Norton flying high during debut club racing campaign

The Red Arrows and RAF engineer bagged three seconds and a first last time out at Cadwell Park and will be hoping to close the gap on the series leader when he returns to action this weekend.

Norton, 31, from Westbury, near Shrewsbury, who is now based at RAF Cosford, near Wolverhampton, sits second in the Pre Injection 700 class with just two rounds to go and could still claim the title.

Norton, who was recently promoted to Corporal, says his 2002 Yamaha R6 has been handling really well and he is also grateful for the support he has received from the RAF, which includes a smart new set of leathers.

"We've done four rounds so far, at Brands Hatch, Donington Park, Castle Combe and Cadwell Park," said Norton.

"I've raced at Cadwell before, which always helps, and it showed as I qualified well and then went on to claim three seconds and a first.

"I'm managing to qualifying on the third row of the grid most races, so about seventh to ninth, and I'm looking round and I'm the only person in an orange bib, which all newcomers have to wear during their debut campaigns.

"Some of the other riders look at bit surprised to see me there but I've been really happy with how the season has gone so far.

"I've managed to be really consistent, which I think has helped the most with where I'm sitting in the championship.

"I've been gradually improving as the season has gone on, rising up the championship standings.

"After round one I was fourth in the standings, then I third, then second – 38 points behind the leader – and now I've closed the gap to 11 points.

"Next up is Oulton Park, another track I've raced before, so hopefully I'll be able to close the gap even further but then the last race is at Pembrey, somewhere I've never raced before.

"Thankfully, I haven't crashed yet and I've managed to stay accident free, which I think has helped me the most.

"The RAF are still helping with my funding and I got a new set of leathers recently, so I'm really grateful for all their support."

Norton, who spent last year flying with a group known as the Circus – a small number of engineers who form the Red Arrows’ travelling support team during the summer months – knows there is still a long way to go before the season ends but has put himself in a great position to challenge for the title.

"I was not expecting to be in this position but I've been fortunate to have had a lot of trouble-free rounds," he said.

"I had a small electrical problem on one of the bikes early on but since then everything has gone really well.

"That's really helped because you can drop a lot of points when you have mechanical problems and things like that.

"I've got two rounds left and I'm hoping to go well at Oulton Park because Pembrey will be a new track for me.

"It looks like it's going to be quite a tense end to the season anyway so we'll just have to see how we get on."

Norton heads to Oulton Park this weekend, with the final round taking place at Pembrey, September 17-19.