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David Michael Norris (born 20 August 1972, in Eastbourne, England) is a former British international motorcycle speedway rider. He earned 20 international caps for the England national speedway team and 8 caps for the Great Britain team.

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.

As an Eastbourne rider, he twice averaged over 9, in 1994 (9.18) and 2004 (9.95). He won the league title with the club in 2000 and the Knockout Cup with the team on three occasions in 1994, 1997 and 2002.

In 2004, aged 32, when adopting a new 'more professional' attitude towards the sport, he appeared as a wild card in the British Speedway Grand Prix in 2004 and 2005.

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." 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.

References

1. Oakes, P.(2004). British Speedway Who's Who. ISBN 0-948882-81-6
2. "David Michael Norris Wielka Brytania". Polish Speedway Database. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
3. "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
4. "David Norris". WWOS backup. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
5. "Eagles land six of England's best". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 7 March 1994. Retrieved 7 September 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
6. "Rider averages 1929 to 2009" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
7. Bamford, Reg (2004). Speedway Yearbook. Tempus Publishing, Stroud. ISBN 978-0-7524-2955-7.
8. Bamford, Robert (1 March 2007). Tempus Speedway Yearbook 2007. NPI Media Group. ISBN 0-7524-4250-3.
9. "Norris retires from Eagles". www.elite-eagles.com. 31 October 2007. Retrieved 31 October 2007.
10. "Norris ready and raring to go". The Argus. 2008. Retrieved 21 April 2009.

• 1972 births
• Living people
• British speedway riders
• English motorcycle racers
• Sportspeople from Eastbourne
• Eastbourne Eagles riders
• Ipswich Witches riders
• Reading Racers riders