OFF-TRACK EVENTS COMPLETE GREAT FAMILY WEEKEND AT HISTORIC LEYBURN SPRINTS

The Shannons Show 'n' Shine and Vintage Caravan display will be colourful highlights of the off-track entertainment at this weekend's Historic Leyburn Sprints (Trapnell Creations pics)

PHOTOS: The Shannons Show 'n' Shine and Vintage Caravan display will be colourful highlights of the off-track entertainment at this weekend's Historic Leyburn Sprints. (Trapnell Creations pics)

LEYBURN (Queensland) - Spectators at this weekend’s 24thHistoric Leyburn Sprints will see around 210 historic, classic and modern cars race the clock on the streets of the little Darling Downs town, but the most colourful vehicles are likely to be found off-track.

Up to 40 “holiday homes on wheels” with period tow vehicles in the Vintage Caravan display and up to 150 glistening cars and motorcycles in the Shannons Show ‘n’ Shine will be highlights of a host of off-track attractions that promise a packed weekend of family entertainment on Saturday and Sunday.

Also on the program are appearances by a host of specially-invited motor-racing personalities of past decades, a country market featuring almost 30 stalls, raffles for racing car rides, a charity auction and two nights’ entertainment at the historic Royal Hotel.

HISTORIC LEYBURN SPRINTS SUPPORTS LOCAL SCHOOL

Wheatvale State School - Strive With Pride

LEYBURN (Queensland) - EACH year, the Historic Leyburn Sprints commits to raising funds to support a local, small community group or school. In 2019, the Sprints is proud to support the Wheatvale State School.

Wheatvale State School is a school with country values and excellent educational outcomes. Situated 15 minutes west of Warwick, it currently caters for a total enrolment of 48 Prep to Year 6 students in three multi-aged classrooms.

With an excellent teacher/student ratio, experienced staff and visiting specialists for music, French and special needs cater for the individual needs of students every day.

HISTORIC LEYBURN SPRINTS ATTRACT STARS AND CARS FOR GRAND PRIX 70th ANNIVERSARY

Historic Leyburn Sprints 2019 (Photos: Trapnell Creations)

Photos: Trapnell Creations

LEYBURN (Queensland) - MORE than 200 historic, classic and performance cars and a grid-full of racing heroes from yesteryear will headline the 24th annual Historic Leyburn Sprints on the Southern Darling Downs on 17-18 August.

The time-trials on a closed-street course around Leyburn celebrate the running of the Australian Grand Prix on an ex-wartime airfield just outside the town in September 1949.

The event is one of the most popular on the historic motorsport calendar and every year attracts thousands of spectators from far and wide.

While no 1949 participants have been found to join the 70th anniversary celebrations, Sprints organisers have invited an impressive line-up of popular drivers from the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, who will be on hand to meet their fans at various activities during the weekend.

70 YEARS ON, MG TWINS RETURN FOR LEYBURN GRAND PRIX CELEBRATIONS

Colin Schiller will bring two MG TB Specials that raced in the 1949 Australian Grand Prix to 70th anniversary celebrations at the Historic Leyburn Sprints next month.

PHOTOS: Colin Schiller will bring two MG TB Specials that raced in the 1949 Australian Grand Prix to 70th anniversary celebrations at the Historic Leyburn Sprints next month.

LEYBURN (Queensland) - Seventy years after the tiny southern Queensland town of Leyburn hosted a memorable Australian Grand Prix, two cars that contested the event will star in anniversary celebrations at the Historic Leyburn Sprints next month.

Both are 1939 MG TB Specials, owned by Colin Schiller and to be driven by him and his daughter Belinda.

The single-seater siblings will be among the oldest – and certainly most historic – of more than 200 entries expected at the 24thannual Sprints on 17-18 August.

The Sprints will mark 70 years since the grand prix was run on 18 September 1949 at a former wartime airfield just outside the Darling Downs township. Thirty thousand spectators were said to have watched the 242 km race, won by John Crouch in a French-built Delahaye.

DICK JOHNSON AND FRED GIBSON JOIN LEGENDS LIST FOR LEYBURN GP CELEBRATIONS

'Big Rev Kev' Kevin Bartlett, here steering his famous Chev Camaro Z28 at Mount Panorama, will be a special guest at the 2019 Historic Leyburn Sprints (Pic: Autopics.com.au)

Two-time Australian Drivers' Champion Kevin Bartlett (left) and 1981 Bathurst winner John French are among Australian motor racing legends heading for the 2019 Historic Leyburn Sprints (Pic: Autopics.com.au)

PHOTOS: Dick Johnson (left) and Fred Gibson will be among the motor-racing legends attending the Historic Leyburn Sprints for Australian Grand Prix 70th anniversary celebrations (Images by Autopics.com.au)

LEYBURN (Queensland) - Bathurst winners Dick Johnson and Fred Gibson have joined a line-up of motor-racing legends set to attend the Historic Leyburn Sprints for 70th anniversary celebrations of the Australian Grand Prix next month.

Johnson, now 74, and Gibson, 78, will participate in a variety of meet-and-greet activities with fans at the 17-18 August event on the Queensland Darling Downs.

They will join 60s and 70s touring car contemporaries Colin Bond, John French, Kevin Bartlett, Bill Gates and others to commemorate Leyburn’s hosting of the 1949 Australian Grand Prix.

The visit will be the first for Melbourne-based Gibson, but Johnson has been a Sprints regular in recent years, enjoying the grass-roots atmosphere and occasionally guest-driving a NASCAR-powered Ford Falcon XY GT on the 1.0 kilometre round-the-houses course.