The 1997 Elite League speedway season was the 63rd season of the top tier of

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Daytona International Speedway, a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida. *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta. *Indianapolis Motor Spe ...

in the United Kingdom. It was the first season of a new league known as the Elite League and was governed by the

Speedway Control Board The Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), known as the Speedway Control Board between 1948 and 2002, governs the sport of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom on behalf of the Auto Cycle Union (ACU). The directors are appointed by the ACU and B ...

(SCB), in conjunction with the

British Speedway Promoters' Association The British Speedway Promoters Limited (BSPL) organises the domestic motorcycle speedway competitions in the United Kingdom. They are also responsible for the promotion and running of the FIM meetings staged in Britain. Wimbledon controller Ronn ...

(

BSPA The British Speedway Promoters Limited (BSPL) organises the domestic motorcycle speedway competitions in the United Kingdom. They are also responsible for the promotion and running of the FIM meetings staged in Britain. Wimbledon controller Ronn ...

Season summary

In 1997, the single speedway league in Great Britain separated after two seasons, forming a new top division. The inaugural league consisted of ten teams. The league operated on a standard format without play-offs. The

Craven Shield The Craven Shield and Young Shield were short-lived Motorcycle speedway, speedway end of season cup competitions in the United Kingdom governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association ...

was introduced as an end of season cup competition for the top eight teams in the league standings.

Bradford Dukes The Bradford Dukes were a British motorcycle speedway team which operated primarily from the Odsal Stadium in Odsal, Bradford until their closure in 1997.Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''. The Bradford speedway team p ...

finally won the league, their first success since 1966 when they raced as

Halifax Dukes The Halifax Dukes were a speedway team which operated from 1949–1951 and again from 1965 until their closure in 1985 at The Shay Stadium in Halifax. The team were nicknamed the "Dukes" after the local Duke of Wellington's Regiment, whos ...

. Bradford retained top English riders

Gary Havelock Robert Gary Havelock (born 4 November 1968) is a British former speedway rider who was World Champion in 1992. Career Havelock's father was speedway rider Brian Havelock. Gary Havelock first competed in grasstrack racing, winning the British ...

and

Joe Screen Joseph Screen (born 27 November 1972 in Chesterfield, Derbyshire), is a former British international motorcycle speedway rider. His major speedway honours include winning the World Under-21 Championship in 1993, the British Championship in 1 ...

but crucially brought in

Mark Loram Mark Roysten Gregory Loram (born 12 January 1971) is a British former motorcycle speedway rider, who won the World Speedway Championship in 2000 and won the British Championship in 1997, 1999, and 2001. He earned 36 international caps for t ...

from Exeter Falcons. Loram had a superb season that included becoming the new British Champion.

Final table

'A' Fixtures

'B' Fixtures

Elite League Knockout Cup

The 1997 Elite League Knockout Cup, sponsored by the Speedway Star, was the 59th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams but the first under its new name.

Eastbourne Eagles The Eastbourne Eagles were a British motorcycle speedway team, based at Arlington Stadium, near Eastbourne, England. They were founded in 1929 and are two times champions of Britain in 1995 and 2000. The team last raced on 31 July 2021. Hist ...

were the winners of the competition. First round Group A Group B Semi-finals

Final

First leg Second leg Eastbourne Eagles were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 116-66.

Riders' Championship

Greg Hancock Gregory Alan Hancock (born June 3, 1970, in Whittier, California) is a former professional motorcycle speedway rider from the United States. As of 2023, he was one of only six riders to have won the individual World Championship four or more ti ...

won the

Elite League Riders' Championship The Elite League Riders' Championship is a motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps ...

, held at

Odsal Stadium Odsal Stadium (known as Bartercard Odsal Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a multi-purpose stadium, multipurpose stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The stadium is currently the home of Bradford Bulls rugby league football club and ...

on 11 October. *tx-touched tapes, excluded

Fours

Peterborough Panthers won the Elite League Four Team Tournament, which was held on 3 August 1997, at the

East of England Arena The East of England Showground is a large showground area (667,731sqm) located on East of England Way near Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The Showground is owned by Bellway as of around 2019 and the site currently includes the East of E ...

Final leading averages

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue * 10.07 * 8.48 * 7.74 * 5.58 * 5.56 * 4.17 * 1.62 * 0.97 Bradford * 9.77 * 9.59 * 7.59 * 5.78 * 5.70 * 4.45 Coventry * 9.85 * 9.02 * 6.90 * 5.84 * 5.67 * 5.13 * 4.15 * 1.44 Eastbourne * 8.44 * 8.24 * 7.32 * 6.97 * 6.57 * 4.56 Ipswich * 10.09 * 9.42 * 7.74 * 6.25 * 6.17 * 6.11 * 3.62 King's Lynn * 8.07 * 7.48 * 7.24 * 6.91 * 6.26 * 5.14 * 3.11 Peterborough * 9.71 * 7.80 * 7.71 * 7.22 * 7.08 * 4.95 * 4.90 * 2.52 Poole * 9.43 * 7.48 * 7.30 * 6.43 * 6.18 * 4.80 * 4.77 * 4.45 Swindon * 9.76 * 8.96 * 8.12 * 6.68 * 4.68 * 2.53 Wolverhampton * 8.62 * 8.37 * 7.08 * 5.45 * 4.76 * 4.55 * 4.16

References

{{Speedway Elite League SGB Premiership 1997 in British motorsport