Dean Amos has continued an unbeaten run at the Historic Leyburn Sprints, racing his Gould GR55B open-wheel car to a decisive 10th outright win at the weekend.
The two-time Australian Hillclimb Champion set a best lap of 40.163 seconds on Sunday morning in his fourth of seven runs around Leyburn’s 1.0 km closed-street course. He missed bettering his 2019 record by less than 0.8 sec.
Warwick Hutchinson finished 2.5 sec. behind in an OMS 28 and Ross Mackay came third, a further 1.5 sec. back, in a Macspec 24.
Hutchinson’s and Mackay’s times were set in their sixth runs, meaning none of the podium finishers was able to go faster during the inaugural Top 10 Shootout seventh run, which closed the 29th annual Sprints in the tiny Southern Downs township.
The Sprints attracted a record 250 cars, ranging in vintage from 1924 to 2024, while Sprints President Tricia Chant estimated final attendance figures for the weekend could come close to matching last year’s record 18,000, which celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Leyburn Australian Grand Prix. Up to 5000 camped around the event precinct and in residents’ yards.
Mrs Chant said the event had been another great success, with attractions including appearances by six famous former racing champions – Dick Johnson Warwick Brown, Bruce Allison, Kevin Bartlett, Charlie O’Brien and Bap Romano - the return of the 1949 grand prix trophy after two decades, three original cars from the 1949 race, a display of exotic racing cars in Motorsport Alley, Shannons Show ‘n’ Shine featuring 87 cars and the colourful new Vintage Van Village.
Bartlett was re-acquainted with the 1964 Repco Brabham Climax in which he set the first 100 miles an hour (160 kmh) lap of Bathurst’s Mount Panorama circuit. Touring car and open-wheel star Charlie O’Brien returned to the driving seat in Bruce Garland’s Ford Escort, finishing fourth in class.
“Our visitors enjoyed glorious Queensland winter weather and a feast of grassroots motorsport with an amazing variety of cars, plus some other wonderful attractions. I spoke to some newcomers who were amazed at what this little town turns on – the size of the event and the atmosphere are unmatched,” Mrs Chant said.
Renowned for its camaraderie among regular competitors, the weekend opened with a heart-warming presentation of a specially-decorated cake to the Sprints’ oldest driver, 85-year-old Justin McCarthy, alongside his 100-year-old Austin Seven Sports named Alfred.
McCarthy – who started racing only at age 75 - and his tiny Austin customarily are the slowest combination on track, but this year the “honour” went to Sydney visitor Brian Chisholm and his 1924 Amilcar, who clocked a lap more than a minute slower than outright winner Dean Amos.
But Amos said he could have gone faster and possibly reset his lap record if not for having to use three-year-old tyres.
Explaining the shortage of special Pirelli tyres experienced by the leading drivers, Amos said he had tried his best.
“I drove as hard as I could – I don’t come here to finish second,” said the Lismore, NSW, driver.
“The car was nice this weekend and I was happy with my time. But the tyres are at least three years old and I’ve already done two Australian championships on them. If I’d had better tyres I would have had a crack at the record, for sure.”
After a tight battle, Warwick’s Matthew Clift emerged as the fastest Historic car and an impressive 25th outright, with a lap time of 53.01 sec. in his 54-year-old Mazda R100 Rotary.
Paul Connolly, from Casino, NSW, won the Shannons Show ‘n’ Shine People’s choice Award for his 1985 Suzuki Mighty Boy, which he bought in Leyburn and restored after it went under water in the Northern Rivers floods.
Next year will be the 30th edition of the Historic Leyburn Sprints and Mrs Chant said special celebrations were being planned.
RESULTS:
* Fastest Outright (Col Furness Memorial Trophy): Dean Amos (Gould GR55B) 40.163 sec.
* Fastest Historic (Hayden Betts Memorial Trophy): Matthew Clift (Mazda R100) 53.012 sec.
* Junior Driver (Mike and Ann Collins Memorial Trophy): Daniel Kirby (Hyundai Excel)
* John Mellon Rookie of the Year: Lachlan Wyeth (Toyota 86)
* Volunteer Award (Alan Wickham Memorial Trophy): Steve Morris
* Spirit of the Event (John Butterfield Memorial Trophy): Keith Edwards
* Shannons Show ‘n’ Shine, People’s Choice: Paul Connolly (1985 Suzuki Mighty Boy)
* Vintage Vans, People’s Choice: Dee “Pinky Fontaine” Ward (1960 Sportline)
