November Update

Hi everyone, it's been a while since my last update but as it's the quiet season I will fill you in.

I have got tonsillitis at the moment, feel real crap and can't ride this weekend.

Sheffield SX was awesome, got 1st in the final, riding my new bike as well, things finally came together. Have got a new sponsor, ISO2 nutrition, Paula and Mark are keeping me healthy and eating the right things, no more donuts!

Have been riding really well over the past few weeks although the weather has been rubbish, got some new suspension to try when I am feeling 100% so that should be good.

Starting to plan out 2009, doing the Masters again, possibly the BYMX but going to do some of the Europeans which will be mega, hopefully Holland, Germany and Denmark.

Will keep you up to speed but taking things easier up to Christmas to give me time to relax a bit more.

Luke #73

End of Nationals update

Hi, just an update on the National season, overall happy with the way things have gone, really happy with the bike, the 150 Honda is awesome and Dad has done a great job. The British Masters was the best, put in some great rides and qualifying 1st at Foxhills was perfect. The BYMX was tough towards the end and wasn't happy with my results, we have learnt a lot about the bike which will be a big advantage for next year.



7th overall in the British Championship was good but I want to do a lot better next year, the Masters was close and 3rd for my first year on the big wheel was a good confidence boost, we are planning on doing the Masters again next year and hopefully the Elite championship. Got the Supercross coming up and we are already focusing on that, 2nd place this time is not an option, the top step is all that matters.



Raced for Banbury MX club last weekend, 3 wins out of 3, really showed em!



Saw Rob from Spiked at the Des Nations on Saturday, well impressed with all the riders.



Will keep you posted on how the training is going.



Luke #73

Hawkstone Park

Hi, it's been a while, sorry just been really busy!
We have been doing a fair bit of riding, raced at Hawkstone last weekend, missed qualifying 1st by a few seconds and had some great results in the races, had a massive crash which hurt a bit but still worked hard. Finished 6th overall, bit gutted but have moved up to 3rd overall with 1 round to go.

Dad is working hard on the bike as usual, have been at some of my mates over the summer holidays doing loads of BMX stuff, really enjoying it and it's great for my fitness.
Riding with Max Anstie next week which will be awesome, not seen him for ages.

Then got the next round of the BYMX near Salisbury, should hopefully do well there as long as it doesn't get to hard and dusty.

Will keep ya posted, only a few National meetings left then onto the supercross which will be tough this year.

Luke #73

A quick update

Hi, been busy this month racing every weekend, last week at Pontrilas which was really wet and was cancelled after 1 race, qualified well just crashed too many times in the only race of the weekend, jumped up to 4th overall though which is better.

Raced at Essex MX the week before and smoked everyone, 3 wins, the track was awesome.

Got the BYMX this weekend at Woodford, the track looks a bit sketchy but will do my best as always. Then the next few weeks training and getting the bike sorted a bit more, got some new engine bits coming from the USA and then we are going to JEBS UK to use their rolling road for the day to get the engine even stronger.

Keep ya posted.

Luke #73

First race on my new Honda 150

Hi there

Just got back from Culham for round 4 of the British Masters.

It was my first race on the new bike and i was really excited. I managed to get some good starts with only a small amount of practise. The track got really rough and i tryed my best to stay smooth and ride fast! I was really happy with the bike and looking forward to next weekend, well apart from the long drive to scotland. Will keep you up to date with how i get on.

Luke Norris #73

Exciting news

Only me!
Had a tough weekend at Brampton last week, the track was good just made too many mistakes in the races, got great starts which is awesome for my confidence but the races were just pants!
Had a nasty crash in race 2 when my favorite Relentless Suzuki rider rode into me flat out! came away bruised and not too happy.

Things are changing this week, after 6 years being supported by Kawasaki we are changing to Honda on the new 150cc fourstroke, really can't wait and mum and dad are working overtime to get the bike and get it sorted for Culham British Masters in 2 weeks.

Hopefully this is just what I need to be more consistant and get to where I want to be, will keep you posted and get some photo's of the new bike as soon as dad has done his magic on it.

Luke #73

Mildenhall BYMX

Hi, just to keep everyone up to date on how things are going.

I had a good weekend at Mildenhall for the BYMX, really liked the track. Qualified 11th out of 60 riders, really struggled with starts all weekend but had 11th, 27th ( 2 big crashes), 9th and 10th.

This gave me 13th overall and pushes me into the top 10 in the series. We are trying out some stronger clutch parts this weekend as we reakon thats what was wrong.

Got 2 days training with Merv and Max Anstie this weekend then round 3 of the British Masters in Landrake near Plymouth, should hopefully get to see Rob from Spiked down there.

The track looks good and hope the weather is dry!

See ya soon

Luke #73

BYMX Desert Martin Ireland

A quick update on how Desert Martin went. Rain, rain, and more rain, the pits were really wet, we got towed in and towed out!

The track was good considering the weather, I qualified 13th which was slightly lower than I wanted but the times were really close. In the first race i got a crap start and made things hard for my self but pulled through to 13th until the bike started to handle weird. I got a flat front tyre 5 laps into the race but managed to hold on and stop the tyre from coming off.

Got better starts in races 2 & 3 running as high as 8th but slipped back to 10th, still really happy to have made the top 10 as the competition is really tough, I think I was the 3rd highest rider to have moved up to the big wheel class so not bad. Just need to work on my starts and first lap pushing to make the races better.

Have got 2 weeks off half term so will hopefully we riding a bit during the week if Dad can get the time off work. Then off to Cumbria for the British Masters and Mildenhall the following week.

Later!

Luke #73

Culham British Masters

Me again!

Culham worked out fairly well for the first big meeting of the year, the track was ace during Saturday even when it started to rain. I qualified 9th which was ok and had 8th in both races, got some awesome starts with the new engine Dad has done so things are looking good so far.

Just need to push a bit harder on lap 1 to maintain a higher position, my lap times during the race were on the pace so quite happy this early in the season.

It then rained for about 18 hours which knackered the track so no races Sunday just a rally stage getting out of the track!

Got the long trip to Northern Ireland in 2 weeks so need to work my butt off this weekend to get my confidence up for the BYMX champs.

Luke #73

British Masters Series this weekend

Just a quick update, it's the first round of the British Masters series at Culham Motopark near Oxford this weekend, not too sure what the conditions will be like due to the nice weather at the moment!!

Will do a report Monday.

Wish me luck.
Luke #73

O2 Arena Supercross

The supercross at the O2 arena went ok, I qualified 1st and was hoping for the win in the final but it turned into a bit of a nightmare, the first lap was not what i wanted as I got tangled up in an incident which allowed everyone to get away. Luckily I kept out trouble for the rest of the race and managed to make the rostrum getting 3rd and 2nd overall in the championship.

Still a bit dissapointed but not to worry! Have got 2 weekends training before the first British Masters series start at Culham, tried some new engine bits today and they are awesome so the new bike should be great.

Will keep you posted on how the preparation is going.

See ya soon

Luke #73

Training & New Bike

Hi

Have been out training at the Anstie Training facility near Andover. Fantastic day and the sun was shining. I managed to do several jumps that I have never even attempted before including one which was 110 ft and an 80ft double.

Had to run in my new bike, they are so nice when they are new. Will be using this bike at the last round of the supercross at the O2 arena in London. Really looking forward to that, hope that I will be able to jump like I did on Monday.

I have added a couple of photos, one of me jumping over Max Anstie and Jordan Booker, was great fun, although Mum looked a bit nervous.

Hope to be back at Merv's Saturday before he returns to the States on Sunday and racing at Wroxton again on Sunday, will let you know how I get on.

Bye for now

Luke

Banbury MX Club Race report

Hi everyone, below is my race report from last weekend at Wroxton near Banbury, written by my "old man"!!!!

As part of Luke’s training plan he will be racing with the local Banbury MX Club during 2008 in order to help sharpen up his skills, this included the first meeting of 2008 for the Banbury Club.
The meeting certainly wasn’t a warm up as conditions were bitterly cold, although the track was in perfect condition and great for some high speed training. This was the first time we had been to Wroxton for over 6 years and the track had really changed thanks to the new club taking over, they made a fantastic job of the track.
Before practice we made some gearing changes due to the nature of the track, this would improve top speed of the bike. The day was not going to be easy as there were several other riders who compete at national level against Luke, it was going to be interesting as this is the first time that they have met since going up a class to the BW85cc group.
In practice Luke went out right at the back and within 2 laps had made huge progress even up to the few national riders who had entered the race meeting. The track was super fast, Luke really enjoyed himself.
In race 1 he got an awesome start pushing hard into the first corner to take the lead, after lap 1 he had moved ahead around 4 seconds and got his head down on pulling away even further, second and third place riders were pushing hard also but weren’t able to match Luke’s pace. This was a big change as the other national riders in the group used to run with Luke and tussel for placing, and the difference was amazing.
This enabled Luke to focus on his skills and speed as he pulled away to a 15 second lead and took the chequered flag.
In race 2 Luke got another holeshot and pushed hard to stay at the front, he had found some new lines at the top of the track which really allowed him to increase his corner speed, within a few laps his lead was over 15 seconds.
By this time the back markers started to play a part but Luke planned ahead to make the passes in the right place and make sure he didn’t make any mistakes. Towards the end of the race Luke had increased the gap to over ½ lap as he took the chequered flag once again.
Due to a few red flagged races during the morning there were only 2 blocks of racing during the day.
Summary
A great weekend for Luke, some excellent training on Saturday and 1st overall on Sunday, excellent progress at the start of the season and some confident races which should hopefully assist Luke for the Supercross final towards the end of February. Merv Anstie is back in the UK for a week so Luke will be spending some time with him before he jets back to the USA, we are planning on racing at Wroxton again before the Supercross hopefully on the new 2008 bike.
We were extremely pleased with Luke’s speed, hopefully this can continue throughout the year.
Thanks also must go to Banbury MX Club for sponsoring Luke throughout the 2008 season.

Matt Norris

It was a good weekend, we had been to Winterbourne Gunner on Saturday getting the bike set up for Sunday, it was awesome.

Luke #73

Liverpool Supercross Race Report.

Luke Norris
Race Report
Future West British Supercross Championship
Liverpool Echo Arena
Rounds 2 & 3

The Echo Arena was the setting for rounds 2 & 3 of the British Supercross series, the track layout was superb with some good jumps and technical rhythm sections. The surface was similar to coarse building sand but with the addition of some building materials! During the 2 days some large rocks and house bricks caused major problems. Also Luke was still suffering with a heavy cough and cold so physically it would be demanding as well.
Round 2
The day started with practice at around 9am Friday, Luke looked fairly confident and quickly dialed the track in.
Due to the low number of 85cc big wheel riders they were able to get 2 races in before the evenings final, Luke got 2 holeshots during the mornings riding and was easily the quickest on the circuit.
He went into the first nights final qualifying in 1st position, Luke got a good start pushing into the first turn right at the front, things then became very busy as the first rhythm section tightened things up, Luke went for the outside line at turn 2 and to our amazement crashed in the loose sand berm.
He got the bike up as quickly as he could but had lost around 25 seconds on the lead rider.
This was going to be a tough one, he got into a fast rhythm and was running around 3 seconds a lap faster than everyone and clearing more jumps than all the riders. He was able to make good progress throughout the eight laps and soon moved up to 4th place.
With 1 lap remaining he was closing rapidly on 2nd & 3rd positions, with 1 corner left Luke was right on the wheel of them but just couldn't’t make the pass in time. He ended up 4th.
To say he was gutted would be an understatement, a rock according to Luke or may be just a lapse in concentration!
This had moved him from 3rd overall after Sheffield to joint second, he was 3 points off the lead.




Round 3
Luke’s cold wasn’t helping, he had been sick during the night so we dosed him up with as many cold remedies as possible which certainly helped during the mornings activities. During practice and the 2 races Luke looked awesome, he won his qualifying race by 10 seconds and had dialed in some more jumps, he was super confident for the final.
The final was around 9.45pm, things were not looking good, Luke was really suffering with his eyes streaming and his chest getting tighter.
He went to the start line first and was ready. He got another holeshot by ½ metre and as the previous night things then became very busy, he had dropped to 4th, not what he had planned.
Luke worked hard over the next few laps to move up to 3rd position and was right in contention, the 2 riders in front weren’t able to do a tricky step on jump but Luke made it work for him and got up to 2nd then took the lead through the whoop section.
Great! Just what he needed, he quickly took advantage of the situation and moved away by about 50 metres, with 1 ¼ laps to go he made a huge mistake going too high on one of the loose berm sections and crashed out!
We couldn’t believe it, both 2nd & 3rd place riders went through, Luke again got the bike fired up and quickly got back into the race. The 2nd place rider fell just before the whoop section allowing Luke to close right in again, by this time the leader was about 5 seconds clear.
Luke just ran out of time and crossed the finish line in a well deserved 3rd place finally making it on to the podium.
Jack Burnical who was commentating for the evening (Eurosport commentator) interviewed Luke infront of the many thousand crowd, Luke was gutted to have thrown away the win.
Summary
Wow what a weekend, Luke had been sick during Saturday, could hardly speak during the interview at the end due to chest and was even coughing throughout the race!
We were all so disappointed for him especially as he had looked so good during the mornings races, this has moved him into 2nd, 5 points away from the lead with the final round to go at the O2 arena on February 23rd. There is still a chance he can get the title with a bit of luck, fingers crossed.


Matt Norris

Finally got some practice in.

We finally got some practice in even though the weather was rubbish, we went to Essex MX on Saturday for most of the day, the track was hard going but probably one of the only tracks open!

Put in some good laps and managed to build my confidence for the Supercross this weekend, my new kit arrived which looks awesome, Answer kit and Arai helmets, will get some photo's up over the weekend.

Off to Liverpool on Thursday for signing on and scrutineering then in action Friday and Saturday.

Looking for some good results.

See ya soon Luke #73

Another sunny weekend then!!

Another weekend of not being able to ride not only due to the fantastic British weather but still suffering with being ill. What ever happens i am riding next week.

Getting my new kit sorted next week, can't wait to show you the new look for 2008.

See ya

Matchams Report or not!

Sorry but nothing to report from Matchams race, the track was in such poor condition due to the heavy overnight rain that we just didn't want to destroy the bike, was feeling crap as well with a bad chest and cold, keep coughing up nasty green things all day!

Decided to stick to some supercross training if the weather allows to get me sorted for Liverpool in 3 weeks time.

See ya

Christmas training in France

Hi everyone, we spent 2 days in Dunkerque over Christmas, the tracks were awesome especially the 85cc track, managed to get round the adult track although the bumps were bigger than my wheels! Dad made sure we stuck to a structured training schedule, I did argue with him but he wasn't havin any of it. Put in some fast laps against the frenchies though, man they really hated that!

Spending a couple of days at my mates in Wales doing plenty of mountain biking before racing this weekend at Matchams, hoping for a higher finish than last time now Dad has got the bike working a lot better. Will post a race report early next week.