“Fast Freddie”: The man who won two championships in one year
- Isabel Jane Caporaso
- Sep 24
- 6 min read
Written by Isabel Jane Caporaso, Edited by Tarun Suresh
Freddie Spencer fell in love with racing at a very young age, when he began dirt track racing in small circuits around his home town in Louisiana, USA, at just four years old.
His childhood was shaped by his insatiable devotion to racing. Aged 10, he had already won multiple titles in five different US states.
He was closely followed by his namesake father, who signed him up for multiple competitions, creating a very intense racing schedule.
After attending a road race at Daytona in 1974, the then 12-year-old began amateur road-racing on two-stroke street bikes and early Yamaha TA125 machines.
At 13, he took part in almost one hundred races a year. His talent was undeniable, but it was his composure and mature mindset that made him a consistent winner.
At only fifteen, he began a flourishing partnership with Erv Kanemoto, who began building cylinders for Spencer.
At 17 years old, his career took off. He won the US 250 Road Racing Championship, and the following year, he joined the Honda team in the World Superbike championship.
From the very beginning, he was considered a brilliant rider whose devotion would carry him into the hall of fame. It wouldn’t take too long for those beliefs to be realised.
Only one year later, in 1980, he competed in the Daytona 200 with a Yamaha Z750, where he was forced into retirement due to a mechanical failure. The unsatisfying event didn’t stop him from debuting in the world championship later that year at the Belgian Grand Prix.
At the young age of 18, he was already of significant help with the development of the NR500, Honda’s four-stroke bike.
His close relation with the team, and more importantly, his racing mastery, allowed him to become a full-time Honda driver in the Grand Prix team by 1982.
He immediately connected with the two-stroke NS500, obtaining his first-ever win at the Belgium Grand Prix and his second shortly after in San Marino. He ended his first season in 3rd position.
It didn’t take long before Freddie Spencer became a world champion. By his second year in premier-class racing, he claimed the crown.
The successful season was characterized by his wild fight with Kenny Roberts, with both arriving at the last two races with equal points.
As the penultimate round approached, the outcome of the season remained uncertain. The standings saw Spencer in the lead, with Kenny Roberts off by just two points, but Roberts wasn’t about to give up on a title fight just yet.
At the Swedish Grand Prix, Roberts led into the final lap. It seemed like Kenny was about to give it his all and claim some precious points. But “Fast Freddie” had other plans.
The two drivers reached the second-to-last turn, a ninety-degree curve. Spencer came out of Roberts’ slipstream and managed to get the inside. As they exited the corner, both riders went wide off the circuit. Spencer was able to get back on track before his opponent and cross the finish line ahead. Obtaining a precious win and further extending his lead in the championship.
The controversial pass left Kenny Roberts heading into the last race with even more determination than before.
At the San Marino Grand Prix, Roberts would have to win, with Spencer finishing fourth position or lower, for him to gain his fourth title. Although Roberts had a remarkable weekend, Freddie still managed to end the race in second position, therefore becoming a first-time world champion.
In his unbelievable second year in premier racing, he started the season off with three consecutive wins, and by the end of the season, he had amassed six wins and ten podiums. He finished on the podium in every race he finished, barring one.
The 1983 season also saw Freddie Spencer become the youngest winner of the premier class at the age of 21, a record that lived on for 30 years before it was broken in 2013 by Márc Marquez.
Spencer’s breakthrough into top-level racing also represented the start of Honda’s return to dominance, as that year's title was their first since the 1966 season.
The following season saw Spencer end in fourth position in the standings, openly struggling with a complex Honda NSR500. In addition, he had also suffered multiple injuries following two crashes.
During qualifying for the opening round in South Africa, Spencer crashed and broke two bones in his feet, which caused him to miss the first two rounds of the season.
Later on in the year, Freddie crashed at the Laguna Seca circuit. He suffered a re-aggravation of his previous injuries and an additional broken collarbone. He therefore missed the final three races.
Despite the difficulties, the American still managed to add five wins and six pole positions to his ever increasing tally.
After a challenging year, the 1985 season became Spencer’s chance to redeem himself. He openly announced he would take part in two championships simultaneously: the 250cc and the 500cc.
In the eighties, there were no rules restricting the riders to a single class. That is why it was possible for Freddie to undertake this challenge.
As long as a driver had a contract and the physical ability to partake in both racing championships, they were free to race. Scheduling was also comfortable as the Grand Prix calendar often ran multiple classes on the same weekend, which meant a rider could easily enter in two different competitions on the same day.
With the passing of the years, there were structural changes made to the sport, which increased the difficulty for a driver to take part in two different categories. For example, the more demanding schedules in the major class. Therefore, by 2009, there was an official “one bike per rider” rule.
Freddie Spencer’s mission was calculated in every aspect. He was given a rapid NSR250, a revisited NSR500 and was followed by a physician who would help him regain his strengths between races. The mission seemed impossible, since the races were mostly less than an hour apart, but Spencer happened to be quite the overachiever.
His breathtaking season was a relentless march to victory.
In the 500cc championship, he ran a total of 11 Grand Prix, securing seven victories, three second places and one DNF caused by a crash in the opening lap of the Netherlands GP.
As for the 250cc, his worst result was a 9th place at the Spanish Grand Prix. Over the course of this championship run, he also won a total of seven races, clinched one second-place finish, and a fourth-place finish out of the 10 Grand Prix he took part in.
One of his most unforgettable outings came at the Nations motorcycle Grand Prix, when he won both the 500cc and the 250cc races in tricky conditions.
That day in May of 1985, the temperature at the Mugello circuit peaked at 37°C, making it a draining race both physically and mentally. To make the overwhelming conditions worse, Freddie had to take part in the 250cc race less than an hour after the 500cc.
The intense climate definitely did not stop Freddie’s outstanding talent.
The 500cc race was a clean win. He started from pole position and ended his race nine seconds ahead of his opponent, Eddie Lawson.
On the heels of his victory, his concentration shifted to the much more complicated 250cc race.
He qualified in fifth position, but ended up in nineteenth by the end of the first lap because of a bad start. From there, Spencer put on an extraordinary drive, overtaking all the riders ahead of him.
Freddie snatched the lead off Carlos Lavado a few laps from the end. He placed his Honda in first position and therefore gained one of the most outstanding wins of his career.
The Mugello race marked the first of the four “double wins” secured that year, a year in which Freddie Spencer made history.
At 24 years old, he became the first and only rider to win a 250cc and 500cc title in the same season. A record that remains unbroken.
After his incredible season, it was obvious the physical strain of this achievement took hold over his body, which betrayed him on the 13th lap of the Spanish Grand Prix the following year. Spencer claimed his hand was blocked and therefore made it impossible for him to brake.
Following a medical examination, it looked like Freddie was struggling with an intense case of tendinitis, which required surgery. This condition was a direct consequence of the repeated stress his forearms had experienced.
The pain worsened over time, and therefore, only a few weeks later, Spencer shockingly announced his retirement.
After three valiant attempts at a comeback in 1987, 1989 and lastly 1993, Freddie Spencer’s career officially saw the chequered flag in 1996.
What seemed like a legendary achievement, shortly became the start of the end.
The American rider is, to this day, regarded as one of the greatest talents motorcycle racing has ever seen.
His calm personality stood in contrast with his aggressive riding style. But what truly distinguished him was his ability to be fast in all conditions, even on cold tyres. As soon as “Fast Freddie” set a gap, there was no way for anyone to close it.
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