Whenever Brisbane speedway legend John Titman travels down to Sydney, he drives out to the grave site of Billy Sanders at Minchinbury in western Sydney to pay his respects. “Billy was a very good friend of mine, he was one of Australia’s best riders of the 70s and 80s,” John says. “He had star quality, he was a real fan favourite and he was very much respected around the speedway world.”
Born in 1955, Sanders was a larrikin who loved a laugh, but was extremely dedicated to his speedway career that kicked off when he was 15. His father Bill was a keen speedway rider who was eager for his son to follow in his footsteps. After practising on the ex-Aub Lawson JAP solo at Nepean, Sanders made his competition debut at Liverpool Speedway on 4 July, 1971.
Blessed with rare daring and sublime skills, Sanders found himself dicing with Australia’s best riders in just his first season of racing and in 1972 was signed by Ipswich Witches in the British Speedway League at just 16.
The following year he finished third in the Australian championship at the Sydney Showground behind John Boulger and John Langfield.
Sanders was British League Champion in 1975 and ’76, and back home he finished third in the ’76 and ’77 national titles before winning the first of a then record six Australian Championships in 1978.
Billy’s older sister Robyn says her prankster brother was idolised and cherished by the Sanders family. “Billy was very good at soccer and boxing, he would’ve been successful at any sport he set his mind to,” she says. “He had tremendous drive and dedication.”
But Billy was also a typical younger brother. “He was a torment,” Robyn says with affection. “I was petrified of water, and one time Billy convinced me to go out on his beloved speedboat. It was on the Hawkesbury River at Windsor and Billy assured me it would be okay… He hit the throttle and put the boat into a high-speed circle, the angle getting steeper and steeper until the edge of the boat was in the water. Billy was having the time of his life, but I was hysterical. They literally had to pick me up and carry me out of the boat. Billy thought it was a great laugh!”
Like many racers, he had his routines and superstitions. “Billy never ate before an event, I doubt if he even had lunch before a night meeting. I remember many a time driving home from Sydney Showground and Billy stopping off for a burger at midnight.”
At the international level, Sanders is considered one of the best riders to have never won the world championship. He teamed with fellow Aussie star Phil Crump to finish fourth on debut in the 1976 World Pairs Championship, and later was selected in the Australian team that won the 1976 World Team Cup at White City in London.
Qualifying for the 1977 World Speedway Championship in Gothenburg, Sweden, Sanders finished a commendable ninth. He secured third in the 1980 world championship, again in Gothenburg, but didn’t qualify for the one-off world championship meetings in either 1981 or ’82, despite winning the Australian championships both years. He made up for it in ’83 when he finished runner-up in the world title held at Norden, West Germany, and backed it up with second in the World Pairs.
After leaving the Witches for the Hull Kings, and later the Birmingham Brummies and Kings Lynn Stars, Billy returned to Ipswich in 1983.
Competing in adrenaline-charged speedway full-time for 15 years, Billy Sanders’ form never wavered. He won the last of his Australian titles in early 1985 and successfully defended his 1984 Australian Masters at Liverpool Raceway.
Sanders returned to England, where his life quickly unravelled. He split with his wife Judy and faced serious financial difficulties. On 23 April, 1985 Billy Sanders took his own life in his Ipswich home.
The lesson at his funeral was read by a close friend and former world champion, American Bruce Penhall, who was godfather to Billy’s children Belinda and Dean. Billy had a second daughter Emma from another relationship.
Sanders’ funeral was packed with his rivals and closest friends, including fellow Aussie speedway champ John Titman.
“John was my rock that day, I wouldn’t have made it through without him,” Robyn says.
Billy’s son Dean was only eight when his father died. He never got over the loss and also took his own life aged just 19.
“My husband often says we’ve been lucky,” Robyn reflects. “I know what he is saying, but we have also been through hell.”
Bruce Penhall came out of retirement in 1988 to ride in the inaugural Billy Sanders Memorial at the Sydney Showground. The winner of the Australian Solo Championship now receives the Billy Sanders Memorial Trophy.
A former schoolmate from Rooty Hill High remembers Billy fondly: “He was an all-round top kid. I even had a set of his speedway bars on a ‘pushy’. Last time I saw him he was driving a GS Falcon on the Great Western Highway at Eastern Creek. I was on a ’69 Bonnie, and I still remember his face lighting up when we realised who we both were looking at.”
Robyn remembers her brilliant brother like this: “Billy was no angel, but he wasn’t the devil either.”
By Darryl Flack
