The Historic Leyburn Sprints, one of Queensland’s biggest annual motorsport festivals, will now celebrate its 30th anniversary at the 2026 event on 15-16 August.
Organisers confirmed the date today, after moving it forward one week from its previously-advertised original slot to avoid a clash with a Supercars round at Queensland Raceway, Ipswich, which was announced yesterday.
The Sprints, which attracted more than 300 vehicles and around 18,000 attended this year, commemorates the running of the 1949 Australian Grand Prix on an ex-wartime airfield near the little Darling Downs town. It has been judged Queensland Motor Sport Event of the Year in 2024 and 2017.
“The 30th anniversary is planned to be a big one for us and our team has a lot of work to do,” Sprints President Tricia Chant said.
“After recovering from the surprise of learning a Supercars round was scheduled for the same weekend and just 150 kms away, we had no choice but to react promptly to ensure the viability of our event and to ensure it is celebrated in the best way, considering it’s our 30th with major celebrations planned.
“In 29 years of staging the Sprints we’ve never faced such a conflict; the Sprints has always been on the second-last weekend of August and we had already advertised the date for 2026.
“There’s no doubt it would impact on our attendance and the availability of essential race officials, plus potentially common sponsors and competitors from support categories at Ipswich. Happily, we hadn’t yet ordered our souvenir merchandise stock.
“We’re a grassroots, community-run event with an enormous following and can’t afford this, so it’s best to lock in a new date without delay.
“We have some very exciting news to share with everyone soon on what we have planned to celebrate our 30th, including a special evening on Thursday the 13th of August – one not to miss. We’re going to put a positive spin on this and use it to create more excitement for our event.”
The highlight of the Historic Leyburn Sprints are round-the-house time trials for around 250 historic, classic and performance cars ranging in vintage from the 1920s to modern-day. Australian Hillclimb Champion Dean Amos scored his 10th outright trophy at this year’s event.
Regular attractions off-track include a Show ‘n’ Shine competition, vintage caravan display, VIP appearances by well-known former drivers, a Motorsport Alley display of rare cars, charity auction, fun run and live entertainment.
The Historic Leyburn Sprints has been supported by the Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland and the Southern Downs Regional Council, which provide financial assistance to help promote the Sprints and attract visitors to the Southern Downs region. Proceeds from the community-run event assist local organisations and projects through the Historic Leyburn Sprints Community Benefit Fund.
Many private organisations also support the Sprints, including Platinum Sponsors JMC Performance, Boral, Loaders R Us, Speedcafe.com, Collins Hay, Shannons Insurance and Tait Freight.
