It’s a peaceful little stop-off for travellers on one of the main north-south routes on the Southern Darling Downs. One pub, one shop, one post office, one school, a police station, two churches and scattered houses for its estimated 350 inhabitants.
That’s Leyburn 4365 – except for two days a year. On 23-24 August it will be transformed into a horsepower-charged mini-city with up to 18,000 visitors and more than 250 racing cars attending the Historic Leyburn Sprints.
The community-run Sprints, now in its 29th year celebrating Leyburn’s hosting of the 1949 Australian Grand Prix, is understood to be Queensland’s biggest annual motor-racing event after Supercars. It’s been judged the State’s motorsport event of the year in 2024 and 2017.
The Sprints’ popularity comes from its relaxed grassroots atmosphere for all visitors, strong camaraderie among competitors who return every year from many parts of Australia, dazzling variety of special cars and range of free entertainment both on- and off-track.
First-time visitors often are surprised by the activity and atmosphere around the precinct, which is centred on a 1.0 km closed-street course. The tiny population is boosted by around 5000 campers, some of whom stay for up to a week.
“It’s the best motorsport event I think I’ve been to in my life. If I’d known it was this good I would have come years ago,” said Australian racing legend John Bowe, whose former touring car teammate Dick Johnson is an annual attendee.
Warwick Brown, winner of the 1977 Australian Grand Prix, said he was “blown away” by his visit last year for the 75thanniversary celebrations of Leyburn’s grand prix, and is returning this year.
If Bowe and Brown were impressed by 2024, what would they have thought of the 1949 grand prix? On a remote, ex-wartime airfield almost 200 kms west of Brisbane, an estimated 30,000 spectators crowded a 6.9 km track to see Sydneysider John Crouch win in his French Delahaye.
Locals backed the idea of staging the Sprints from 1996 to remember the biggest day in the history of the former goldrush village.
The event is run by a volunteer community committee representing a cross-section of local life – including farmers, business operators and retirees but only a handful of racing enthusiasts – but effectively has the support of the whole district.
And the district enjoys the annual benefits, such as donations from the Historic Leyburn Sprints Community Benefit Fund plus the opportunity to earn money directly by undertaking various roles during the event. Thirteen community groups, including school P&Cs, the Rural Fire Brigade, Boy Scouts and the 100-year-old CWA branch, are involved.
“We’re The Little Town That Can. We’ve got something special here: history, horsepower and heart, with a proud community, a pretty little rural town and a grassroots motorsport festival that’s the equal of anything else like it in the country,” said the President, Tricia Chant.
“History features strongly in our story. There’s the history of the 1860s goldrush and covert World War 2 operations, still evident at various locations, the grand prix history, our own proud history of 29 annual events and not least the histories of some of the older cars contesting the Sprints. This year we’ve got three cars that are 100 years or older and three that competed in 1949.
“There’s something for everyone on the Sprints weekend. But the day after, Leyburn will be its quiet self again as the townfolk pack up and start planning for our 30th anniversary next year.”
