Amos wins another Leyburn
Once again Dean Amos took outright honours in the 2024 Historic Leyburn Sprints that have been hailed as an “unprecedented success.”
Solid crowds, sunny skies and record entries gathered at the Queensland country town to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the 949 Australian Grand Prix.
More than 240 historic, classic and performance cars contested the Sprints in a record-breaking field, however, a familiar name was on top.
Amos took a ninth outright Col Furness Memorial Trophy win in his Gould GR55B after completing the 1km closed street course in a time of 40.732s.
Mark Pickering’s 350 kmh 1999 G-Force Oldsmobile 1999 Indy 500 entry. Image: Trapnell Creations
The fastest historic driver was David Cross in a Bowin Hay, having recorded a 52.520s time which was enough to win the Hayden Betts Memorial Trophy.
Off the track was a grand success as racing personalities Warwick Brown, Dick Johnson, John Bowe, Bruce Allison, Ron Harrop, Charlie O’Brien and Brian Gelding all attended.
Brown, who won the 1977 Australian Grand Prix winner, and Motorsport Australia President Andrew Fraser unveiled a 75th AGP Anniversary plaque.
Many of the guests were blown away by how big the turn out was.
“It’s the best motorsport event I think I’ve ever been to in my life,” Bowe said.
“If I’d known it was this good I would have come years ago.
“It’s just got this awesome vibe where everybody’s here for the right reasons because they love cars and motorsport.”
Col Schiller contests the Sprints in MG TB that finished fourth in the 1949 AGP. Image: Trapnell Creations
“It’s fantastic. We’ve been to many events like this around the world and this would rank up there with them,” Gelding said.
“It’s probably the friendliness of the people here that I like most. The cars are fantastic and the people driving them are the salt of the earth.”
Leyburn Sprints president Tricia Chant said whilst organisers hoped for a crowd of around 16,000 fans.
Whilst a final attendance figure is yet to be determined, Chant is believes it should exceed expectations once all receipts are counted.
“We had plenty of things planned for the Leyburn grand prix 75th anniversary, but the response was amazing and I’m sure has confirmed Leyburn as Queensland’s most popular motorsport event after Supercars,” she said.
“Saturday in particular was packed with happy, friendly people all day and into the charity auction in the evening. The atmosphere at night around town was magical, with many drivers bedding down beside their race cars in the street and campfire parties happening in residents’ front yards and at the campsites.
John Bowe and Dick Johnson enjoy a ride in a Model T Ford. Image: Roz Harman
“And then during the day we had a fantastic grassroots Sprints competition, with everything from a 99-year-old Austin with an 84-year-old driver, to Ferraris, muscle cars and a 350 kmh Indianapolis 500 racer billed ‘too fast to win’ because Leyburn is just a tight course.
“I congratulate Dean Amos on his ninth win after a good battle with Warwick Hutchinson, who himself has four outright trophies here. Congratulations also to David Cross as the fastest driver in an historic car and to 16-year-old Jye Wickham winning the Junior competition.
“It was a weekend with grassroots motorsport at its core, but that gave much, much more.”
In other prizes handed out, the Mike and Ann Collins Memorial Trophy for top Junior Driver went to Joe Wickham in a Hyundai Excel, while the John Mellon Rookie of the Year was Sam Niven.
Michael Reid and John Tait both claimed the Alan Wickham Memorial Trophy as volunteers of the year as Keith Edwards claimed the John Butterfield Memorial Trophy.
The best car in Show ’n’ Shine was David Stark with his well presented 1970 Chevrolet Camaro Z28.
The best van was a Kennedy 14ft, Studebaker Silver Hawk from Len and Rosemary Kennedy.
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