[3] On advice from his father, Billy Sanders bought his first speedway bike, a second hand JAP, from a man named Bruce Gardiner rather than going to the expense of buying a brand new Jawa.
The bike was one previously owned by five time Australian champion Aub Lawson and Sanders used it to hone his skills at the Nepean Speedway in Sydney's outer north-west during 1969/70.
He then went on to make his competition debut at the Liverpool Speedway in Sydney on 4 July 1971 in a winter meeting, quickly becoming a crowd favourite.
He would also win the Aussie title in 1980 (Sydney Showground), 1981 (Brisbane Exhibition Ground), 1982 (Claremont) and 1983 (Speedway Park, Adelaide, where he famously told the unruly crowd that after the reception he got he might consider changing nationalities.
He left Ipswich in 1981, signing for the Hull Vikings for £15,000 in a three-rider deal that saw American's Dennis Sigalos and John Cook head in the opposite direction.
He first qualified for the Speedway World Championship final in 1977 at the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden finishing in ninth place with 7 points.
Sanders finished on 11 points along with England's emerging star Michael Lee, American Kelly Moran and defending champion Ole Olsen from Denmark, with the four riders racing in a run-off for third and fourth places.
Sanders finished in third place in the 1980 Individual Speedway World Championship, again in Gothenburg, behind English pair Michael Lee and Dave Jessup.
Teaming with fellow Liverpool rider and runner up to Sanders in the Australian Championship Gary Guglielmi, the pair finished in a disappointing fourth place after being among the favourites before the meeting.
Billy Sanders finished in a best ever second place at the 1983 Individual World Championship held in Norden, West Germany, behind local favourite Egon Müller.
He also represented Australia again at the World Pairs Final held in Gothenburg, and again teamed with Guglielmi after Phil Crump had declined to ride in the meeting.
His second last ride, against an out of form West German team (Müller and Karl Maier), saw him lead into the first turn, only to fall and cause the race to be stopped.
As the reason for the stoppage, Sanders was excluded by the referee of the meeting, Australian Sam Bass, with Gugliemi winning the re-run from Maier and Müller.
For the third year in a row he would team with Guglielmi in the World Pairs Final, this time held in Lonigo, Italy, though they were unable to repeat or better their 1983 second-place finish and slipped to fifth place.
The lesson at his funeral was read by former World Champion Bruce Penhall, who was a close personal friend and the godfather of Sanders' two children.