Referee: Jim Lawrence

Grand final

First leg

27 September 2010

19.30

Coventry Bees	51 - 39	Poole Pirates

Referee: Daniel Holt

	1	Krzysztof Kasprzak	3, 2, 3, X, 3	11
	2	Richard Sweetman	1, 1', 1	3+1
	3	Ben Barker	0, 3, 0, X	3
	4	Edward Kennett	2, 2', 2, 1'	7+2
	5	Chris Harris	2', 1', 1', 3, X	7+3
	6	Lewis Bridger	3, 2, 1, 2, 2	10
	7	Przemysław Pawlicki	2', 3, 3, 2	10+1
Manager: Alun Rossiter

	1	Chris Holder	2, 0, 3, 2, X	7
	2	Darcy Ward	X, 1, F, 0	1
	3	Artur Mroczka	1, 0, 0	1
	4	Bjarne Pedersen	3, 3, 4^, 3, 2	15
	5	Davey Watt	0, 3, 3, X	6
	6	Leon Madsen	0, 0, 1, 3	4
	7	Jason Doyle	1, 1, 2, 1, F	5
Manager: Neil Middleditch

Second leg

4 October 2010

19.30

Poole Pirates	40 (79) - 50 (101)	Coventry Bees

Referee: Peter Clarke

1 Chris Holder 1, 2, 1, 1, 0 5 2 Darcy Ward 3, 1', 2, 0 6+1 3 Artur Mroczka 2', 0, 0 2+1 4 Bjarne Pedersen 3, 2, 2, 0, 1 8 5 Davey Watt 3, 2', 3, 0 8+1 6 Leon Madsen 2, 3, 0, 1, 1 7 7 Jason Doyle 0, 1, 0, 3 4 Manager: Neil Middleditch   1 Krzysztof Kasprzak 2, 3, 2, 3, 3 13 2 Richard Sweetman 0, 1, 1, 1' 3+1 3 Ben Barker 1, 0, 0, 2' 3+1 4 Edward Kennett R/R 5 Chris Harris Fx, 3, 3, 3, 2', 2' 13+2 6 Lewis Bridger 1, 0, 0, 1 2 7 Przemysław Pawlicki 3, 2, 1, 3, 2', 2, 3 16+1 Manager: Alun Rossiter

Coventry were declared Elite League Champions, on Aggregate 101-79.

Elite League Knockout Cup

The 2010 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 72nd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Poole Pirates were the winners of the competition.^[6]

First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
12/04	Wolverhampton	56-39	Ipswich
08/04	Ipswich	43-46	Wolverhampton

Quarter-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
10/06	Swindon	49-41	Peterborough
17/09	Peterborough	58-37	Swindon
05/07	Belle Vue	50-40	Poole
21/07	Poole	57-35	Belle Vue
19/07	Coventry	48-42	Wolverhampton
30/09	Wolverhampton	51-43	Coventry
23/09	Eastbourne	53-41	Lakeside
24/09	Lakeside	45-45	Eastbourne

Semi-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
13/10	Poole	58-36	Peterborough
11/10	Peterborough	43-50	Poole
11/10	Wolverhampton	44-46	Eastbourne
10/10	Eastbourne	63-29	Wolverhampton

Final

First leg

24 October 2010

Eastbourne Matej Žagar 11 Joonas Kylmakorpi 10 Cameron Woodward 9 Lewis Bridger 9 Simon Gustafsson 7 Ricky Kling 3	49 - 41	Poole Chris Holder 10 Davey Watt 9 Darcy Ward 6 Leon Madsen 6 Jason Doyle 5 Bjarne Pedersen 4 Artur Mroczka 1
	^[7]

Arlington Stadium

Second leg

27 October 2010

Poole Bjarne Pedersen 12 Chris Holder 11 Leon Madsen 11 Darcy Ward 9 Davey Watt 7 Jason Doyle 4	54 - 41	Eastbourne Joonas Kylmakorpi 14 Lewis Bridger 9 Cameron Woodward 7 Matej Žagar 6 Simon Gustafsson 5 Ricky Kling 0
	^[8]

Wimborne Road

The Poole Pirates were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 95-90.

Riders' Championship

Freddie Lindgren won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at East of England Arena on 16 October.^[9]

Pos.	Rider	Pts	Total	SF	Final
1	Freddie Lindgren	32033	11	x	3
2	Chris Harris	23323	13	x	2
3	Kenneth Bjerre	32032	10	2	1
4	Bjarne Pedersen	30133	10	3	0
5	Chris Holder	30311	8	1
6	Scott Nicholls	23212	10	0
7	Simon Stead	12122	8
8	Kauko Nieminen	12203	8
9	Niels Kristian Iversen	2132	8
10	Hans Andersen	00232	7
11	Joonas Kylmäkorpi	01320	6
12	Danny King	1 3200	6
13	Peter Karlsson	031-1	5
14	Tai Woffinden	21001	4
15	Cameron Woodward	01011	3
16	Krzysztof Kasprzak	1011-	3
17	Lewis Kerr (res)	0	0

Pairs

The Elite League Pairs Championship was held at the Foxhall Stadium on 4 September and was won by Coventry Bees.^[10]

Pos	Team	Pts	Riders
1	Coventry	26	Kasprzak 14, Harris 12
2	Poole	23	Pedersen 12, Holder 11
3	Lakeside	22	Shields 12, Davidsson 10
4	Peterborough	20	Bjerre 10, Iversen 10
5	Swindon	18	Zengota 11, Korneliussen 7
6	Ipswich	17	King 9, Nicholls 8
7	Wolves	15	Klindt 12, Haines 3
8	Eastbourne	13	Kling 9, Woodward 4
9	Belle Vue	8	Wright J 6, Sitera 2

Semi finals

• Eastbourne 7 Peterborough 2 - Harris, Kasprzak, Iversen, Bjerre
• Poole 7 Lakeside 2 - Holder, Pedersen, Shields, Jacobs

Final

• Coventry 5 Poole 4 - Kasprzak, Harris, Holder, Pedersen

Final leading averages

Rider	Team	Average
Freddie Lindgren	Wolverhampton	10.23
Leigh Adams	Swindon	9.90
Kenneth Bjerre	Peterborough	9.62
Lee Richardson	Lakeside	9.35
Scott Nicholls	Ipswich	9.34
Krzysztof Kasprzak	Coventry	9.02
Bjarne Pedersen	Poole	8.83
Chris Harris	Coventry	8.80
Hans Andersen	Belle Vue	8.70
Chris Holder	Poole	8.58

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

•   Hans Andersen 8.70
•   Peter Karlsson 7.44
•   Patrick Hougaard 6.77
•   Leigh Lanham 6.11
•   Ulrich Østergaard 6.08
•   James Wright5.73
•   Josh Grajczonek 4.66
•   William Lawson4.47
•   Tobias Kroner3.87
•   Ricky Ashworth 3.73
•   Filip Šitera 2.80

Coventry

•   Krzysztof Kasprzak 9.02
•   Chris Harris 8.80
•   Edward Kennett 7.25
•   Przemysław Pawlicki 7.08
•   Rory Schlein 7.00
•   Ben Barker 6.56
•   Lewis Bridger 6.29
•   Richard Sweetman 6.11
•   Aaron Summers 4.39
•   Josh Auty 3.65
•   Filip Šitera 3.38

Eastbourne

•   Matej Žagar 8.29
•   Joonas Kylmakorpi 7.56
•   Cameron Woodward 7.26
•   Simon Gustafsson 6.27
•   Tomasz Jędrzejak 6.04
•   Lukáš Dryml 5.93
•   Ricky Kling 5.44
•   Chris Schramm 4.61
•   Dawid Lampart 4.34

Ipswich

•   Scott Nicholls 9.34
•   Danny King 7.39
•   Linus Sundstrom 6.79
•   Robert Miśkowiak 6.56
•   Aleš Dryml Jr. 6.07
•   Dawid Stachyra 5.83
•   Oliver Allen 5.67
•   Krzysztof Słaboń 5.03
•   Claus Vissing 3.71
•   Kozza Smith 3.69
•   Ritchie Hawkins 3.61
•   Carl Wilkinson 2.11

Lakeside

•   Lee Richardson 9.35
•   Krzysztof Kasprzak 8.17
•   Adam Shields 7.64
•   Jonas Davidsson 6.87
•   Peter Ljung 6.10
•   Kauko Nieminen 5.96
•   Daniel Davidsson 5.49
•   Chris Neath 5.29
•   Paul Hurry 4.73
•   Stuart Robson 4.64

Peterborough

•   Kenneth Bjerre 9.62
•   Niels Kristian Iversen 7.93
•   Troy Batchelor 7.48
•   Rory Schlein 7.25
•   Krzysztof Buczkowski 6.39
•   Norbert Kosciuch 5.04
•   Lewis Bridger 4.90
•   Ulrich Østergaard 4.46
•   Mathieu Trésarrieu 3.95
•   Craig Cook 2.38

Poole

•   Bjarne Pedersen 8.83
•   Chris Holder 8.58
•   Davey Watt 8.01
•   Darcy Ward 7.93
•   Artur Mroczka 6.89
•   Leon Madsen 6.74
•   Jason Doyle 6.25

Swindon

•   Leigh Adams 9.90
•   Simon Stead 8.21
•   Mads Korneliussen 6.81
•   Maciej Janowski 6.62
•   Grzegorz Zengota 6.52
•   Thomas H. Jonasson 5.91
•   Morten Risager 4.39
•   Cory Gathercole 3.86
•   Justin Sedgmen 3.55

Wolverhampton

•   Freddie Lindgren 10.23
•   Tai Woffinden 7.54
•   Nicolai Klindt 6.91
•   Adam Skórnicki 6.89
•   Ty Proctor 6.72
•   Joe Screen 6.52
•   Matthew Wethers 5.30
•   Ludvig Lindgren 5.26
•   Joe Haines 3.55

See also

• Speedway in the United Kingdom
• List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
• Knockout Cup (speedway)

References

1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
2. "2010 league tables". Speedway GB.
3. "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
4. "2010 fixtures & results". British Speedway. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
5. "2010 fixtures & results". British Speedway. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
6. "2010 Elite League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
7. "EASTBOURNE: EAGLES 49 POOLE 41 (KOC FINAL.1)". Speedway GB. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
8. "EASTBOURNE: POOLE 54 EAGLES 41 (KOC FINAL.2)". Speedway GB. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
9. "Elite League Riders' Championship". Speedway History. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
10. "2010 Elite League Pairs". Speedway Updates. Retrieved 20 May 2023.