By TANIA PHILLIPS
WARWICK was abuzz with the sound of the legendary Austin Healey Sprites as the region played host to the Sprite Club National Challenge.
More than 60 of the cars, famously driven and loved by some of the big names of racing over the years from Stirling Moss to Paul Newman, came from NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland to take part in the event.
An important part of the Sprite racing calendar, the challenge is held and hosted by a different state every two years.
Organiser John Robertson of the Queensland Sprite Club said it was a big year for the host club.
“For the first time ever in the 40 year history of the event, Queensland took out the overall trophy,” he said.
Mr Robertson, who has been collecting and driving the cars for the past 25 years and now has four, said it was the first time since 2008 that the club had hosted the event, with Warwick also the venue in 2008.
He said Warwick was the perfect place for such an event with a “great racetrack” and plenty of places to stay and eat.
The club held a social event on the Saturday with the nippy little British cars travelling 250km around the Granite belt with a picnic in the park on Sunday followed by a timed rally along a marked circuit on Albert Street.
He said of the cars would be back in Warwick in late May for the annual sprint trials.
