CN
III ARCHIVES
BY LARRY LAWRENCE
J
uly 4, 1982, is a date that will long live in the
storied history of grand prix motorcycle rac-
ing. That day at the fabled Spa-Francorchamps
racing circuit in Belgium, Freddie Spencer scored
his first 500cc Grand Prix victory. Not only was it
a breakthrough day for Spencer, in was perhaps
even more significant for Honda. It marked the
first premier class grand prix for the manufacturer
since 1967.
Of course, Honda was absent from the cham-
pionship for most of those 15 years, nevertheless
Spencer's victory at Spa put the largest motorcy-
cle maker in the world back atop the most pres-
tigious class in all of motorcycle racing and with
Spencer's inaugural win, the order of the sport felt
somehow restored.
Suzuki was very strong during this period.
Italian Marco Lucchinelli and young American
Randy Mamola finished first and second in the
500cc Grand Prix World Championship in 1981,
both riding the legendary Suzuki RG500. Kenny
Roberts was still generally considered the best
road racer in the world, but after scoring three
consecutive world championships, KR suffered
a reversal of fortune and suffered a season of
odd mechanical gremlins on the new square-
four Yamaha YZR500 and finished third in the
championship.
In 1982 Suzuki's RG was probably still at the
top of the heap, but the defending winning mak-
er would now face a new V-Four from Yamaha.
Roberts was looking to earn back the title and
he was joined on other Yamaha factory bikes
with riders Graeme Crosby and Barry Sheene
(mostly riding the previous generation square-
four Yamaha). Honda finally threw in the towel
on its NR500 four-stroke and instead came into
1982 with a revolutionary V-3 two-stroke Honda
NS500. Big H came loaded by hiring defend-
ing world champ Lucchinelli, veteran Takazumi
FREDDIE'S FIRST
P132
A young Freddie
Spencer celebrates
his very first GP victory
at Spa in 1982.
