Riding for more than petrol money: Dave Sanders and Murray Hall on the old boards of St.Leonards
A major part of it was the field. And what a field. Great names of Australian cycling made their way to Launceston for the Six-Day. There was Venn, Oliver, Whetters, Grenda, the Hammond brothers Len and Terry, Phil Sawyer and locals Neville Allison and Craig Price, the latter a fiery, hard-charging youngster.
But it was another pairing who would steal the show and record a thrilling win on St. Leonards’ old boards that year: Victorian Dave Sanders and Victorian born Murray Hall had been competing in the time honoured Tasmanian Christmas Carnival series in the lead up to the ‘Six’ and had been in good form.
Sanders was big and strong and could ride all night. Hall, who had relocated from Victoria to Western Australia, was the smaller of the two, a fine sprinter and as competitive as they come. It was Hall’s first full season riding as a professional and he brought a new level of intensity to grand old St. Leonards.
“There wasn’t much time to have a rest or go and hide anywhere,” Hall recalls now. “It really was a stressful environment racing that type of event.
“Your head was doing a million things at once; dodging slow riders, watching jumpers coming in-and-out of the Madison chases, calculating laps and points on your opposition, knowing where every other bloke was at any given time. You developed reflexes like a feral cat, and at the end of each session I was mentally exhausted as well as having built up physical aggravation.”
Before the race, top Tasmanian rider Neville Allison withdrew after a disagreement with organisers. Allison was aggrieved at not receiving the same appearance money as offered to the interstate riders. He was under the impression he was to partner scratchman Laurie Venn in the race and the dispute escalated when organisers informed him that he would in fact partner fellow Tasmanian Peter Coventry for a princely sum of $350.
Launceston’s weather turned sour on the opening day and the racing was washed out, reducing the race from seven sessions to six. A crowd of more than 2,000 turned out for the first night with several big crashes keeping fans entertained.
Victorian Phil Sawyer eloquently summed up the night as ‘like riding home from work in peak hour traffic with everyone opening doors on you’.
Heavy condensation shortened the second night of racing by one-and-a-half hours but it didn’t deter more than 1500 from attending. They watched on as Australian half mile record holder Malcolm Hill broke the track record with a lightspeed flying lap of 13.6 seconds.
Launceston was a hive of activity at the time, even away from the boards. Locals not inclined towards two-wheels were kept engaged with Grease showing at the drive-in, Jaws 2 at Cinema One and Superman on the screen at the historical Princess Theatre. TV programming didn’t commence until midday in 1979 with Mike Willesse on Seven and Matlock Police concluding the schedule at around 11.50pm. Tasmanian stations TNT 9 and TVT 6 both televised the final 45 minutes of racing each night with commentary from Ray James, Mal Sutton, Jim Cox and cycling great Graeme Gilmore.
More than 3,000 people crammed into St.Leonards on the third night. Keith Oliver and Malcolm Hill held onto a slender two-point lead over Hall and Sanders with Phil Sawyer and local scratchman Graeme Hodskiss a further 75 points adrift back in third place.
Sanders thought he and Hall could be competitive in ‘The Six’ but the realisation of winning didn’t hit until midway through the race. “It became a reality and we focused everything on getting that result,” Sanders recalls. The pair received a little advice from a well-known local who had made a name for himself in the format. “Graeme Gilmore suggested to us to chase the points on offer in the ‘Tempo’ events at the start of the program each day,” Sanders smiles when reflecting on the chat with the legend. “Traditionally these were just warm-up laps but we decided to smash these events every day and take every point we could.”
As The Six progressed, teams would tire and not expect the hectic riding from the gun each day and the aggressive tactics being served by the tireless Sanders and Hall. “Teams had sore legs from the accumulation of race days and were not too keen on the fast starts so we generally had a good bag of points before the sprint sessions even started,” Sanders says.
The St. Leonards Six wasn’t just a way to finish off their carnival time in Tasmania. Sanders and Hall had prepared assiduously for a focused assault on the event. “We had done very specific preparation for these sixes and arrived ready to race,” Sanders says. “They weren’t just another event at the end of the carnivals for us… that’s why we came to Tassie and it was a priority.”
The weather also dealt its hand. “I remember some seriously cold nights when there was frost of the track,” Sanders remembers. However, frostiness was also evident among the competitors. “There were a few personality issues between teams and it wasn’t just the media hyping it up for a headline,” Sanders says. “There were a few verbal and on track scuffles happening, which made for good drama I suppose.”
Brothers Terry and Len Hammond asserted their authority on The Six during the penultimate night of racing. A crowd of around 3,500 cheered on as 1978 Sun Tour winner Terry and older brother Len – who finished sixth in that race – took the field by surprise when they stole a lap with barely an hour of racing remaining.
The Hammonds finished the night leading the race on distance covered only as their points tally of 36 was well behind the second-placed pair of Oliver and Hill who had accumulated 199 points.
The best was yet to come with riders keeping plenty in reserve and saving their best for the final night of racing. More than 4,000 crammed the stands, eager for a stirring spectacle. Five teams were in with a chance to win The Six on the last night with Laurie Venn and Eric Bishop still in the hunt despite being middle of the table.
The battle between the Hammond brothers and the Sanders/Hall combination lived up to its billing. Both combinations, trained by Melbourne’s Fred Reynolds, put on a scintillating display of powerful and fast track cycling. Although the Hammonds were low on points, their determination and fight in remaining on no laps down proved rousing. Any slip up from the pair could have seen them go from fighting for the win to last place.
Hall and Sanders ultimately prevailed, and with style. These two and the Hammonds were the only combinations to remain on no laps down but it was the former who were almighty in the sprints, accumulating a whopping 257 points to the Hammonds’ 85. Hill and Oliver were back in third place one lap down and on 368 points.
Hall remembers it as a demanding win. “It was hard work and a class field,” he says “We loved being there, the crowds, the live TV coverage, the atmosphere, the rattling of the boards; it was all inspiring.
“The last night was the hardest that year; I remember it well,” Hall adds. “The other teams threw everything they had at us to get their lap back. We got so much satisfaction from the Tassie Six that we planned our following year around it and came back and did it all again 12 months later.”
For the Hammond brothers, it was their first six-day race experience and Len says he came away content with the runners-up cheque. “We set out aiming not to make fools of ourselves,” he smiles now.
Carnival organisers underestimated the talents of Hall and Sanders in Latrobe during the Christmas Carnival series but their performance in that famous 1979 event would cause more than a little shift in their perception for future outings.
“They may have known who Dave and I were, but they obviously had no idea how we were going and tried to sign us up for petrol money,” Hall laughs. “We'd made our point and signed on as draw cards instead of cannon fodder.”
1979 Launceston TNT 9 Six-Day final scoreboard:
1 - Dave Sanders/Murray Hall 0 laps down , 257 points.
2 – Len/Terry Hammond 0 laps down , 85 points.
3 – Malcolm Hill/Keith Oliver 1 lap down, 368 points.
4 – Phil Sawyer/Graeme Hodskiss 1 lap down, 256 points.
5 – Laurie Venn/Eric Bishop 1 lap down, 224 points.
6 – Brian Tilley/Wayne Hildred 1 lap down, 90 points.
7 – Peter De Longville/Chris Reinmuth 1 lap down, 18 points.
8 – Ross Forster/Kerry Wood 2 laps down, 171 points.
9 – Dennis Clarke/Mike Taylor 2 laps down, 81 points.
Composite teams formed when Eric Turner (originally partnered with Ross Forster) and Craig Price (originally partnered with Kerry Wood) withdrew due to illness.
Other riders to withdraw during the race were Geoff Pollard, Peter Coventry, and the team of Ron Grenda and Bob Whetters.
Words: Shane Goss/www.licoricegallery.com
Pics: Courtesy Dave Sanders & Murray Hall.