V8 Supercars ace Tim Slade puts ring on Dani Byrnes’ finger

GOLD Coast Supercars ace Tim Slade has finally put a ring on glamour girl Dani Byrnes’ finger but their special moment was anything but traditional.

GOLD Coast Supercars ace Tim Slade has finally put a ring on glamour girl Dani Byrnes’ finger but their special moment was anything but traditional.

The glamour couple got engaged last week after an eight-year courtship and did things their own way.

Slade, ranked 11th in the Supercars standings heading into this week’s finale in Newscastle, didn’t ‘pop the question’ in the normal manner.

Tim Slade and his now-fiancee Dani Byrnes.

Byrnes, a 31-year-old model who first met 33-year-old Tim at a Supercars Annual Gala Awards night, tells ATG: “We’ve been together just over eight years and while the commitment was always going to be there, we decided about a year ago we would eventually get married — and made the mutual decision to do so.

V8 Supercars driver Tim Slade and Dani Byrnes reveal their engagement on social media. Picture: Instagram of Dani Byrnes

“We are non-traditionalists, not religious and never pictured a surprise engagement,” she says.

“I like we both decided together and feel times have changed. It’s great the woman gets 50-50 input in such an exciting time of your life. We wanted an engagement quintessentially us. If you’re picturing bending down on one knee that didn’t happen,” she says.

Tim Slade heads into the Newcastle Supercars finale 11th in the series. Photo by Richard Gosling

Then there is the story behind the rock on her finger. The pair started that journey earlier this year in Hong Kong during a stopover on the way home from racing in Shanghai in the Asia GT Series.

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“The plan was to come home with a ring, but honestly the whole process was draining and we just didn’t find the one,” she says. “When we were almost defeated, we found a bespoke jeweller in central Hong Kong who could make my dream ring. We designed it together. It was so nice being sent sketches, choosing the diamond, and seeing progress photos. When the ring arrived we decided we would make that our day and went to our favourite dog park with our Vizsla, Max and got the official selfie photo there.”

GC600 at Surfers Paradise, with Tim Slade & Ash Walsh. Picture: Richard Gosling

Originally published as V8 Supercars ace Tim Slade puts ring on Dani Byrnes’ finger