Dean Amos, the most successful competitor in 28 years of the Historic Leyburn Sprints, is warming up to chase a milestone 10th outright victory at the award-winning grand prix heritage festival this weekend.
Amos, a two-time Australian Hillclimb Champion, has been unbeaten in every start on Leyburn’s 1.0 km closed-street course since first entering the Sprints in 2014 (there was no Sprints in 2020 because of Covid-19 and in 2021 Amos was marooned by floods around his Lismore home.)
But the challenge this year in his British-built Gould GR55B V8 will be greater because he’ll have to survive the Sprints’ new Top 10 Shootout format, which will give perennial rivals Warwick Hutchinson and Brett Bull an extra shot at victory.
After the scheduled seven timed runs for the 250-car field, the Sprints will wrap up with an eighth run for the 10 fastest drivers, giving them a do-or-die chance in favourable cooler track conditions to sieze the coveted Col Furness Memorial Trophy for fastest time.
The Southern Downs town of Leyburn, with a usual population of around 350 residents, is preparing for a massive weekend influx of up to 18,000 visitors, including 5000 campers and 250 competing cars. Last year’s event, which celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Leyburn Australian Grand Prix, attracted record attendance and entries and was awarded Queensland Motorsport Event of the Year.
While the time trials and huge variety of cars are the main attractions, a packed off-track program will include a spectacular Motorsport Alley car display, Vintage Van Village, Shannons Show ‘n’ Shine, fun run, charity auction and hot-lap and helicopter rides.
Three original cars from the 1949 grand prix will be on show, while famous former champions Dick Johnson. Warwick Brown, Kevin Bartlett, Bruce Allison and Charlie O’Brien will be on hand to meet fans.
The inaugural Top 10 Shootout will keep the Sprints competition alive until the last car has run, organising committee President Tricia Chant said.
“We’re excited to see what feats this new format produces in some of the country’s fastest sprint-course drivers,” she said.
“The competition will be super-keen and I know Dean will be taking it very seriously. Warwick Hutchinson has also won the trophy four times and Brett Bull is bringing a brand-new car he’s built for the open-wheel Formula Libre class.
“And I won’t rule out some of the quick tin-top guys from getting on to the podium, such as the New South Wales driver Adam Kaplan and his Giocattolo Group B coupe. Adam’s a highly experienced driver in single-seaters, touring cars, rally cars and targa competitions and his little coupe is a rocket.”
Amos, Hutchinson and Bull finished first, second and third last year but Hutchinson believes several factors could open up the contest this year.
Cooler conditions and a weekend’s worth of rubber on the track should contribute to optimal times on the event’s final run. But a long-term shortage of suitable Pirelli tyres from overseas will force the drivers to balance grip against preservation and each of the top three’s cars will behave in a different way.
Hutchinson also noted the different specifications of the expected top three cars could come into play.
“Dean’s car is a naturally-aspirated V8, Brett runs a motorcycle engine and my car has a turbocharged rotary. And they have different weights – I expect Brett’s will be less than 400 kg – so on the day we’ll all be able to use different competitive strengths depending on the conditions,” he said.
“They’re all fantastically quick, too. Dean’s car should hit 200 kmh in just a few hundred metres between corners, so they’ll be great for the spectators to watch.”
