David Michael Norris is a former British international motorcycle speedway

Motorcycle speedway

Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. Speedway motorcycles use only one gear and have no brakes and racing takes place on a flat oval track usually...

 rider.
he also has a wife Ellie and two sons Ashley and Jack.

Career

Norris had stints with Reading

Reading Racers

Reading Racers were a British motorcycle speedway team. Formed in 1968, they won four British League titles during their history...

 and Ipswich

Ipswich Witches

The Ipswich Witches are a British speedway club based at Foxhall Stadium near Ipswich, Suffolk. Meetings are staged on most Thursdays from March until October, normally commencing at 7.30pm....

, but primarily rode for the Eastbourne Eagles

Eastbourne Eagles

The Eastbourne Eagles are a British speedway team based near Eastbourne, England who compete in the British Elite League. They became Elite League Champions in 2000. They were also Elite League Knockout Cup winners in 2002 and again in 2008. Speedway was initially introduced to Eastbourne in...

 in the Elite League

Speedway Elite League

The Elite League is the top division of Speedway league competition in the United Kingdom and is governed by the Speedway Control Bureau , in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association . It is sponsored by Sky Sports...

. In 2007 he overtook Gordon Kennett

Gordon Kennett

Gordon William Kennett is a former motorcycle speedway rider. In 1978 he won the World Pairs Championship with Malcolm Simmons. He also finished runner-up to Ole Olsen in the 1978 Speedway World Championship at Wembley...

 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

Speedway Grand Prix

Speedway Grand Prix are a series of stand-alone speedway events over the course of a season used to determine the Speedway World Champion. As of 2008, all of the events take place in Europe.- Event format :...

 in 2004

2004 Speedway Grand Prix

The 2004 Speedway Grand Prix season is the tenth season in the Speedway Grand Prix era and is used to determine the Speedway World Champion.-Event format:The system first used in 1998 continued to be adopted with 24 riders, divided into two classes...

 and 2005

2005 Speedway Grand Prix

The 2005 Speedway Grand Prix season is the 11th season in the Speedway Grand Prix era and is used to determine the Speedway World Champion.- Event format :...

.

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 will once again ride for the Eastbourne Eagles during the 2009 season, assisted in the pits by Dean Barker

Dean Barker (speedway rider)

Dean Barker is a former British international speedway rider who competed at the sports highest level until his retirement in 2007...

.