1984/1985 AUSTRALIAN SEASON:-

 

     Billy Sanders was crowned New South Wales Champion once again when he won at Nepean on the 16th of December 1984. This was the eighth consecutive staging of this Championship event which had resulted in a victory for Sanders. He registered a 15 point maximum in beating Gary Guglielmi (12) and Rudi Muts (10). 

 

     The 1985 Australian Championship was staged at Ayr in North Queensland on January 5th. The previous seven Australian Titles had all been won by either Billy Sanders (5) or Phil Crump (2). As only the first and second placed riders from this 1985 staging of the Championship would progress to the next World Championship qualifying round in Britain (the Overseas Final), the pressure was on all with aspirations of riding in the 1985 World Final.

As part of practice for this Championship meeting, a one lap clutch start time trial was staged with the fastest rider receiving a cheque for $500. Sanders pocketed the money.

Billy Sanders' first appearance on Championship night was in Heat 2. This race appeared on paper to be his easiest of the meeting. He began well from the outside gate and led into the first corner. When he took the checkered flag to record a first-up victory, the other three riders in the race weren't even in the home straight .... Sanders meant business. He had badly wanted to win the previous year at Mildura to become the record holder for the most Australian Championship successes but Phil Crump had triumphed on that occasion.

Sanders' main rival for 1985 honours was undoubtedly Crump. The Victorian's first appearance was in Heat 4. Drawn Gate 2, Crump began brilliantly and led going into the first corner. He had built up a commanding lead by the time he crossed the Start-Finish line at the conclusion of the second lap. Then disaster struck ... his bike stopped when a wire on his ignition system came adrift.

 

Now for the second round of heats ....Gary Guglielmi made it two wins from two starts. Phil Crump led all the way winning his heat also. Sanders was in Heat 8, the last of those in the second round. He started rather sluggishly from Gate 2 and was beaten into the first turn by South Australian Mark Fiora from the outside gate. However, by the conclusion of the first lap, Sanders had hit the front and recorded another victory. He and Guglielmi remained the only undefeated riders following the first two rounds.

 

Sanders and Crump clashed in the third round. The New South Welshman came from Gate 1 and Crump from the outside. Sanders began brilliantly and was never headed. Gary Guglielmi was excluded from his heat in this round for causing a race stoppage. After three rounds of heats, Sanders (9 points) led from Fiora and Queensland representative Alan Rivett (both on 7 points).

 

As had happened in his second round heat, Sanders (Gate 3) made a tardy start in his fourth round appearance. Queenslander Stan Bear (Gate 1) won the start and led until the third bend on the first lap where Sanders passed him on the inside. Four wins from four races for Sanders. Fiora was in second place on the scorechart with 9 points.

 

Sanders took to the track for his final ride in Heat 17 needing just a single point to win the Championship. What a thrilling spectacle this race was. Queensland representative Alan Rivett made sure Sanders had to fight to register maximum points. The New South Welshman won the start and led into the first corer... on three occasions during this race Rivett moved up on the outside of Sanders to challenge for the lead .. and three times Sanders fought off the challenge. Sanders won from Rivett.

Registering a 15 point maximum, Billy Sanders (proudly displaying the "Boxing Kangaroo" on the back of his leathers), won his sixth Australian Championship. He now held the record for the most number of successes in this event.

On attaining this record, Sanders said,"Beating Aub Lawson's record of five wins is the biggest kick I've had. You never win a Title like that easily, you have to work hard right to the end."

He also commented," I was very proud when I won five and equaled Aub Lawson's record, but to create history and win six ... it really means so much to me in my career."

A three rider run-off (all had scored 11 points) decided second to fourth placings at Ayr. Crump won from Bear and Fiora. Sanders and Crump had qualified for places in the Overseas Final.

As for the Pioneer Park management and the track itself, Sanders observed the following, "It's a very professional speedway track; very bike oriented. It's really one of the better speedways around Australia .. it was one of the best presented meetings I've had the privilege of riding in in Australia."

In winning his six Australian Championships, Billy Sanders had recorded three 15 point maximum scores and three of 14 points. 

1985 OVERSEAS SEASON:-

 

     Billy Sanders returned to Britain to ride in his fourteenth consecutive season in that country. Once again he would wear the race jacket of the Ipswich Witches. Much was anticipated from Ipswich in 1985 following their excellent on-track performances the previous season. The man who had the foresight to bring John Louis and Billy Sanders to the club initially, John Berry, was also still involved in a promoting capacity at the club. After four years away from Ipswich, John Louis returned to Foxhall Stadium in 1985. He didn't return as a rider but as team manager. Berry, Louis and Sanders were once again all together at Ipswich, just as it had been when 16 year old Sanders first appeared in an Ipswich race jacket thirteen years earlier.

 

 

     The season got underway with Ipswich (British League and K.O.Cup winners in 1984) and Cradley Heath (League Cup winners in 1984) contesting the 1985 Premiership Title which was decided over two meetings at the end of March. Ipswich was beaten by 2 points at home on March 28th. with Sanders scoring 6 points from his four rides.

In the away leg on March 30th., Cradley Heath won again, this time by 4 points. In this leg Sanders turned in a spirited performance for Ipswich scoring 14 points from his five rides.Cradley Heath won 81-75 on aggregate.

 

     On the 5th. of April, Ipswich opened their 1985 League Cup campaign with two meetings against King's Lynn - both of these encounters taking place on the same day.The away encounter was won by Ipswich 42-36 with Sanders recording a 12 point maximum. The return leg at Ipswich also saw a victory to the Witches, 43-35. Sanders' contribution...another 12 point maximum. In the one day Sanders had been unbeaten in eight starts.

 

     Sanders' next match for Ipswich was a home League Cup encounter against visitors Belle Vue on the 18th. of April. For the third consecutive match for his club Sanders recorded a 12 point maximum. Ipswich won 44-34.

Sanders had another success at this meeting. Belle Vue's Chris Morton had relieved Wolverhampton's Bobby Schwartz of the Golden Helmet Match Race Title on April 15th. Morton defended his Title for the first time against Sanders at Ipswich on the occasion of this April 18th. meeting. Sanders took the Golden Helmet from Schwartz.

 

     On the 20th. of April, Ipswich traveled to Swindon for a League Cup match which they lost 30-48. Sanders rode on five occasions during this match scoring 12 paid 13. Swindon's Bo Petersen defeated Sanders in the Golden Helmet Match Race competition at this meeting.

In his last five matches for his club, Sanders had dropped just 3 points to an opposing rider from his 22 starts....what superb form the Australian was in. From his four League Cup matches, Sanders was averaging 11.53.... he had dropped 2 points to the opposition in 17 rides.

 

   The next match on the Ipswich calendar was an away League Cup encounter against Wolverhampton. The date of this match was the 22nd. of April. Sanders didn't appear in the Ipswich side for this match which Ipswich lost 35-43. The reason given at the time for his non-appearance was that he had the flu.

On the following day, the 23rd. of April, the body of 29 year old Billy Sanders was found in a friend's car....he had taken his own life.

 

     What can one say about the on-track exploits of Billy Sanders? This talented rider had brought pleasure and excitement into the lives of speedway fans in both hemispheres during his career. What he accomplished on the race track lives on in the record books and in the memories of those who saw him perform. His name occupies a special place in the history of New South Wales, Australian and Ipswich Speedway.

 

     A man who watched Billy Sanders develop from a 16 year old lad who showed potential into a world class performer was Ipswich promoter John Berry. Berry said this of the day Sanders died - "...the blackest day in the history of Ipswich Speedway."

 

Berry also made the following comments about Sanders:- "He was unlike most foreign riders who treat the British League mainly as an opportunity to earn money and help their world championship chances. Billy wanted to do well for Ipswich and the club meant a lot to him."

The following tributes to Billy Sanders appeared in March 1991 in an Ipswich programme :-

                       "Even though he came from thousands of miles away, Billy Sanders became  a true local hero in Suffolk and his memory lives on."

                       " ...(he) will always remain as one of the most popular riders ever to don a Witches race jacket. We shall always miss him, and I often wonder how things might have been had his life not so tragically ended at the peak of his career." 

 

BILLY SANDERS

IPSWICH ADOPTED SON

1955 - 1985

REMEMBERED BY ALL

AT IPSWICH SPEEDWAY

 

Peter Ingram very kindly took these two photographs for me in the Ipswich pits during August 2003. The positioning of the painting and the plaque is significant. They mark the place where Billy used to park his bike on race night.

The Billy Sanders memorial plaque is the topmost of the two plaques to the right hand side of the painting.

I've previously mentioned what Billy Sanders had to say about both the Liverpool and Ayr tracks in Australia. Here are his comments on another two tracks on which he staged many memorable performances :-

 

The Sydney Showground:-  "I loved the Sydney Showground. It is an amazing place because you could race there with only ten people in the grandstand and the atmosphere would still be electric. I get a lot of satisfaction out of racing there ... it is very fast and I genuinely loved the place. I really miss it."

 

The Ipswich track :-  "It's a great little race track, always well prepared."

 

     Since his death, speedway meetings have been staged in both Australia and Britain honouring Sanders' memory. Here is a little about one such event :-

 

The Billy Sanders Internationale staged in England at the Ipswich venue on October 10, 1996, was won by Chris Louis. Chris is the son of John Louis, Sanders' old Ipswich team mate of nine seasons. At the time this 1996 event took place, John Louis was promoting at the Ipswich venue. Chris Louis collected the 1,000 pounds prizemoney that evening when he rode to victory in the Final. The riders he defeated in that race were Greg Hancock, Bo Brhel and Craig Boyce. The photograph of the presentation ceremony shows four people - Chris Louis, Hancock, Brhel and the 17 year old young lady who made the presentations that evening. Here is what that young lady, whose name is Emma, said of this occasion:- " I thoroughly enjoyed myself and would not have missed the night for anything .... it means a lot that my dad's memory has not been forgotten." 

And who was young Emma's dad ? You've no doubt guessed the answer - William Robert Sanders.