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Freddie Spencer

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Freddie Spencer
Spencer at Laguna Seca Raceway in 1985
Born (1961-12-20) December 20, 1961 (age 63)
Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S.
Motorcycle racing career statistics
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Active years1980–1987, 1989, 1993
First race1980 500cc Belgian Grand Prix
Last race1993 500cc Italian Grand Prix
First win1982 500cc Belgian Grand Prix
Last win1985 500cc Swedish Grand Prix
Team(s)Honda, Yamaha
Championships500cc – 1983, 1985
250cc – 1985
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
72 27 39 33 24 610.5

Frederick Burdette Spencer (born December 20, 1961), is an American former professional motorcycle road racer. He competed in the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships between 1980 and 1993, most prominently as a member of the Honda factory racing team where he was a three-time world champion.[1] Nicknamed Fast Freddie, Spencer is regarded as one of the most accomplished motorcycle racers of the early 1980s.[2]

Motorcycle racing career

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Early years

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Spencer was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. He was a racing prodigy who began racing at the age of four, competing in dirt track events near his hometown of Shreveport.[1] After winning the 1978 250cc U.S. National Novice Class Road Racing Championship for first year professionals, Spencer was contracted to ride for the American Honda racing team in the AMA Superbike Championship.[1] He gave Honda their first-ever super bike victory when he won the Road America round of the 1980 AMA Superbike Championship.[1]

Spencer gained international prominence at the 1980 U.S. versus Britain Transatlantic Trophy match races when he won two legs at Brands Hatch, defeating World Champions Kenny Roberts and Barry Sheene in the process.[1] Spencer went on to finish third in the 1980 Superbike championships and second to Eddie Lawson in 1981.[1] In 1981, he split his time between the AMA Superbike series, and the European Grand Prix circuit, helping Honda develop the exotic, oval-cylindered NR500 four-stroke Grand Prix bike.[1]

Grand Prix world championships

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By 1982, he had been promoted full-time to Honda's Grand Prix team, who by then had given up on the NR500 and developed the NS500 three cylinder, two-stroke. In 1983, Spencer won his first 500cc World Championship at the age of 21, becoming the youngest person to win the title, a distinction previously held by Mike Hailwood.[1][2] His record has since been surpassed by Marc Márquez in 2013.[3]

The 1983 season would be remembered as one of the most dramatic title chases in the history of Grand Prix racing; Honda's Spencer and Yamaha's Kenny Roberts fought back and forth for the points lead with each of them earning six victories.[4] The season culminated at the penultimate round in Sweden when the two riders collided on the last lap.[5] Roberts ran off the track leaving Spencer to sprint to the finish line and victory. Roberts won the last race but Spencer finished second, securing his first world title by two points.[2]

Spencer on Yamaha YZR500 at the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix

In 1984, Honda developed a radically new V4 NSR500 that featured the fuel tank under the engine and the expansion chambers under a false tank above the engine. Teething problems and injuries from crashes hindered Spencer's defense of his crown and he was relegated to fourth place in the championship.[6] In spite of this, he still managed to win three times with the NSR500, and twice more on the NS500 three cylinder machine.

1985 proved to be a historic year for Spencer. He began the season by winning the prestigious season opening Daytona 200. Spencer also won the Formula 1 and 250cc classes, making him the only rider to win all three divisions in a single year.[1][7] Spencer also competed in both the 250cc and 500cc Grand Prix World Championships, winning both titles in the same year. That made him the fifth (and last) rider ever to win in the 500cc and the next class down and, due to class changes, the only rider to win in both 500cc and 250cc in one year. His career was cut short by wrist injuries that some believe were caused by the physical strain of competing in two championships during a single season.

After his historic 1985 season, Spencer never won another Grand Prix race. He retired from Grand Prix racing at the beginning of 1988, although there were a couple of GP comeback attempts, in 1989 and 1993.[1]

Later career

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Spencer in 2016

He returned to race in the AMA Superbike Championship in the 1990s, winning three races. He was eighth in 1991, riding a Honda for Two Brothers Racing, and went one better in 1992. In 1995 he raced a Fast By Ferracci Ducati to ninth, and at the end of the year took over the works Ducati from Mauro Lucchiari in Superbike World Championship.

Spencer raced under several different marques during his racing career, winning his first Superbike National Championship race aboard a Kawasaki, but he is most closely associated with Honda and his partnership with Grand Prix tuner, Erv Kanemoto. He won all three of his world titles on Hondas with Kanemoto as head mechanic. Spencer had a short stint with the Agostini Yamaha team and ended his career on a Ducati in the US National Championship.

For many years, Spencer operated a motorcycle riding school, Freddie Spencer's High Performance Riding School, until October 2008. Primarily based in Las Vegas, Nevada, the school counted Nick Ienatsch and Ken Hill as chief instructor and lead instructor, respectively.[8] After it closed, Ienatsch founded a successor-program, the Yamaha Champions Riding School.[9]

Spencer now lives in London, England and commentates on television for various racing series. For 2019 Spencer was appointed the chairman of the FIM MotoGP™ Stewards Panel.[10]

Honors

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Grand Prix career statistics

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The following is a list of results achieved by Spencer.[15]

Points system from 1968 to 1987.

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Points 15 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1

Points system from 1988 to 1992.

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Points 20 17 15 13 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Class Team Machine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Points Rank Wins
1980 500cc Spencer Yamaha TZ500 NAT
- 		ESP
- 		FRA
- 		NED
- 		BEL
NC 		FIN
- 		GBR
- 		GER
- 		0 - 0
1981 500cc Honda-HRC NR500 AUT
- 		GER
- 		NAT
- 		FRA
- 		YUG
- 		NED
- 		BEL
- 		RSM
- 		GBR
DNF 		FIN
- 		SWE
- 		0 - 0
1982 500cc Honda-HRC NS500 ARG
3 		AUT
NC 		FRA
- 		ESP
NC 		NAT
2 		NED
DNF 		BEL
1 		YUG
4 		GBR
2 		SWE
NC 		RSM
1 		GER
DNF 		73 3rd 2
1983 500cc Honda-HRC NS500 RSA
1 		FRA
1 		NAT
1 		GER
4 		ESP
1 		AUT
NC 		YUG
1 		NED
3 		BEL
2 		GBR
2 		SWE
1 		RSM
2 		144 1st 6
1984 500cc Honda-HRC NSR500 RSA
DNS 		NAT
1 		ESP
- 		AUT
2 		FRA
1 		YUG
1 		NED
NC 		87 4th 5
NS500 GER
1 		BEL
1 		GBR
- 		SWE
- 		RSM
-
1985 250cc Rothmans Honda-HRC NSR250 RSA
1 		ESP
9 		GER
2 		NAT
1 		AUT
1 		YUG
1 		NED
1 		BEL
1 		FRA
1 		GBR
4 		SWE
- 		RSM
- 		127 1st 7
500cc Rothmans Honda-HRC NSR500 RSA
2 		ESP
1 		GER
2 		NAT
1 		AUT
1 		YUG
2 		NED
NC 		BEL
1 		FRA
1 		GBR
1 		SWE
1 		RSM
- 		141 1st 7
1986 500cc Rothmans Honda-HRC NSR500 ESP
NC 		NAT
- 		GER
- 		AUT
NC 		YUG
- 		NED
- 		BEL
- 		FRA
- 		GBR
- 		SWE
- 		RSM
- 		0 - 0
1987 500cc Honda-HRC NSR500 JPN
- 		ESP
- 		GER
- 		NAT
- 		AUT
- 		YUG
- 		NED
- 		FRA
- 		GBR
NC 		SWE
7 		CZE
11 		RSM
NC 		POR
- 		BRA
- 		ARG
- 		4 20th 0
1989 500cc Marlboro Agostini Yamaha YZR500 JPN
14 		AUS
NC 		USA
DNF 		ESP
5 		NAT
DNS 		GER
9 		AUT
9 		YUG
27 		NED
13 		BEL
9 		FRA
DNF 		GBR
- 		SWE
- 		CZE
- 		BRA
- 		33.5 16th 0
1993 500cc Yamaha of France YZR500 AUS
DNF 		MAL
- 		JPN
- 		ESP
- 		AUT
- 		GER
- 		NED
- 		EUR
- 		RSM
- 		GBR
- 		CZE
DNF 		ITA
14 		USA
- 		FIM
- 		2 37th 0

Books

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  • Harris, Nick; Clifford, Peter (1986). Fast Freddie: Double World Champion Freddie Spencer, The Man and his Machines. UK: Motor Racing Publications Ltd. p. 143. ISBN 0-947981-08-X.
  • Scott, Michael (1987). The Champions: Freddie Spencer. UK: William Kimberley Limited. p. 64. ISBN 0-946132-31-3.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Freddie Spencer at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame". motorcyclemuseum.org. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Abrams, Henry Ray (November 1983). "Fastest Freddie". American Motorcyclist. Retrieved 25 December 2010.
  3. ^ Sports, Dorna. "Who are the youngest Grand Prix premier class winners?". www.motogp.com. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
  4. ^ "A Doodle Dandy Of A Dogfight". sportsillustrated.com. 1 August 1983. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  5. ^ "Roberts vs Spencer". cyclenews.com. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  6. ^ 50 Years Of Moto Grand Prix (1st edition). Hazelton Publishing Ltd, 1999. ISBN 1-874557-83-7
  7. ^ Daytona 200 winners at www.motorsportsetc.com Archived March 8, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Waheed, Adam (17 September 2008). "Freddie Spencer Riding School". Motorcycle-USA.com. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  9. ^ Waheed, Adam (22 June 2010). "Yamaha Champions Riding School". Motorcycle-USA.com. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  10. ^ "Spencer appointed Chairman of the FIM MotoGP™ Stewards Panel". motogp.com. 26 October 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  11. ^ Freddie Goes Home a Hero. Cycle World. January–May 1984. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
  12. ^ Freddie Spencer at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
  13. ^ MotoGP Legends at MotoGP.com Archived October 28, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ Freddie Spencer at the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame
  15. ^ "Rider Statistics - Freddie Spencer". MotoGP.com. Archived from the original on 2007-05-13. Retrieved 2007-10-26.
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