Freddie Spencer

Frederick Burdette Spencer (born December 20, 1961), sometimes known by the nickname Fast Freddie, is an American former world champion motorcycle racer.[1] Spencer is regarded as one of the greatest motorcycle racers of the early 1980s.[2]

Freddie Spencer
Spencer at Laguna Seca Raceway in 1985
Nationality	American
Born	(1961-12-20) December 20, 1961 Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S.
Motorcycle racing career statistics Grand Prix motorcycle racing Active years 1980–1993 First race 1980 500cc Belgian Grand Prix Last race 1993 500cc Italian Grand Prix First win 1982 500cc Belgian Grand Prix Last win 1985 500cc Swedish Grand Prix Team(s) Honda, Yamaha Championships 500cc – 1983, 1985 250cc – 1985 Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 72 27 39 33 24 610.5

Motorcycle racing career

Early years

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 Road Racing Championship, 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

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]

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.[3] The season culminated at the penultimate round in Sweden when the two riders collided on the last lap.[4] 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.[5] 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][6] 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

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.[7] After it closed, Ienatsch founded a successor-program, the Yamaha Champions Riding School.[8]

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.[9]

Honors

• "Freddie Spencer Day", declared in 1984 by Mayor John Brennan Hussey in Shreveport after Spencer won the 500cc World Championship the previous year. Sheriff of Caddo Parish, Don Hathaway made Spencer an "honorary deputy" for the occasion.[10]
• Inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999.[1]
• Inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2001.[11]
• The FIM named him a Grand Prix "Legend" in 2001.[12]
• Inducted Into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.[13]

Grand Prix career statistics

The following is a list of results achieved by Spencer.[14]

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

• 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

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

External links

• Freddie Spencer at the AMA Hall of Fame
• Retro SBK's Freddie Spencer Tribute
• Freddie Spencer career discussion - details of the injury that affected his GP success

Preceded by Franco Uncini	500cc Motorcycle World Champion 1983	Succeeded by Eddie Lawson
Preceded by Eddie Lawson	500cc Motorcycle World Champion 1985	Succeeded by Eddie Lawson
Preceded by Christian Sarron	250cc Motorcycle World Champion 1985	Succeeded by Carlos Lavado