Of all the nooks and crannies along the Newcastle 500 raceway, there was no position in Newcastle more enviable than that of Tim Carver’s on Sunday.
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A cousin of championship driver David Reynolds, the Newcastle East resident spent the weekend on his Zaara Street balcony with his four sons, Noah, Baxter, Chase and Sonny, while watching the track below for the car of his younger cousin, who won the final race.
“It’s just been amazing. Because I’ve got the big balcony, I’ve just had people coming and going.
“I don’t know him [David Reynolds] all that well because of the age difference. I know his mum [Sue Reynolds] a lot better, his mum is my first cousin. Our family was so close when we were younger,” Mr Carver said.
He said the championship driver knew he had family cheering for him from the sidelines.
“We’ve been waiting for it all year. He’s one of the best,” Mr Carver said.
Sipping champagne on another balcony, this one located overlooking Newcastle Beach, Jane Dukes and Pauline Liddle said they had also lucked out in terms of who they know.
“We have very good friends,” Ms Dukes said, referring to the apartment’s owner Karen Wade, who recently moved to Shortland Esplanade.
“I came here last year and I was standing on the other side of that barricade, looking at the people up here, thinking, ‘Look at all those tossers,’ Ms Dukes of Marks Point said.
“Now I am standing here.”
“It’s beautiful,” Ms Liddle said.
Geoff Neighbour let his friends in on a secret by leading them up the stairs of Newcastle’s United Service Club.
Beer in hand, with a birds-eye view of Watt Street, Mr Neighbour said he believed he'd secured one of the best spots in town – and for no extra charge.
“My word it is,” he said.
“I worked over at the court and one of the local judges told me about it.
“Last year, I hired the balcony, it was brilliant. You could almost reach out and touch them [the cars].”
Member Duncan Burns said the Supercars weekend was a “great opportunity” for the club to gain exposure.
“Quite a lot of people don’t know it exists,” he said.
Event volunteers Karen Wilesmith and Layla Tilley, stationed on the second-floor of Customs House, were hoping to have access to the same vista next year.
“It’s right above the first bend, where all the crashes are,” Ms Wilesmith, of Boolaroo, said.
“Yesterday, I got a photo of Chaz Mostert’s accident. I was stoked.”
“It’s the best view. We don’t want other volunteers to know,” Ms Tilley of Mayfield said.
