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Freddie
- June 7, 2001 -(Press Release from American Honda)
Honda's multi-time World Grand Prix Champion honored Wednesday in Detroit
AMA Racing History (below)
Torrance, CA -- Three-time World Grand Prix motorcycle champion Freddie Spencer will be inducted into The Motorsports Museum & Hall of Fame at the State Theatre in Detroit, Michigan on Wednesday night, June 6, 2001.
The Hall of Fame currently enshrines 93 Heroes of Horsepower inten categories. A committee of prominent motorsports writers, historians, members of the Hall of Fame and peers across the nation selects nominees. Inductees, selected annually, are characterized by their desire to win, mastery of their field and the courage to innovate.
Each inductee receives the Hall of Fame's prestigious "Horsepower" award -- an original bronze statuette created by Ann Arbor, Michigan sculptor Michael Curtis.
About Freddie Spencer
Perhaps no one in the history of motorcycle racing ever achieved as much, as quickly, and at such a tender age as the young man who, in the mid 1970's, rocketed to the attention of the American public as Fast Freddie Spencer.
Born in 1961 in Shreveport, Louisiana, Freddie Spencer began riding motorcycles as a toddler at the age of four. At five, he was competing in TT Scramble dirt track events in Dallas, Texas. By the age of eleven, Spencer had already won ten state motorcycle racing championships in Short Track and Dirt Track events.
In 1972, Spencer made his first foray into roadracing, competing at Green Valley Raceway in Dallas, Texas. The youngster's dirt track experience paid off. By 1977, he had won twelve national roadracing championships competing in both AMA (American Motorcyclist Association) and WERA sanctioned race events.
In 1978, Spencer began his professional roadracing career at the age of 18. That year, he won every race in the AMA 250cc Grand Prix Road Race "Novice" Division while en route to winning the AMA National Championship. The following year, 1979, Spencer won the AMA 250cc Grand Prix Road Race "Expert" division National Championship, finishing first place in every race except one, where he took second.
Spencer's achievements did not go unnoticed. In 1980, at nineteen years of age, he signed with American Honda Motor Company to race in the AMA Superbike National Championship Series.
Spencer also began racing overseas that year. In his first taste of European competition, Spencer won the first two legs of the Trans-Atlantic Match Races. Incredibly, Spencer bested two former Grand Prix World Champions, Kenny Roberts and Barry Sheene, both of whom were supported by factory teams.
Spencer qualified 6th in his first European Grand Prix. This was just a single spot behind reigning 500cc World Champion Kenny Roberts, a man who, at the time, was considered the greatest motorcycle racer in the world.
In 1981, Spencer inked an agreement with Honda Racing Corporation to race selected Grand Prix World Championship events, and most importantly, to assist in the research and development of the Honda NR500 four-stroke machine.
The following year, at the age of 20, Spencer stunned the racing world at the Belgian Grand Prix on July 4, 1982, becoming the youngest Grand Prix race winner in history. He went on to finish third overall in his first full year of 500cc Grand Prix World Championship riding Honda's three-cylinder two-stroke NS500.
This set the stage for the celebrated 1983 racing season, which is considered by many as greatest World Championship Grand Prix contest of all time. Spencer won the 500cc World Championship in the toughest competition on record. He and Kenny Roberts split 12 wins and 12 pole positions between them, with Spencer taking the championship by scant 2 points in the final race of the season. At 21, Spencer had become the youngest World Grand Prix Champion in history.
1984 was a transition year for Spencer. He played a major role in the research and development of a new V-4 two-stroke Grand Prix machine for Honda, considered the most radically designed bike in post-war Grand Prix racing. Due to various teething problems, Spencer finished fourth in the World Championship point standings.
In 1985, Spencer was back with a vengeance. The young man who had taken the championship from King Kenny Roberts in 1983 was soon to become the first person in history to win both the 250cc and 500cc World Championships in the same season. In the 250cc classification, Spencer competed in ten events, qualified on the pole six times, and won seven races. In the eleven 500cc races, Spencer qualified first nine times and won seven.
The double championship stands alone in the history of modern Grand Prix racing. No competitor today would even attempt such a feat, yet Spencer accomplished it while setting nine new track records. Even more incredibly, in the same year, he won all three major divisions (250cc, 500cc and Superbike) at the AMA National at Daytona International Speedway. He is the first and only competitor ever to do so.
In 1988, with three World Championships under his belt, Spencer retired from Grand Prix racing. In the years that followed, he raced in selected events in the AMA Superbike Series. In 1996, over thirty years from the day a small boy entered his first dirt track race on an obscure Texas racecourse, Fast Freddie Spencer officially retired from professional motorcycle racing.
Today Spencer owns and operates the very successful Freddie Spencer's High Performance Riding School, situated at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Spencer's school, designed for riders of all abilities, reaches out to novice riders - who wish to improve their street riding -- as well as racers who dream of winning world championships. Spencer and a select group of highly skilled instructors - who are renowned for their personal touch - coach students using specially equipped Honda CBR600 motorcycles. For more information, go to: http://www.fastfreddie.com.
About The Motorsports Museum & Hall of Fame
The Motorsports Museum & Hall of Fame features a 20,000 square foot museum housing over 40 racing and high performance vehicles. Located in Novi, Michigan, the items on exhibit are significant race vehicles, such as land and water speed record holders, both antique and current.
The constantly changing collection features racers from the world of Indy cars, stock cars, Can Am, TransAm, sprint cars, powerboats, truck racing, drag racing, motorcycles, and even racing snowmobiles.
The national Hall of Fame features Heroes of Horsepower enshrined in nine different categories from air racing to motorcycle racing, from the early part of the century to current champions.
The Museum also showcases exhibits and photographs of the personalities, manufacturers and machines of all kind of racing and their rich legacy. Other features include exciting racing videos, driving simulation, games, slot cars, driver uniforms, memorabilia displays and a gift and collectible shop.
The Motorsports Hall of Fame and Museum can be scheduled by special arrangement for group tours / special events. The museum is always open 24 hours via the Internet. Through the generous support of Enterprise Associates Ltd the museum can be found on-line at: www.mshf.com.Freddie Spencer's AMA Pro Racing history
YEAR DATE LOCATION FINISH MACHINE CLASS 1995 March 12 Daytona Beach, FL 66 Ducati SB 1995 April 2 Pomona, CA 10 Ducati SB 1995 May 1 Monterey, CA 1 Ducati SB 1995 June 4 Lexington, OH 10 Ducati SB 1995 June 11 Elkhart Lake, WI 4 Ducati SB 1995 June 18 Loudon, NH 8 Ducati SB 1995 July 16 Brainerd, MN 4 Ducati SB 1995 Aug. 13 Fairmont City, IL 23 Ducati SB 1995 Aug. 27 Sonoma, CA 29 Ducati SB 1995 Sept. 24 Chandler, AZ 5 Ducati SB 1992 March 8 Daytona Beach, FL 49 Honda SB 1992 April 26 Monterey, CA 10 Honda SB 1992 May 3 Charlotte, NC 20 Honda SB 1992 May 31 College Station, TX 1 Honda SB 1992 June 14 Brainerd, MN 7 Honda SB 1992 June 21 Loudon, NH 4 Honda SB 1992 June 28 Elkhart Lake, WI 3 Honda SB 1992 Oct. 11 College Station, TX 5 Honda SB 1991 March 10 Daytona Beach, FL 66 Honda SB 1991 Aug. 4 Lexington, OH 5 Honda SB 1991 Sept. 8 Topeka, KS 2 Honda SB 1991 Nov. 10 Miami, FL 1 Honda SB 1990 Sept. 9 Topeka, KS 6 Honda SB 1985 March 8 Daytona Beach, FL 1 Honda F-1 1985 March 9 Daytona Beach, FL 1 Honda 250GP 1985 March 8 Daytona Beach, FL 1 Honda SB 1984 March 9 Daytona Beach, FL 1 Honda SB 1984 March 11 Daytona Beach, FL 2 Honda F-1 1983 March 11 Daytona Beach, FL 1 Honda SB 1983 March 13 Daytona Beach, FL 54 Honda F-1 1982 March 7 Daytona Beach, FL 2 Honda F-1 1982 March 5 Daytona Beach, FL 1 Honda SB 1982 July 11 Monterey, CA 12 Honda F-1 1981 March 8 Daytona Beach, FL 56 Kawasaki F-1 1981 March 6 Daytona Beach, FL 3 Honda SB 1981 May 31 Elkhart Lake, WI 1 Honda F-1 1981 March 15 Talladega, AL 1 Honda SB 1981 June 20 Loudon, NH 3 Honda SB 1981 July 18 Monterey, CA 3 Honda SB 1981 Aug. 16 Mt. Pocono, PA 1 Honda F-1 1981 Aug. 16 Long Pond, PA 1 Honda SB 1981 Sept. 13 Kent, WA 2 Honda SB 1981 Oct. 4 Daytona Beach, FL 1 Honda SB 1980 March 8 Daytona Beach, FL 3 Yamaha 250GP 1980 March 9 Daytona Beach, FL 44 Yamaha F-1 1980 March 8 Daytona Beach, FL 2 Honda SB 1980 April 13 Talladega, AL 12 Honda SB 1980 June 1 Elkhart Lake, WI 1 Honda SB 1980 June 15 Loudon, NH 1 Honda SB 1980 Aug. 3 Monterey, CA 2 Yamaha F-1 1980 Aug. 3 Monterey, CA 1 Honda SB 1980 Aug. 17 Long Pond, PA 2 Honda SB 1980 Oct. 5 Daytona Beach, FL 2 Honda SB 1979 March 11 Daytona Beach, FL 2 Yamaha 250GP 1979 June 16 Loudon, NH 1 Yamaha 250GP 1979 June 17 Loudon, NH 4 Ducati SB 1979 July 15 Sonoma, CA 1 Kawasaki SB 1979 July 15 Sonoma, CA 1 Yamaha 250GP 1979 Aug. 5 Monterey, CA 1 Kawasaki SB 1978 March 10 Daytona Beach, FL 8 Suzuki SB
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