| League | 2016 Elite League |
|---|---|
| Champions | Wolverhampton Wolves |
| Elite Shield | Poole Pirates |
| Riders' Championship | Freddie Lindgren |
| Knockout Cup | not held |
| Highest average | Jason Doyle |
| Division/s below | 2016 Premier League 2016 National League |
The2016 Elite League was the 82nd season of the top division ofspeedway leagues in Great Britain. TheElite League ran between March and October 2016. ThePoole Pirates were the defending champions after winning their third consecutive title in 2015. The lineup of teams for 2016 stayed the same as in 2015, with the same eight teams competing. It was the last time that the competition would be known as the Elite League.
At the annual Elite League AGM, which was held during October and November 2015, it was announced that speedway bosses would continue to give more opportunities to young talent. All 8 Elite League teams would continue to track two young British draft riders, who would start the season at reserve. However unlike recent years these riders would be given Elite League averages after four meetings, giving them the chance to move into the top five of the team if they performed well. As a result of the reserve riders being given averages the overall points limit that teams must adhere to was raised from 34 to 40.5.[1] In February 2016, it was announced that Elite League teams could sign an eighth stand-in rider, who could race in positions 2 to 5. The rider must be foreign and new to the Elite League.[2]Lakeside Hammers signedDennis Jonsson as their eight rider for the season.[2][3]
Teams faced each other four times: twice home and away. The first of the home and away meetings were called the 'A' fixtures, and the second were the 'B' fixtures.
| Home \ Away | BV | COV | KL | LH | LEI | PP | SWI | WOL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belle Vue Aces | 50–42 | 45–21 | 50–40 | 48–42 | 49–41 | 40–50 | 56–37 | |
| Coventry Bees | 46–43 | 46–47 | 54–30 | 49–41 | 47–46 | 42–50 | 38–52 | |
| King's Lynn Stars | 39–54 | 46–44 | 51–39 | 51–42 | 38–55 | 45–45 | 48–42 | |
| Lakeside Hammers | 53–39 | 60–33 | 56–36 | 56–34 | 50–40 | 51–39 | 53–37 | |
| Leicester Lions | 41–52 | 46–44 | 45–45 | 33–56 | 46–46 | 50–42 | 39–51 | |
| Poole Pirates | 41–49 | 60–29 | 65–25 | 57–33 | 58–35 | 61–31 | 51–39 | |
| Swindon Robins | 51–40 | 55–35 | 55–38 | 50–40 | 43–47 | 44–46 | 44–48 | |
| Wolverhampton Wolves | 46–43 | 51–41 | 49–44 | 54–38 | 58–31 | 55–35 | 62–30 |
| Home \ Away | BV | COV | KL | LH | LEI | PP | SWI | WOL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belle Vue Aces | 59–34 | 41–49 | 63–29 | 52–40 | 48–45 | 52–40 | 46–44 | |
| Coventry Bees | 42–48 | 41–48 | 57–33 | 50–40 | 47–43 | 56–34 | 46–44 | |
| King's Lynn Stars | 50–40 | 41–49 | 48–42 | 54–38 | 39–53 | 41–51 | 40–52 | |
| Lakeside Hammers | 48–45 | 57–35 | 60–32 | 66–26 | 42–48 | 58–35 | 55–37 | |
| Leicester Lions | 43–47 | 52–41 | n/a | 44–46 | 52–38 | 44–46 | 47–43 | |
| Poole Pirates | 52–41 | 56–36 | 61–29 | 52–41 | 58–32 | 50–40 | 52–38 | |
| Swindon Robins | 33–39 | 55–36 | 52–38 | 52–41 | 57–33 | 50–42 | 50–41 | |
| Wolverhampton Wolves | 39–51 | 52–41 | 61–29 | 51–41 | 50–40 | 48–42 | 51–39 |
Leicester Vs King's Lynn (B Fixture) was not raced
| Pos. | Club | M | Home | Away | F | A | +/− | Pts | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | D | L | 4W | 3W | D | 1L | L | |||||||
| 1 | Belle Vue AcesQ | 28 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1330 | 1178 | +152 | 64 |
| 2 | Poole PiratesQ | 28 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 1394 | 1153 | +241 | 59 |
| 3 | Wolverhampton WolvesQ | 28 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 1332 | 1210 | +122 | 58 |
| 4 | Lakeside HammersQ | 28 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 1323 | 1232 | +91 | 47 |
| 5 | Swindon Robins | 28 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 1263 | 1267 | -4 | 47 |
| 6 | King's Lynn Stars | 27 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1112 | 1323 | -211 | 36 |
| 7 | Coventry Bees | 28 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 1201 | 1348 | -147 | 33 |
| 8 | Leicester Lions | 27 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 1103 | 1347 | -244 | 21 |
| Semi-finals | Grand final | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Lakeside Hammers | 41 | 28 | 69 | |||||||||
| 1 | Belle Vue Aces | 49 | 63 | 112 | |||||||||
| 1 | Belle Vue Aces | 36 | 50 | 86 | |||||||||
| 3 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 54 | 42 | 96 | |||||||||
| 2 | Poole Pirates | 51 | 35 | 86 | |||||||||
| 3 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 39 | 55 | 94 | |||||||||
| 21 September 2016 | Report | Lakeside Hammers | 41–49 | Belle Vue Aces | Arena Essex Raceway Referee(s): Mick Bates |
| 21 September 2016 | Report | Poole Pirates | 51–39 | Wolverhampton Wolves | Poole Stadium Referee(s): Chris Gay |
| 28 September 2016 | Report | Belle Vue Aces | 63–28 | Lakeside Hammers | National Speedway Stadium Referee(s): Craig Ackroyd |
| 28 September 2016 | Report | Wolverhampton Wolves | 55–35 | Poole Pirates | Monmore Green Stadium Referee(s): Phil Griffin |
| 3 October 2016 | Report | Wolverhampton Wolves Kyle Howarth 12 Freddie Lindgren 9 Jacob Thorssell 9 Tai Woffinden 8 Sam Masters 8 Max Clegg 4 Peter Karlsson 4 | 54–36 | Belle Vue Aces Craig Cook 10 Steve Worrall 8 Scott Nicholls 6 Richie Worrall 6 Matej Žagar 5 Max Fricke 1 Joe Jacobs 0 | Monmore Green Stadium Referee(s): Chris Durno |
| 5 October 2016 | Report | Belle Vue Aces Matej Žagar 10 Max Fricke 9 Joe Jacobs 9 Craig Cook 8 Richie Worrall 7 Steve Worrall 4 Scott Nicholls 3 | 50–42 | Wolverhampton Wolves Freddie Lindgren 14 Tai Woffinden 11 Peter Karlsson 8 Sam Masters 3 Kyle Howarth 3 Jacob Thorssell 2 Max Clegg 1 | National Speedway Stadium Referee(s): Willie Dishington |
Freddie Lindgren won theRiders' Championship for the second time. The final was held atBrandon Stadium on 8 October.[5][6]
| Pos. | Rider | Pts | Total | SF | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Freddie Lindgren | 32133 | 12 | x | 3 |
| 2 |  Niels Kristian Iversen | 23330 | 11 | 3 | 2 |
| 3 |  Chris Harris | 10233 | 9 | 2 | 1 |
| 4 | Edward Kennett | 33323 | 14 | x | 0 |
| 5 | Kim Nilsson | 13321 | 10 | 1 | |
| 6 | Danny King | 23021 | 8 | 0 | |
| 7 | Kyle Newman | 22112 | 8 | ||
| 8 | Robert Lambert | 11231 | 8 | ||
| 9 | Paul Starke | 2F/exc212 | 7 | ||
| 10 |  Nick Morris | 013F/exc2 | 6 | ||
| 11 | Patrick Hougaard | 01F/exc23 | 6 | ||
| 12 | Adam Ellis | 32FX00 | 5 | ||
| 13 | Scott Nicholls | 12002 | 5 | ||
| 14 | Sam Masters | 31100 | 5 | ||
| 15 | Rohan Tungate | EF0211 | 4 | ||
| 16 | Tom Bacon (res) | 00110 | 2 | ||
| 17 | Joe Jacobs | - - - - - | 0 | ||
| 18 | Conor Dwyer(res) | 0 | 0 |
| Rider | Team | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Jason Doyle | Swindon | 9.58 |
| Niels Kristian Iversen | Kings Lynn | 9.04 |
| Chris Holder | Poole | 8.95 |
| Andreas Jonsson | Lakeside | 8.45 |
 Krzysztof Kasprzak | Coventry | 7.91 |
 Matej Žagar | Belle Vue | 7.48 |
| Craig Cook | Belle Vue | 7.37 |
| Danny King | Coventry | 7.22 |
| Freddie Lindgren | Wolverhampton | 7.21 |
| Sam Masters | Wolverhampton | 7.18 |
Belle Vue Aces
Matej Žagar 7.48Craig Cook 7.37Max Fricke 7.08Scott Nicholls 6.59Steve Worrall 5.95Richie Worrall 5.82Joe Jacobs 5.14Source:[8]
Coventry Bees
Krzysztof Kasprzak 7.91Chris Harris 6.58Danny King 7.22Jason Garrity 6.00Adam Roynon 4.80Josh Bates 4.76Kacper Woryna 4.65Ben Barker 4.54James Sarjeant 3.81Source:[9]
King's Lynn Stars
Niels Kristian Iversen 9.04Robert Lambert 7.08Mads Korneliussen 6.04Simon Lambert 5.47Troy Batchelor 5.26Rory Schlein 5.12Lewis Rose 5.00Nicklas Porsing 4.99Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen 4.15
Kai Huckenbeck 3.67Carl Wilkinson 3.47
Rory Schlein replaced Mads Korneliussen on 7 July in the King's Lynn Stars team.
Nicklas Porsing replaced Rory Schlein on 1 September in the King's Lynn Stars team.
Lakeside Hammers
Andreas Jonsson 8.45Edward Kennett 7.16Kim Nilsson 6.88Lewis Bridger 6.09Ben Morley 6.00Richard Lawson 5.83Piotr Świderski 5.20Lewis Kerr 4.80Robert Mear 3.65Source:[10]
Leicester Lions
Nicolai Klindt 6.36Patrick Hougaard 6.22Szymon Wozniak 5.91Ludvig Lindgren 5.67Grzegorz Walasek 5.45Davey Watt 5.40Paul Starke 4.94Josh Auty 4.90Aaron Summers 4.69Sebastian Ułamek 3.52Source:[11]
Aaron Summers replaced Grzegorz Walasek on 12 April in the Leicester Lions team.
Davey Watt replaced Sebastian Ułamek on 11 May in the Leicester Lions team.
Ludvig Lindgren replaced Davey Watt on 13 June in the Leicester Lions team.
Poole Pirates
Chris Holder 8.95Hans N. Andersen 7.15Bjarne Pedersen 6.91Davey Watt 6.80Krzysztof Buczkowski 6.02Brady Kurtz 6.44Adam Ellis 5.60Kyle Newman 5.52Source:[12]
Bjarne Pedersen replaced Davey Watt on 26 April in the Poole Pirates team.
Antonio Lindbäck replaced Hans Andersen on 19 September in the Poole Pirates team.
Swindon Robins
Jason Doyle 9.58Nick Morris 6.41Rohan Tungate 6.05Josh Grajczonek 5.95Justin Sedgmen 5.43Charles Wright 4.84Stefan Nielsen 3.67Source:[13]
Wolverhampton Wolves
Tai Woffinden 8.41Fredrik Lindgren 7.21Sam Masters 7.18Jacob Thorssell 7.06
Joonas Kylmäkorpi 6.68Mikkel Bech 6.26Peter Karlsson 5.91Kyle Howarth 5.13Max Clegg 4.15Ashley Morris 2.81Source:[14]
Peter Karlsson replaced Mikkel Bech on 3 June in the Wolverhampton Wolves team.
Tai Woffinden replaced Joonas Kylmäkorpi on 11 August in the Wolverhampton Wolves team.
List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
| Teams |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Seasons | ||
| Domestic cups | ||
