Freddie Spencer

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. Nicknamed Fast Freddie, Spencer is regarded as one of the most accomplished motorcycle racers of the early 1980s.

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.

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. The season culminated at the 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 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. 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. After it closed, Ienatsch founded a successor-program, the Yamaha Champions Riding School.

Spencer now lives in London, England and comments on television for various racing series. In 2019, Spencer was appointed the chairman of the FIM MotoGP™ Stewards Panel.

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. Inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999. The FIM named him a Grand Prix "Legend" in 2001. Inducted Into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.

Grand Prix career statistics The following is a list of results achieved by Spencer.

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- BELNC FIN- GBR- GER- 0 - 0 1981 500cc Honda-HRC NR500 AUT- GER- NAT- FRA- YUG- NED- BEL- RSM- GBRDNF FIN- SWE- 0 - 0 1982 500cc Honda-HRC NS500 ARG3 AUTNC FRA- ESPNC NAT2 NEDDNF BEL1 YUG4 GBR2 SWENC RSM1 GERDNF 73 3rd 2 1983 500cc Honda-HRC NS500 RSA1 FRA1 NAT1 GER4 ESP1 AUTNC YUG1 NED3 BEL2 GBR2 SWE1 RSM2 144 1st 61984500ccHonda-HRC NSR500 RSADNS NAT1 ESP- AUT2 FRA1 YUG1 NEDNC 874th5 NS500 GER1 BEL1 GBR- SWE- RSM- 1985 250cc Rothmans Honda-HRC NSR250 RSA1 ESP9 GER2 NAT1 AUT1 YUG1 NED1 BEL1 FRA1 GBR4 SWE- RSM- 127 1st 7 500cc Rothmans Honda-HRC NSR500 RSA2 ESP1 GER2 NAT1 AUT1 YUG2 NEDNC BEL1 FRA1 GBR1 SWE1 RSM- 141 1st 7 1986 500cc Rothmans Honda-HRC NSR500 ESPNC NAT- GER- AUTNC YUG- NED- BEL- FRA- GBR- SWE- RSM- 0 - 0 1987 500cc Honda-HRC NSR500 JPN- ESP- GER- NAT- AUT- YUG- NED- FRA- GBRNC SWE7 CZE11 RSMNC POR- BRA- ARG- 4 20th 0 1989 500cc Marlboro Agostini Yamaha YZR500 JPN14 AUSNC USADNF ESP5 NATDNS GER9 AUT9 YUG27 NED13 BEL9 FRADNF GBR- SWE- CZE- BRA- 33.5 16th 0 1993 500cc Yamaha of France YZR500 AUSDNF MAL- JPN- ESP- AUT- GER- NED- EUR- RSM- GBR- CZEDNF ITA14 USA- FIM- 2 37th 0

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