Dean Amos won the 2026 Historic Leyburn Sprints. Image: Richard Gresham
The most prolific winner of the annual event drove his Nicholsen McLaren-powered Gould GT55B around the tight, one-kilometre closed street course in the township with a best time of 40.584s.
He missed his benchmark record time set in 2019 by just 0.790s.
“I did my best time on the first run this [Sunday] morning!” he said.
“The next would have been ideal and quicker but I made a mistake.”
Second place went to Warwick Hutchinson in his OMS 28 RPV03 with third going to Brett Bull aboard the BBM/Kawasaki Turbo.
The pair were split by 0.002s at the end of the first day before Hutchinson pulled out a 43.744 on Sunday to open the gap to 0.3s.
The event was the 30th Anniversary of the celebration of the 1949 Australian Grand Prix, which was held just outside of the small township on a RAAF airbase.
In all, 231 took part in what has been described as the biggest so far in the 30 years with a usual population of 500 that swells to upwards of 19,000.
Cars ranged from an Austin Seven Sports Special and a Crossley Roadster built in 1925 to a 2020 Toyota Yaris GR. The entry included sports cars, racing cars, touring cars, rally cars and street cars.
It also included the MG T8 Peter Critchley Special and the MB TB Jack Nind Special. Both are owned and driven by Belinda and Colin Schiller and competed in the 1949 AGP.
Fourth overall was Steven Woodbridge (Dallara F305) ahead of Neil Lewis (Fly 1). Next was Doug Daniels (Nu Tec) in front of Blaise Paris, who was first of the non-open-wheeler cars in a Porsche 911 GT3. Then followed Luke Weiks (Empire 1), Mark Crespan (Ford Cobra RMC) and Roger Garcia in his McLaren 540C.
A Ford Escort hits a hay bale during the Historic Leyburn Sprints. Image: Richard Gresham
Incidents were relatively few, although several hay bales were hit. The only serious damage was by Kurt Kratzmenn (Porsche 910) and Ivan Voevodin (Mazda RX3) with heavier contact.
VIP guests this year were Bruce Allison, Kevin Bartlett, Colin Bond, John Bowe, Dick and Steve Johnson, New Zealander Graeme Lawrence, Steve Masterton, Andrew Miedecke, Charlie O’Brien and Bap Romano.
Miedecke also had two of his cars there – the Mercedes AMG from the team that he debuted at Bathurst with in 1986 and the Ford Sierra RS500 he and Peter Brock won the Nissan-Mobil 500 series in New Zealand with in 1990 – for demonstration laps.
Activities began with the Night with the Stars, Under the Stars held at Broncos and Queensland State Of Origin NRL star Shane Webcke’s Ellangowan Woolshed.
The VIPs attended and the auction of some of the late John Fench memorabilia raised significant funds for the Motorsport Ministries and the Historic Leyburn Sprints Community Fund.
On Friday morning, the guest attended the Allora to witness the addition of Doug and Elizabeth Partington’s Wikner Ford to the Sporting Museum with Jill Johnson performing the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
It was discovered and purchased by Partington as a 14-year-old who bought it for 14 pounds. It is listed in the American T Model Ford Speedsters and Racers Hall of Fame and is the oldest known Australian-built racing car.
It competed from 1922 to 1925 by the Wikner Brothers with its first race meeting at the short-lived Olympia Speedway in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra.
After the restoration in 2019, Partington fulfilled a childhood dream by racing in the US, at the famous ‘brickyard’ Indianapolis Motor Speedway, hitting a humble 80 mph (130 km/h).
Then came the guests’ pilgrimage to the actual site of the 1949 Australian Grand Prix where there was the GK Ford Special – an original entry in the race.
Unfortunately, it only lasted just four laps then. The side-valve V8-powered machine was restored by current owner Chris Hughes and his late father after it was found and was scheduled to be scrapped.
Besides the on-track action at the Historic Leyburn Sprints, other attractions included the Vintage Van Village, the Shannons Show ‘n’ Shine, the Shannons new Big Rig 2 hospitality rig with free spectator admission, Helicopter rides and more.