Dean Amos has continued his remarkable record at the Historic Leyburn Sprints, claiming his 11th outright victory as the iconic Queensland event celebrated its 30th anniversary on the Southern Downs.
The three-time Australian Hill Climb Champion set a best time of 40.584 seconds in his Gould GR55B open-wheeler around Leyburn’s 1.0-kilometre closed-street course, finishing just 0.79 seconds short of his 2019 record.
“I set the time on one of my runs this Sunday morning, but made a slight mistake on another run, so who knows if that could have been the record,” Amos said.
“This is such a tight, short course there’s no room for mistakes in 40 seconds.”
Warwick Hutchinson finished second in an OMS 28, 3.16 seconds behind Amos, while Brett Bull completed the outright podium in his self-built BB MHC, a further 0.40 seconds adrift.
Matthew Clift claimed victory in the Historic classes in his Mazda R100 coupe with a fastest time of 53.34 seconds, narrowly missing his winning time from 2025.
The event attracted an extraordinary field of 240 cars, ranging from a 1924 Crossley to a 2019 Porsche GT3, as Leyburn celebrated both the Sprints’ 30th anniversary and the 77th anniversary of the 1949 Australian Grand Prix.
The weekend also featured a stellar line-up of 10 legendary Australian racing drivers with Dick Johnson, John Bowe, Colin Bond, Kevin Bartlett, Bap Romano, Steve Masterton, Charlie O’Brien, Graeme Lawrence, Bruce Allison, and Andrew Miedecke attending as VIP guests.
The drivers attracted hundreds of spectators across three autograph sessions, while Miedecke also displayed his former Peter Brock Mobil 1 Ford Sierra and a 1986 Mercedes-Benz Group A touring car in Motorsport Alley.
Sprints President Tricia Chant said the event was the best yet hosted by the small town and its community volunteers, with crowds filling the precinct from early Saturday morning.
More than 40 market stalls and 15 food and drink outlets operated across the weekend, while the Shannons Show ‘n’ Shine featured 86 cars and motorcycles. Peter McCormick’s 1964 Lotus Cortina was named Car of the Show.
The Vintage Van Village also proved popular, with Gordon and Gay Gregory’s restored 1967 Olympia Riviera winning the People’s Choice award.
Adding to the celebrations, Barry Smith and Matthew Devitt received special recognition for competing at every Historic Leyburn Sprints since the event’s inaugural running in 1996.
With another bumper crowd expected to surpass the current 18,000 attendance record, Leyburn’s 30th anniversary provided a fitting celebration of the event’s enduring place in Australian motorsport.
