The 20th running of the Historic Leyburn Sprints will see more than 200 machines of all eras tackle a 1km course in the tiny town near Toowoomba starting today.
Organisers will dedicate the milestone anniversary two-day event to Australia’s triple F1 world champion Sir Jack Brabham who died last year aged 88.
Leyburn’s celebrated Sprint weekend was instigated to revive memories of the 1949 Australian Grand Prix which was held at a nearby airfield.
Racing continued for several years after the Grand Prix with Brabham, who had made a name for himself on Speedway tracks at the time, winning the Queensland Road Racing Championships in a Cooper-Bristol Redex Special at Leyburn in 1953.
The historic, classic and high performance entries range from a 1925 Austin Brooklands roadster to a 2015 RSS racer.
Action starts at 8am on both days, with competitors running against the clock in 55 classes covering sports, racing and touring cars.
Off track sees a vintage caravan display and a Legends Dinner honouring nine Australian racing identities at Leyburn’s signature Royal Hotel.
Among the favoured entries for outright honours are the defending champion Dean Amos in a V8-powered Judd Gould and the Warwick Hutchinson-drive rotary-powered Van Diemen which took honours in 2012 and 2013.
Dean Tighe and Michael Von Rappard will drive Dallara Formula 3 machines, while three-time Australian Gold Star champion and Malaysian Grand Prix winner Paul Stokell will make his Leyburn debut in a Radical sports car.
Among the demonstration runs will be the Mildren-Waggott single-seater, affectionately known as the ‘Yellow Submarine’ driven internationally by Kevin Bartlett and Frank Gardner and a 1980 Ford Capri of touring car ace and 1965 Bathurst Armstrong 500 winner Bo Seton.
Seton will join fellow drivers Stokell, Bruce Allison, John French, Jim Bertram, Bob Holden, Brian Michelmore and John English, plus Lakeside and Surfers Paradise track promoter David Harding at the Legends Dinner.
Adult entry to the Sprints costs $20 per day or $30 for the weekend, with accompanied children under 14 years admitted free.
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