The 2019 Historic Leyburn Sprints will welcome motor sport royalty when one of Australia’s most admired racing drivers from the 1960s to 1980s attends the popular event in August.

 

Celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Australian Grand Prix, Kevin Bartlett will form part of the incredible line up of iconic drivers alongside his 1982 Bathurst co-driver Colin Bond, with 1981 Bathurst winner John French and Queensland ace Bill Gates already named on the bill.

 

The 79-year-old began his career in 1958 and went on to win the Australian Drivers’ Championships in 1968 and 1969, as well as claiming the Bathurst 1000 in 1974.

 

In a career spanning more than 30 years, most of which were spent with Alec Mildren Racing team, fans witnessed Bartlett behind the wheel of a variety of single-seater and touring cars over the years, his most notable being the Channel Nine-sponsored Chev Camaro Z28 in the early 1980s.

 

With Barlett just one of many legendary figures to be in attendance, Sprints President Tricia Chant was confident ‘Big Rev Kev’ will attract a big crowd.

 

“Kevin is a true legend of Australian motor racing, as a talented and tough competitor on track and a popular personality out of the car,” Chant said.

 

“That popularity has never waned and I’m sure many people will come to the Sprints just for the chance to meet him.”

 

The 24th running of the Sprints will feature more than 200 cars representing 10 decades of motoring with the special guests, including Bartlett, to be on hand throughout the event in order to help celebrate the 1949 Australian Grand Prix.

 

Thousands of fans are expected to turn out to the 2016 Queensland Motor Sport Event of the Year, which is supported by the Tourism and Events Queensland and the Southern Downs Regional Council.