“For my first season …. It’s been really good.”
That’s how Lando Norris describes a 2014 season in which he’s announced himself as one of the brightest young British talents in UK motorsport.
Heading into car-racing with an impressive karting resume, there were high hopes for Norris as he teamed up with HHC Motorsport, but the 14 year old has certainly gone on to exceed those expectations.
Three wins and seven other podium finishes have put Norris on course to finish third overall in the championship with Rookie Cup honours alongside the CIK FIA KF World Championship karting title he secured earlier this month.
Speaking to the The Checkered Flag this past weekend at Silverstone, Norris expressed his delight with how the season has gone: “We didn’t start off the season too good, but we’ve just got better and better.
“For my first season in this, compared to some other drivers on the grid who have done it before, it’s been really good and hopefully I can keep it up next season.”
Running with reigning champions HHC, Norris has been sharing the awning with reigning Rookie Cup and Winter Series champion James Kellett, and admits his progress in the series has been aided by his team-mate’s experience.
“It’s very good to have James [Kellett] alongside me,” he commented. “He obviously competed in the Ginetta’s last season, so having him helping me has made my learning a lot easier, he’s been to the tracks that I haven’t so I’ve had good data to compare to. If I didn’t have a fast team-mate pushing me, I probably wouldn’t have done so well this year.”
Both Norris and Kellett have been on a mesmerising run of form of late, taking six one-two finishes and eight race wins between themselves in the last ten races.
Norris, who picked out his first win at Croft that started the run as his highlight of the season, feels the recent success comes down to hard work from the HHC team
“The last few rounds have been exceptionally good,” he reflected. “The team is doing a very good job, they never stop working and are here until late every day working on the cars.
“I think overall they do an exceptional job. Me and James are just here to finish it off, and obviously in the last few rounds the combined effort has worked.”
With the season finale approaching next weekend, attentions have already turned towards next season and the next step for Norris in his racing career.
Unlike many drivers who take on the Ginetta Junior Championship as a two-year plan, Norris is stepping straight into single-seaters in the new MSA Formula series for his second year of car-racing.
“This year has been a good step in-between karting and single-seaters, it’s the only series I could really do at this age, and it’s been a good learning curve for me, learning car control and racecraft, but I now want to get into single-seaters,” he added.