IN HER fourth Yamaha Victorian Off-Road Championship (VORC) start, and her first VORC race meeting since Three Bridges last year in May, Kate Norman made a successful return to enduro racing at Rawson on the weekend.
After a total of four sprints on Saturday, Norman, who works as a veterinarian at North Warrandyte Veterinary Clinic, piloted her Bolton Motorcycles supported KTM 250SX-F to a solid third place finish with a total time of 58 minutes, 09.769 seconds in what was a dusty and dry weekend.
“I’m pretty happy with how it all panned out today,” Norman said on Saturday. “After all the training, preparation, and the great support I have got off my sponsors, it’s a nice way to get the 2016 season underway. It’s also a great way I can reward all my sponsors with a podium finish.”
However, while the 29-year-old may have snared her second third place finish in enduro racing, she does admit there is definitely a lot of improvements to be made before the next round of the VORC at Three Bridges at the end of May, and most importantly, the opening round of the Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC) in Queensland in two weeks’ time.
“It’s a nice way to start the year, however, I would have liked to been on top for sure. After the weekend I do know I have got things to work on, which I’ll be working very hard on before the AORC and the next round of the VORC.”
While Norman knows there are things to ‘polish up’, she explained last weekend has given her a nice confidence boost heading into the AORC at Kilkivan, 224-kilometres north of Brisbane on March 19-20.
Before the round one at Rawson got underway, Norman was quietly hoping that she would have walked away with a top three finish to get the ball rolling. However, as anything can happen in motorcycle racing, and normally does, she simply just went into the round with no expectations in regards to results.
“Riding with no pressure and no expectation did help me today, I believe. To be able to just go and race and see where I ended up was the best way to go all about it. From here, I hope to improve on the things that I need to which will hopefully help me in the remaining rounds.”
Norman’s attention now turns towards Kilkivan, and if there is one thing that might play into her advantage, it’s the fact track conditions will once again suit her riding style, which will be dry and rocky conditions, just like Rawson.
Story by Russell Colvin