Elite League Pairs Championship

The Elite League Pairs Championship is a contest between the top two riders from each club competing in the Speedway Elite League in the UK. The meetings comprise ten teams of two riders drawn into two qualifying groups.

Contents

Rules

Gate positions

In the Qualification Heats, riders are allocated starting gates. For the Semi-Finals, the group winners have first choice of gate positions (A&C or B&D). Gate A is on the inside of the track, whilst Gate D is on the outside. For the Final, the gate positions (A&C and B&D) are decided by the toss of a coin.

Points scoring

All heats are scored as follows:

This system is used to encourage team riding. A pair finishing first and second will score five points, whereas a pair finishing first and last will score only four. Race points scored over all Qualification Heats are used to determine the final group placings.

Ties

Where two are tied for a place, the team who scored most points scored in the heat where they met go through. Where more than two teams are tied for a place, the tie is resolved as follows:

Winners

Year Winners 2nd place
1976 Ipswich Witches
(John Louis & Billy Sanders)
Coventry Bees
(Ole Olsen & Mitch Shirra)
1977 Ipswich Witches
(John Louis & Billy Sanders)
King's Lynn Stars
(Michael Lee & David Gagen)
1978 Cradley Heath Heathens
(Steve Bastable & Bruce Penhall)
Coventry Bees
(Ole Olsen & Mitch Shirra)
none (shared winners)
1979
-1983
competition not held
1984 Belle Vue Aces
(Peter Collins & Chris Morton)
Reading Racers
(Mitch Shirra & Tim Hunt)
1985 Oxford Cheetahs
(Hans Nielsen & Simon Wigg)
Reading Racers
(Mitch Shirra & John Davis)
1986 Oxford Cheetahs
(Hans Nielsen & Simon Wigg)
Coventry Bees
(Kelvin Tatum & John Jørgensen)
1987 Oxford Cheetahs
(Hans Nielsen & Andy Grahame)
Swindon Robins
(Mitch Shirra & Jimmy Nilsen)
1988
-2003
competition not held
2004 Swindon Robins
(Leigh Adams & Charlie Gjedde)
Belle Vue Aces
(Jason Crump & Joe Screen)
2005 Swindon Robins
(Leigh Adams & Lee Richardson)
Belle Vue Aces
(Jason Crump & Joe Screen)
2006 Belle Vue Aces
(Jason Crump & Simon Stead)
Swindon Robins
(Leigh Adams & Sebastian Ułamek)
2007 Poole Pirates
(Jason Crump & Bjarne Pedersen)
Reading Bulldogs
(Greg Hancock & Travis McGowan)
2008 Coventry Bees
(Hans Andersen & Chris Harris)
Swindon Robins
(Leigh Adams & Mads Korneliussen)
2009 Poole Pirates
(Hans Andersen & Chris Holder)
Eastbourne Eagles
(Lewis Bridger & Davey Watt)
2010 Coventry Bees
(Chris Harris & Krzysztof Kasprzak)
Poole Pirates
(Chris Holder & Bjarne Pedersen)
2011 Poole Pirates
(Chris Holder & Darcy Ward)
Belle Vue Aces
(Chris Harris & Rory Schlein)

See also