Linda and Allan Locking have seen Supercars racing only on television, but they jumped at the chance to volunteer at the championship’s first visit to Newcastle.
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The Chisholm couple will be ushers at the Newcastle 500 this weekend, two of about 800 volunteers logging long hours at the race.
Allan, a retired Defence Force motor mechanic, said he and his wife had not been motor racing fans but were thrilled to be involved in the inaugural Newcastle race.
“I was born and bred in Jesmond, and just driving through Newcastle now just seeing all the road works and cranes, I think it is an exciting time for Newcastle, for employment and everything,” he said.
Linda said the couple were keen to clock up some experience as volunteers.
“We’ve just done a caravaning trip, and there was a lot of events we thought we could have applied to, but we didn’t have enough experience, so we thought why not start with the Supercars, something really special for Newcastle. It looks so exciting,” she said.
Suzy Moffitt, from Medowie, will be a volunteer supervisor in the family zone inside the track.
She has worked as a talent coordinator on TV show The Voice and volunteered for Newcastle Reel Film Festival and at the AACTA Awards in Sydney.
“When the V8s were coming to Newcastle, I thought, ‘Wow, it’s so good for my own town to have something like this,’” she said.
Suzy, who studied film and television at Newcastle University, also has never been to a Supercars race.
“It’s completely new, but I like trying different things. Life’s there to be lived.
“I’d been pretty upset with Newcastle being so quiet for a while.”
