Freddie Spencer 2886328 226155818 2008-07-17T02:00:12Z Wadems 144213 Update infobox name. {{Infobox Former Grand Prix motorcycle rider |Image = [[Image:Fredspencer.jpg|200px]] |Caption = Freddie Spencer autograph |Name = Freddie Spencer |Nationality = {{flagicon|United States}} [[United States]] |Years = [[1980 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season|1980]] - [[1993 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season|1993]] |Teams = [[Honda]], [[Yamaha Motor Company|Yamaha]] |Races = 72 |Championships = 500cc - [[1983 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season|1983]], [[1985 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season|1985]]{{-}}250cc - [[1985 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season|1985]] |Wins = 27 |Podiums = 39 |Points = 610.5 |Poles = 33 |Fastest laps = 24 |First race = [[1982 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season|1982]] 500cc [[Argentine motorcycle Grand Prix|Argentine Grand Prix]] |First win = [[1982 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season|1982]] 500cc [[Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix|Belgian Grand Prix]] |Last win = [[1985 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season|1985]] 500cc [[Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix|Swedish Grand Prix]] |Last race = [[1993 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season|1993]] 500cc [[Italian motorcycle Grand Prix|Italian Grand Prix]] }} '''Freddie Spencer''' (born [[December 20]], [[1961]] in [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]]), known by the nickname '''Fast Freddie''', is an [[United States|American]] former World Champion [[Motorcycle sport|motorcycle racer]]. Spencer is regarded as one of the greatest motorcycle racers of the early 1980s. He was a racing prodigy who began racing at the age of four, competing in dirt track events near his hometown of Shreveport. Spencer's preferred racing number was 19. ==Racing history== After winning the 1978 250cc U.S. National Road Racing Championship, [[Honda|American Honda]] signed Spencer to ride for their Superbike team. He gained international prominence at the [[1980 in sports|1980]] U.S. versus Britain Trans-Atlantic Match races when he won two legs, defeating World Champions [[Kenny Roberts]] and [[Barry Sheene]] in the process. In [[1981 in sports|1981]], he split his time between the [[AMA Superbike]] series, and the European [[Grand Prix motorcycle racing|Grand Prix]] circuit, helping Honda develop the exotic, oval-cylindered [[NR500]] [[four-stroke]] Grand Prix bike. By [[1982 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season|1982]] , he had been promoted full time to Honda's [[Grand Prix motorcycle racing|Grand Prix]] team, who by then had given up on the [[NR500]] and developed the [[Honda NS500|NS500]] three cylinder, [[two-stroke]]. In [[1983 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season|1983]], Spencer won his first [[List of Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champions|500cc World Championship]], becoming the youngest person to win the title. The [[1983 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season|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. The season culminated at the [[1983 Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix|penultimate round in Sweden]] when the two riders collided on the last lap. 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. In [[1984 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season|1984]] , Honda developed a radically new V4 NSR-500 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. In spite of this, he still managed to win 5 times that year on the NS500 three cylinder machine. [[1985 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season|1985]] proved to be an historic year for Spencer. He began the season by winning the prestigious season opening [[Daytona 200]], including the 250cc and Superbike classes, making him the only rider to win all three divisions in a single year. Spencer also competed in both the 250cc and 500cc Grand Prix World Championships, winning both titles in the same year, and becoming the only rider in history to accomplish the feat. 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 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season|1988]], although there were a couple of abortive GP comeback attempts, in 1989 and 1993. 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 Heavy Industries|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 Motor Company|Yamaha]] team and ended his career on a [[Ducati]] in the U.S. National Championship. Spencer now lives in [[Las Vegas, Nevada]] where he operates a successful motorcycle riding school for novice and advanced riders. ==Awards== * Inducted into the [[American Motorcyclist Association|AMA]] [[Motorcycle Hall of Fame]] in [[1999]]. * Inducted into the [[Motorsports Hall of Fame of America]] in [[2001]]. * The [[Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme|FIM]] named him a Grand Prix "Legend" in [[2001]]. ==Grand Prix career statistics <small><small><ref name="MotoGP.com October 26"> {{cite news | url=http://www.motogp.com/en/motogp/motogp_riders.htm?menu=riders&rider_id=760&from=archive | title=Rider Statistics - Freddie Spencer | publisher=MotoGP.com | accessdate=2007-10-26 }}</ref></small></small>== {|class="wikitable" !Season !Class !Motorcycle !Race !Win !Podium !Pole !FLap !Pts !Plcd |- align="right" ! [[1980 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season|1980]] | 500[[cubic centimetre|cc]] | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - |- align="right" ! [[1981 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season|1981]] | 500[[cubic centimetre|cc]] | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - |- align="right" ! [[1982 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season|1982]] | 500[[cubic centimetre|cc]] | [[Honda NS500]] | 11 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 72 | 3rd |- align="right" ! [[1983 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season|1983]] | 500[[cubic centimetre|cc]] | [[Honda NS500]] | 12 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 144 | '''1st''' |- align="right" ! [[1984 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season|1984]] | 500[[cubic centimetre|cc]] | [[Honda NSR500]] | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 87 | 4th |- align="right" ! [[1985 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season|1985]] | 250[[cubic centimetre|cc]] | [[Honda NSR250]] | 10 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 127 | '''1st''' |- align="right" ! [[1985 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season|1985]] | 500[[cubic centimetre|cc]] | [[Honda NSR500]] | 11 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 141 | '''1st''' |- align="right" ! [[1986 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season|1986]] | 500[[cubic centimetre|cc]] | - | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - |- align="right" ! [[1987 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season|1987]] | 500[[cubic centimetre|cc]] | [[Honda NSR500]] | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 20th |- align="right" ! [[1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season|1989]] | 500[[cubic centimetre|cc]] | [[Yamaha YZR500]] | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33.5 | 16th |- align="right" ! [[1993 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season|1993]] | 500[[cubic centimetre|cc]] | [[Yamaha YZR500]] | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 37th |- align="right" ! Total | | | '''72''' | '''27''' | '''39''' | '''33''' | '''24''' | '''610.5''' | |} ==Books== *{{cite book| last = Harris | first = Nick | authorlink = | coauthors = Clifford, Peter | title = Fast Freddie: Double World Champion Freddie Spencer, The Man and his Machines | publisher = Motor Racing Publications Ltd | date = 1986 | location = UK | pages = 143 | isbn = 094798108X }} *{{cite book| last = Scott | first = Michael | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = The Champions: Freddie Spencer | publisher = William Kimberley Limited | date = 1987 | location = UK | pages = 64 | isbn = 0946132313 }} ==References== {{reflist|1}} ==External links== *[http://www.fastfreddie.com/ Freddie Spencer's Riding School] *{{mhof|275}} *[http://sameerkumar.blogspot.com/2007/05/freddie-retro-sbks-freddie-spencer.html Retro SBK's Freddie Spencer Tribute] *[http://forums.autosport.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=84775 Freddie Spencer career discussion - details of the injury that affected his GP success] <BR> {{start box}} {{succession box | | before = [[Franco Uncini]] | after = [[Eddie Lawson]] | title = [[List of Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champions|500cc Motorcycle World Champion]] | years = 1983 |}} {{succession box | | before = [[Eddie Lawson]] | after = [[Eddie Lawson]] | title = [[List of Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champions|500cc Motorcycle World Champion]] | years = 1985 |}} {{end box}} {{500 cc/MotoGP Motorcycle World Champions}} {{250 cc Motorcycle World Champions}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Freddie}} [[Category:American motorcycle racers]] [[Category:500cc World Championship riders]] [[Category:250cc World Championship riders]] [[Category:AMA Superbike Championship riders]] [[Category:Superbike World Championship riders]] [[Category:People from Shreveport, Louisiana]] [[Category:1961 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Motorcycle Hall of Fame inductees]] [[de:Freddie Spencer]] [[fr:Frederick Burdette Spencer]] [[it:Freddie Spencer]] [[ja:フレディ・スペンサー]] [[nl:Freddie Spencer]] [[pt:Freddie Spencer]] [[sv:Freddie Spencer]]