David Norris (speedway rider)

David Norris
Personal information
Nationality  England
Date of birth 20 August 1972
Place of birth    Eastbourne, England
Nickname Floppy
Current club information
British league Eastbourne Eagles
Career history
Eastbourne Eagles

Ipswich Witches
Reading Racers
Wybrzeże Gdańsk (POL)
KS Toruń (POL)
Valsarna (SWE)
Vargarna (SWE)
1988-1989, 1993-1994,
1996-2007, 2009
1990, 1991-1993
1995
1995-1996
1999
2000-2003
2005
Individual honours
None
Team honours
Elite League
British League Knockout Cup
Elite League KO Cup
British League Four Team
2000
1994
1997, 2002
1991

David Michael Norris (born 20 August 1972, in Eastbourne, England)[1] is a former British international motorcycle speedway rider.

Career

Norris had stints with Reading Racers and Ipswich Witches, but primarily rode for the Eastbourne Eagles in the British League, Premier League, and Elite League. In 2007 he overtook Gordon Kennett as the Eagles' leading scorer, accumulating 5,197 points from just 577 meetings. He burst onto the world scene in 2004, aged 32, when adopting a new 'more professional' attitude towards the sport, going on to appear as a wild card in the British Speedway Grand Prix in 2004 and 2005.[2]

Retirement

A succession of injuries dogged him in 2006 and 2007 though and he announced his retirement from speedway in October 2007. He said: "I'm at a stage now where I can't take another hit on my head or neck. If I didn’t have kids and my wife I might consider carrying on, but you can’t just live for yourself." [3] However, after holding talks with his doctor and family, Norris came out of retirement and once again rode for the Eastbourne Eagles during the 2009 season, assisted in the pits by Dean Barker.[4]

References

  1. Oakes, P.(2004). British Speedway Who's Who. ISBN 0-948882-81-6
  2. Bamford, Robert (2007-03-01). Tempus Speedway Yearbook 2007. NPI Media Group. ISBN 0-7524-4250-3.
  3. "Norris retires from Eagles". www.elite-eagles.com. 31 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-31.
  4. "Norris ready and raring to go". The Argus. 2008. Retrieved 2009-04-21.