Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126778
~ 00 ...... World Cham~ion: The Fast Freddie Story By John Ulrich Fast Freddie Spencer won his World Championship the hard way, by beating Kenny Roberts wheel-to-wheel. Now he's behind in points and struggling to defend his title against teady Eddie Lawson's relentless gathering of points. If mechanical troubles and crashes didn't count, Freddie Spencer might have been on the brink of capturing as many World Championships as he wanted. But crashes and broken parts do count, and Freddie's had both. What happens now is anybody's guess. In the meantime, this is Freddie Spencer's story ... Editor. N arne the world's greatest road racers, and you've got to include Freddie, the 23-yearold good Christian boy from Shreveport, Louisiana,' U.S.A., deep in the American South. He's been around a long time. 1982 was his first season of Grand Prix competition. He burst ontO the World Championship scene, finishing third in the first race, his debut for Honda, riding a motorcycle much slower than those of his competitors. He did whatever he had to do to stay with Kenny Roberts and Barry Sheene in that race, and if that meant using the grass next to the track, or bumping into one or both of the former World Champions, or stuffing a wheel impolitely here or there, then so be it. By year's end he had won two Grands Prix and gave Honda its first taste of recent Grand Prix victory. In 1983 Spencer won the 500cc World 22 Championship, beating Kenny Roberts. A startling performance from a newcomer? No. A display of talent from a seasoned racer - a veteran with, depending upon whose press release you believe, J 5 or 17 years experience racing motorcycles of one sort or another, years of traveling to one race track after another, with bike after bike, weekend after weekend, and racing, racing, racing. Many believe Spencer is capable of winning the World Championship as many times as he wants it. Perhaps a pressure-laden position for a young man of 23? Perhaps. But not that you'd know it. Ask Freddie Spencer for an autograph and he signs, smiling, thanking you for your trouble. A quote for your magazine or newspaper? "Certainly. My plea ure. Anything you want to know, thanks, happy to help." That's not the way Roberts or Eddie Lawson started out. But Freddie? Go back as far as you can in Freddie Spencer's personal racing history, and as far as you can find, Freddie's always answered questions with a smile, spoken politely, dished up his aw-shucks-it-wasn't-nothing shy Christian boy behavior. He's been oh-so-happy to finish third and it's a shame the bike wasn't workin' just right but those other fellows did 'ride very well; oh-sa-happy to be second and there was a bit of tire trouble but it wasn't nothing' really and that winner sure does ride hard; and oh-so-happy to win and we sure did try our hardest and we're real appreciative that all the fans came out to see us, yes sir. Freddie Spencer is a complex person, a brilliant racer, a special man. What follows are scenes from his racing life, as seen or lived by people around him. In 1977, when Freddie was 15, the Western/Eastern Roadracers Association (WERA) held an invitational race attended by many well-known U.S. riders and a talented club racer named Freddie Spencer. It rained, and Freddie, riding a modified Yamaha RD400, turned faster lap times on street tires than did any of the well-known racers on TZ750s and TZ250s. Before the year was out, young Freddie had won five WERA class championships and was the overall WERA Champion. WERA press releases quickly declared that Spencer was the next great American road racer. At the time, most reporters especially me - covering AMA road races thought the WERA's claims to be exaggerated and Freddie Spencer to be overrated - which just shows how much reporters really know! Freddie turned 16 and got his AMA professional ovice license, and went racing in 1978. He was sponsored by Gary Howard, not the same Gary Howard who manages Kenny Roberts, Eddie Lawson, et. al. these days, but another one, from Texas. Under the Howard Racing banner, young Freddie headed for Daytona. Howard Racing had a display booth at a motorcycle dealer show held near the racetrack, and a group of Californians approached the men manning the booth and proceeded to tell them - on the night before the Novice race - that Californian John Glover would annihilate Freddie Spencer and show that all good road racers come from California. The men in the Howard Racing booth just smiled. The next day, Freddie won the Novice race and John Glover failed' to finish, parked with mechanical trouble after never getting near