Leyburn Sprints 17th & 18th August 2013 – Results.
The 18th annual Sprints, commemorating the 1949 Australian Grand Prix, a field of 192 drivers, a diverse line-up of classic, historic and performance cars ranging in vintage from 1935 to 2013. Also running at the same time was the Shannon’s Show ‘n’ Shine with almost 100 entries and perfect weather combined to attract a potentially record crowd.
With typical cooler mornings and beautiful day the weather was kind over the weekend. The Leyburn Sprints is one of the longest continuously-running historic motorsport events in the country and again it was very well supported this year by spectators, competitors and sponsors. Sprints organising committee President Ann Collins said “Everybody loved the event, whether they were spectators or competitors, the weekend went very well and everybody had fun.”
Proceeds from the not-for-profit 2013 Leyburn Sprints will assist numerous local community groups and projects. Its Leyburn’s good-natured country atmosphere that attracts competitors and spectators from all round Australia as this event is truly one of a kind.
The trophy presentation during which the prizes of varnished rocks varying in size for first, second and third – were distributed from the back of a ute parked outside the 1863-licensed Royal Hotel. Rock recipients included the fastest Historic-category driver David Cross, who recorded a 49.22 sec. run in his 1976 V8 Bowin-Hay single-seater, ninth-best also in the overall classification.
The fastest time of the weekend went to Warwick Hutchinson (Van Diemen RF92-RPV02) in his self built Mazda 13b Turbo single-seater Hillclimb racing car of 44.87 sec. Warwick had good competition this year from Dean Amos in a Gould GR37, Dean kept Warwick working hard for his new track record.
Second outright was Dean Amos in a Gould GR37, Dean’s best time was on his last run of 45.11 sec. This was the first event for Dean in this car so we will hopefully see more from Dean and this car.
Third outright was Neville Scott (Subaru WRX) Neville punted his car around the 1Klm track in a very quick time of 47.33 sec. on his last run. Neville’s WRX is one of the quickest Subaru’s in Australia and credit to Neville and his team for the times he posted.
Top 10 Outright Results for the weekend –
1st Warwick Hutchinson (Van Diemen RF92-RPV02 Turbo Rotary) 44.87 sec. (New Track Record)
2nd Dean Amos (Gould GR37) 45.11 sec.
3rd Neville Scott (Subaru WRX) 47.33 sec.
4th Nicholas Contojohn (Subaru WRX Sti) 47.46 sec.
5th Mark Crespan (Ford Cobra) 47.80 sec.
6th Neal Lewis (DBF 1) 47.81 sec.
7th Phil Pratt (Trojan) 48.37 sec.
8th Ray Vandersee (Skelta G Force S/C) 49.08 sec.
9th David Cross (Bowin Hay P6) 49.22 sec.
10th Jason Gava (Ford Escort) 49.38 sec.
Once again the organizers of this event should be congratulated as the weekend was a great success and we are looking forward to running in the next year’s event.
The next hillclimb event that the rotary Hillclimb racing car will be running is Australian Hillclimb Championships at Mt Cotton on the 1st to the 3rd November 2013.
For more info on the AHC you can visit the MGCCQ website.
“CLICK HERE” to visit the MG Car Club – web site.