Freddie Spencer Talks Sliding and Pushing the Limits

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Fast Freddie Spencer on the #19 Two Brothers Racing/Honda Motor Co./Ohlins/Arai-sponsored RC30 gets heavy on the brakes during qualifying while coming into turn 14 for the AMA Superbike Championship weekend at Road America in early June of 1992. Spencer went on to battle eventual-winner Jamie James on the Vance and Hines Yamaha and Scott Russell on the Muzzy Kawasaki for the main event in what was one of the great and classic battles of the early '90s, and still one of THE best AMA Superbike races of all times.
Spencer left the AMA Road Racing scene in the early '80s to contest the 500CC World Championship for Honda/HRC of Japan, and at the ripe old age of 21 won his first of two 500 titles in 1983 against The King, Kenny Roberts. He then went on to win both the 250CC and 500CC World Championships in the 1985 season, something no one has ever tried to duplicate since (and probably never will in these days of single class concentration.) Spencer is still the youngest rider to ever win the premier road racing championship in the world.
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I came acrossed a great article over at Faster and Faster.net that has some nice little excerpts from an interview with Fast Freddie Spencer and his days of conquering the 500CC World Championship in 1983, as well as his double 250/500CC World Championships of 1985. Spencer was quite the opposite of the racers of the day in that he wasn't all about the party scene or the goings-on about the racing circuits. He was a racer, pure and simple and his upbringing was just like his riding-slide it in, roll it out and bring it home. He was also a testing god, getting the most out of the machine and the tires of the day.

One of the true nice guys-at least to this writer and fan-he has reportedly fallen on some hard times over the last 12-18 months. Hopefully he will find his way again, and back into the motorcycle racing scene in one way, shape, form or another. His knowledge of the track, the machines and the criteria to compete are top notch and would be welcomed by anyone in the road racing scene that had a clue, or at least wanted to get pointed in the right direction to FIND a clue!

Here is the article from F and F that also has some great pics of Fast Freddie riding his 1985 championship winning bike at the Goodwood Festival of Speed from a few years ago. Check it out and drool:

http://www.fasterandfaster.net/2010/10/freddie-spencer-in-no-way-do-i-feel-im.html

And Dean Adams over at his great site SuperBikePlanet.com dug out this article from four years ago about Spencer winning the '83 500 title at the age of 21 and talking about his roots and his will to race:

http://superbikeplanet.com/2006/oct/061013-19.htm
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