Bill Dobson
Bill Dobson (Dobbo) was born on 4th July 1944 and passed away on 22nd December 2018. He died peacefully in the Box Hill hospital, Melbourne with his wife Caroline and their three daughters by his bedside. Bill and his family lived at Doncaster, and he was a Builder and Carpenter by trade. In 1972 he took up speedway sidecar racing. He rode throughout the 1970s at the Brooklyn track and occasionally at Avalon. He also made several appearances at the Romsey grass track on the ex Bob McKimmie 8-80 JAP, with his brother Bob in the chair. In 1978 he built a new outfit, using a 900 Kawasaki. He raced this for several years, mostly with Jimmy Carter in the chair. The Dobson-Carter team were fierce competitors and gave a good account of themselves where ever they appeared. He retired from racing in 1982. In 2017 Bill was invited to ride in the parade lap at the Broadford Bonanza in a tribute to the old Romsey Riders. He was once again reunited with the McKimmie JAP, which he had not seen for 39 years. It was fantastic to see Bill and the original machine doing the parade lap in honour of the track where he used to compete all those years ago. It was just like the old firm being back together again. Bills wife and daughters were all there as well, now with children of their own. So it was a great day for everybody. Bill was very well regarded by all that knew him. He will be sadly missed by his family and friends.