The Newcastle Street Circuit was a temporary

street circuit A street circuit is a motorsport race track, racing circuit composed of temporarily closed-off public roads of a city, town or village, used in motor racing, motor races. Airport Runway, runways and Taxiway, taxiways are also sometimes part of ...

around the east end of

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle, also commonly referred to as Greater Newcastle ( ; ), is a large Metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the second-most-populous such area of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the cities of City of Newcastle, Newcastle and Ci ...

, Australia. The circuit hosted the

Newcastle 500 The Newcastle 500 was an annual motor racing event for Supercars Championship, Supercars, held at the Newcastle Street Circuit in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia in 2017 Newcastle 500, 2017, 2018 Newcastle 500, 2018, 2019 Newcastle 500, 2 ...

round of the

Supercars Championship The Supercars Championship, also known as the Repco Supercars Championship under sponsorship and historically as V8 Supercars, is a touring car racing category in Australia and New Zealand, running as an International Series under Fédération I ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

and

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with the 2020, 2021 and 2022 events cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The 14-turn, circuit takes in Newcastle Beach and the foreshore around Nobbys Beach Reserve. The Newcastle 500 was last held, with the

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deciding not support the event and voting to remove the permanent sections of racetrack.

Circuit

Layout

The circuit began on Wharf Road, heading southwest towards the city. It then turned left at Watt Street, crossing over the

Newcastle Light Rail The Newcastle Light Rail is a light rail system in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, running from Newcastle Interchange through the central business district to Pacific Park. Major construction commenced in September 2017 and the line was ...

tracks before ascending a 1:22 hill up Watt Street, before again turning left onto Shortland Esplanade after turn one. Once on Shortland Esplanade, the circuit snaked down the beachside road before reaching a 90° left turn at Zaara Street. This was followed by a 90° right turn onto Scott Street and another 90° left turn onto Parnell Place to the fastest stretch of circuit, Nobbys Road down past

Fort Scratchley Fort Scratchley, a former coastal defence installation, is now a museum. It is located in Newcastle East, New South Wales, Newcastle East, a suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales in Australia. It was built in 1882 to defend the city against a pos ...

followed by a left-handed hairpin bend in the Camp Shortland carpark. From there a right-hand turn onto Wharf Road completed the lap. The originally proposed layout featured a section through Pacific Park and a differently-profiled permanent course in Camp Shortland. In 2019, the Camp Shortland hairpin bend was altered to improve overtaking. The corner apex moved to where the outside track limit point was initially situated and the corner radius was tightened, giving drivers a longer and deeper braking zone to complete passes.

Construction

Works to prepare the precinct for racing began in July 2017, four months before the first event was held. Significant civil works were undertaken in Foreshore Park to create a pit area, as well as in Camp Shortland and on Nobbys' Road to make the streets suitable for racing. Additional works were undertaken to replace local water and electrical infrastructure, with some services close to a century old. Two permanent roundabouts were removed to create the circuit, and were reinstalled when the track was decommissioned in 2024.

Criticism

The circuit attracted criticism from residents within the precinct, mainly citing concerns about noise and a lack of access. Some residents took an extremist view of the event, claiming it would encourage

hoon A hoon () is an Australian and New Zealand term describing a person who deliberately drives a vehicle in a reckless or dangerous manner, generally in order to provoke a reaction from onlookers. Hoon activities (or hooning) can include speeding ...

behaviour and comparing themselves to victims of persecution. In March 2017, ahead of civil works to prepare the streets for racing, residents staged a protest resulting in clashes with motorsport fans.

Lap records

The fastest official race lap records at Newcastle Street Circuit are listed as:Natsoft Race Results
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Notes

References

{{Supercars Championship circuits, state=collapsed Defunct motorsport venues in Australia Motorsport venues in New South Wales Newcastle 500 Motorsport in the Hunter Region Former Supercars Championship circuits 2017 establishments in Australia 2023 disestablishments in Australia