Born into the sport of motorcycling because her father Bill Tinker was a competitor in scrambles and speedway, Sandra attended her first NZACU AGM with him in the 1970s. It was hosted by the Auckland Motorcycle Club when Sir Dove Meyer Robinson was the Club Patron.
In the mid 1970s Sandra worked for the NZACU administration when Max Cleverly was at the helm. She later moved to become Secretary of the Speedway Control Board – speedway was run by the NZACU in those days. In 1981, she became the NZACU Secretary, a role which evolved over the years into Executive Director, then CEO, a role she held until 2000.
Under Sandra’s stewardship, the organisation moved to a computer system in the 80s, changed its name from the New Zealand Auto Cycle Union to Motorcycling New Zealand and joined the Federation International Motocyclisme (FIM), having previously obtained international licences for riders from the ACU England.
For Sandra, there were many highlights of her time at MNZ, including the four World Superbike rounds at Manfeild and the 1991 FIM World Congress.
She became the Secretary for Asia Pacific, which eventually allowed NZ, Australia and the Asian countries to compete together. She became a delegate to the FIM, along with Errol Conaghan, and was elected to the FIM Touring Commission, which helped organise tours from America to NZ and prepared a touring booklet to assist bikers’ travel in this country.
At the 2004 New Zealand Motorcycle Awards, Sandra was awarded the Ivan Mauger Speedway Award for services rendered to speedway in New Zealand.