August 12, 2024
The 28th Historic Leyburn Sprints hits the streets of Leyburn next weekend, celebrating its rich motorsport and local heritage with a line-up of more than 300 cars and famous drivers plus a band of volunteers dedicated to keep their Darling Downs township on the map.
The Sprints on 17-18 August will mark the 75th anniversary of Leyburn hosting the Australian Grand Prix on a former wartime airfield just outside the town, which is 193 kilometres west of Brisbane. It’s expected to be the biggest local event since the grand prix of 18 September 1949.
Leyburn’s history dating back to the mid-19th century will be the background to a packed weekend featuring time-trials for competitors in 64 classes and the contest for outright fastest time among a handful of Australia’s fastest Sprint-course cars.
“Only a handful of people lived in this farming district, but an estimated 30,000 watched that 1949 grand prix, Australia’s most important motor race then and a forerunner of today’s Formula 1 extravaganza in Melbourne,” Sprints President Tricia Chant said.
“It’s difficult to imagine what that must have been like - Leyburn had been fairly quiet since a goldrush in the early 1860s faded away. The grand prix brought it back to national prominence and in creating the Sprints the locals decided they wanted to keep it there.
“Today the Sprints is Queensland’s biggest event of its type and embraces both motorsport and local history in a unique atmosphere.
“It’s a magnificent community effort, where the organising committee comprises just local people, where the CWA, church, school, scouts and other organisations all pitch in and where in the end we have a community benefit fund that redistributes money from the weekend.
“I think that cheerful, can-do country spirit is tangible and helps explain why the Historic Leyburn Sprints is so popular with competitors and spectators alike. It’s a unique event not to be missed.”
The biggest weekend in Sprints history will feature more than 240 historic, classic and performance cars compete on a 1.0 kilometre, closed-street track that starts near the front door of the 1863-licensed Royal Hotel. The entry list includes everything from a 99-year-old “Baby Austin” with an 84-year-old driver, to a 350 kmh Indianapolis 500 racer and Sprints ace Dean Amos bidding for a record ninth outright title.
Around 80 more cars are expected for a Show ‘n’ Shine display on Sunday and up to 30 vintage caravans will add to the interest and colour.
Up to four surviving cars from the 1949 race will be on display, while fans will be able to meet GP drivers from later eras - 1977 winner Warwick Brown, plus Bruce Allison, John Bowe and Charlie O’Brien - along with touring car identities Dick Johnson, Ron Harrop and Brian Gelding.
A charity auction, fun run, racing car and helicopter rides, market stalls and live music will be among other attractions for visitors, who will include thousands staying in tents and caravans set up around the town precinct.
