Happy Birthday to Freddie Spencer, 3-Time World Champion

Crew chief Mike Velasco looks on as his rider, Freddie Spencer gets ready to roll out to the grid on the #19 Two Brothers Racing/Honda Motor Co/D.I.D./Ohlins-sponsored Honda RC30 at the Mid Ohio round of the AMA Superbike Championship Series in August 1992.  Despite a row 2, 5th-place starting spot on the grid, 'Fast Freddie's was slowed in the Wiseco Superbike 100 race as part of the Camel Super Cycle Weekend presented by Dunlop event, and went on to finish in the 23rd spot.



One of the all-time motorcycle racing greats, Spencer burst onto the AMA scene during the '79 season winning his first AMA National event at Loudon in the 250 GP/Lightweight class, and went on to win the championship that year.  The Louisiana-born rider also won his first AMA Superbike race while riding for Kawasaki in '79, before signing with American Honda for the 1980 season.

After splitting time in the AMA series and in Europe while riding for Honda Japan, Spencer headed overseas full-time for the 1983 season, where he captured his first of two 500CC World Championships in a battle that went down to the wire with rival Kenny Roberts.  Spencer lost the title to sophomore GP and Yamaha teamster Eddie Lawson in the '84 season, but came back to do the impossible in winning both the 500CC and 250CC World Championships in the '85 season.

Spencer rode for the Two Brothers Racing Honda team and the Fast By Ferracci Ducati team in his return to U.S. racing in the early-mid '90s, where he won three more AMA Superbike Championship Series events.  Two of those wins came on the TBR Honda RC30 at the Miami street race in late '91 and on the FBF Ducati at Laguna Seca in '95, and he is also the only man to have ever won all three premier events at Daytona, which he accomplished in '85 by winning the 250/Lightweight, Superbike 100 and Formula One 200 by Arai.



We would like to take the time to thank Freddie for all of the great years of racing and wonderful memories, and wish him a Very Happy 50th Birthday today.  Thanks man, and please take a bow!
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'Fast Freddie' Spencer was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999, and you can read his bio here:

http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.aspx?RacerID=275&lpos=-1025px&letter=S&txtFname=&rblFname=S&txtLname=&rblLname=S&discipline=0
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Back in the early '80s and the days of the inline-4 1025cc motors in the AMA Superbike Championship, tires and suspensions had not yet come close to being able to handle the amount of power that the big roaring motors put to the ground.

Honda and Peter Starr Films put together some promo films back in those days, and this first part of one of those about Freddie Spencer and the iconic Honda CB750F, from the '81 season is worth the time to check out.  Freddie on the banking at Daytona on what is still considered by many to be the all-time best sounding superbikes of all-time will bring chills up and down your spine.  If not, better check that pulse.

Check it out:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZo7-NyBvqk
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AMA Road Racing: CN Archives' Larry Lawrence Talks History of Tricky Turn 5 at Road America

Riders come down the Moraine Sweep and set-up for turn 5 at Road America during the sighting lap for the AMA Superbike Championship Series in June 1991.  In this shot you can really tell the way the riders have to set-up and brake after hitting speeds of over 160 mph in order to be ready for the first gear left-hand turn at the four-mile track located just outside of Elkhart Lake, WI., and the drop-off of elevation mentioned in LL's story is evident from this angle.

The Coca-Cola Super Cycle Classic held at Road America had at the time been (and still is) an annual stop on the AMA Superbike Championship Series calendar since the 1980 season.  In it's first few years on the schedule, the events were held in mid-late May, which if you know how the weather can be in south central Wisconsin that time of year, can be dicey.  The powers that be then moved the event further back on the calendar to mid-late June, the '91 event actually taking place over June 28-30.  The partial 2012 schedule just released last month has the event scheduled for June 1-3.

Leading the group in this shot are Scott Russell on the #22 Muzzy Kawasaki/Dunlop/SBS/NGK-sponsored ZX-7R alongside Miguel Duhamel on the #97 Honda Commonwealth/American Honda/Honda Oils & Products/Dunlop-backed RC30.  Following just behind is Jamie James on the #2 Vance & Hines/Yamaha/Dunlop/Bell-sponsored YZF750OW01.  Russell would go on to win the '92 AMA Superbike Championship and the '93 WSBK Championship, while Duhamel would win the '95 AMA Superbike Championship and a handful of AMA 600 Supersport and FX Championships throughout his career.  These two men alone have five-each Daytona 200 victories on thier resumes over the years.

James would go on to win the race by .880 seconds over team mate Thomas Stevens (behind James) on the #11 like-sponsored V&H OW, but Stevens would win the war at the end of the season by winning the '91 AMA Superbike Championship.  James had won the '89 AMA Superbike Championship over then-team mate Russell while riding for the Yoshimura Suzuki team.  Eventual 4th place finisher Jacques Guenette on the #39 Kawasaki USA/Dunlop/Muzzy R&D/NGK-sponsored ZX-7R is directly behind James.

Freddie Spencer on the #19 Two Brothers Racing/American Honda/HP-4 Oil/Hondaline-sponsored RC30 is just behind Guenette, with eventual 3rd place finisher Rich Arnaiz on the #20 Commonwealth Racing/American Honda/HRC/Hondaline-backed RC30.  Although Spencer would never win the AMA Superbike Championship, he did win the '83 and '85 500CC World GP Championship, as well as the '85 250CC GP World Championship.  Spencer, Russell and Duhamel would all DNF on the day.

Tommy Lynch on the #30 Suzuki/Yoshimura/AGV/Michelin-sponsored GSX-R750 is next coming into turn 5, with Tom Kipp on the #16 Wiseco/Bell/Klotz/Bridgestone-backed Yamaha.  Kipp would finish 7th on the day with Lynch in 8th place.

Some other notables in this shot include, among others, Canadian Linley Clarke on the #126 Fast Riding School/Sunoco/Yamaha Canada-sponsored Yamaha OW01 (5th place finish), fellow Canadian Pascal Picotte on the #34 Ducati (no sponsor listed, 9th place), Dale Quarterley on the #32 The Boys/Penguin School/Vanson/Air Tech-backed Honda RC30 (10th place), and another Canadian, Rueben McMurter on the #24 Honda Canada/Action Access/Shoei/RK-sponsored RC30 (6th place).  Picotte and McMurter are both former and future Canadian Superbike Champions.
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Long before he was covering AMA Pro Flat Track events and penning his great column 'Archives' for www.CycleNews.com, and putting his own stash of great stuff out on the web from over the years on his bitchin' website, www.TheRiderFiles.com, Larry Lawrence was THE man in charge for all-things AMA Pro Road Racing in terms of the media coverage.  Traversing the continent in search of the perfect shot and story, LL led the AMA's charge to put road racing out to the masses by setting up interviews and local news coverage of AMA Pro Road Racing events across the nation, working with local news outlets and the riders of the day to get the coverage out to the general public. 

Also working with the AMA out of their Ohio offices, LL wrote and maintained biographies for the Hall of Fame, covered WERA events for CN and the former American Roadracing Magazine, and eventually became what is today a virtual walking/talking historian of the sport.  Make no mistake, this man knows his history, and not just in racing, either.

Besides trying to do a stellar job of blowing smoke up the skirt of one of the nice guys in the sport (and a true and great friend of Stu's Shots), I enjoy getting to read his takes on whatever it is he may be writing (or shooting) about around the sport.  And due to our similar ages, related friends and upbringing in the great city of Indy, most everything is of interest to me especially if penned by one Mr. Lawrence.

So I get especially giddy when he puts out a great story (like any of them aren't?!) about the history of the sport that involves a track or place that I hold near and dear, like an old, long-lost friend.

This week's 'Archives' column hit a home run (again!) with LL's history of turn five at Road America, and what significance and history it holds in the great sport of AMA Pro Road Racing and the AMA Superbike Championship.

So sit back, strap in and hang on as Cycle News' own Larry Lawrence digs into the 'Archives' to talk about one of the most daunting turns in AMA Road Racing's great history:


http://cyclenews.coverleaf.com/cyclenews/20111129#pg79
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AMA Road Racing: Mid Ohio Back on the Schedule Making for 8 Confirmed Rounds for 2012 Season

Jamie James on the #2 Vance & Hines/Yamaha/Dunlop/Bel-Ray-sponsored YZF-750 OW01 leads the riders off the grid for the sighting lap just before the start of the AMA Superbike Championship Series Wiseco Superbike 100 at the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course in August '92.  James was judged to have jumped the start several minutes later in the main event of the Camel Super Cycle Weekend presented by Dunlop, and was shown the meat ball flag by AMA Pro Road Racing officials, negating a roll-through penalty for the V&H teamster.

Unfortunately, several laps into the event, Larry Schwarzbach on the #64 like-sponsored V&H Yamaha (directly behind James) crashed hard coming out of the last turn onto the main straight and was critically injured, causing a red flag delay.  Schwarzbach had just earlier in the day won his very first AMA 600 Supersort Series event, and passed away just over two days laters.

As a result of the red flag delay and restart, James was able to work his way through the deep field and finished 4th on the day behind winner Doug Polen, runner-up Thomas Stevens and 3rd-placed rider Tom Kipp.

Others in this shot include Pascal Picotte on the #34 Fast By Ferracci/Ducati/Arai/Dunlop-sponsored Ducati 888 (in what I believe was his second year of racing in the U.S. in what would be a long career in AMA Superbike racing in the States, 7th-place finish), Scott Gray on the #18 self-sponsored (not listed) Kawasaki ZX-7R (6th-place finish), winner Polen on the #23 Ducati/Mechanica SPA/Dunlop/AGV-backed Ducati 888 (on a break from the WSBK schedule, in which he would win his 2nd World Superbike Championship at the end of the season), 2nd-place finisher Thomas Stevens on the #1 Kawasaki Motor Corp. USA/Muzzy/Bieffe/Nanki-sponsored ZX-7R (just behind Polen), Scott Russell on the #17 Kawasaki/Dunlop/SBS/Muzzy's-backed ZX-7R (DNF), and 3-Time World Champion Freddie Spencer on the #19 Two Brothers Racing/Honda Motor Co/Michelin/Arai-sponsored Honda RC30 (DNF).

Also seen in this shot: long-time AMA Superbike privateer (and '93 Mid Ohio winner) Dale Quarterley on the #32 Team Mirage/Valley Motorsports/Vanson/Bieffe-sponsored Kawasaki ZX-7R (partially obscured/just behind Gray's left elbow), who would round out the top-5 for the day, Canadian rider Jacques Quenette on the #39 D.L.G.L. Software/Action Accessories-sponsored Yamaha YZF750 (11th-place finish), and 3rd-place finisher Tom Kipp on the #16 American Honda/Camel/Commonwealth Racing/HRC-sponsored Honda RC30 (directly behind Russell in yellow leathers.)


Mid Ohio has been hosting a round of the AMA Pro Road Racing Series since the early '80s, and has historically been one of the best-attended events on the schedule, almost since their first year of hosting the event.  Located in Lexington, OH., the track is one of the most fan-friendly tracks on the schedule due to it's various viewing areas around the 2.5+ mile course. 

This is great news seeing the track return to the schedule for the 2012 season in what will be it's fourth decade in the series.
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AMA Pro Racing Confirms 2012 Date for Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course as Part of 2012 AMA Pro Road Racing Schedule

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (November 23, 2011) - AMA Pro Racing officials announced Wednesday the addition of Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course to the list of renewals for the 2012 AMA Pro Road Racing calendar. The event is scheduled for the weekend of July 13 - 15, 2012 and will mark the 30th consecutive year that the series has raced at the 2.4-mile natural road course nestled in the scenic rolling hills of Lexington, Ohio.

In last year's contest, the Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki team dominated the AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike weekend, Blake Young taking pole position and the Saturday race victory, followed by Tommy Hayden taking the checkers in Sunday's final. As in 2011, fans will experience the excitement of the full complement of AMA Pro Road Racing classes, which includes AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike, AMA Pro Daytona SportBike, AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport and the AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 Series.
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AMA Pro Road Racing at the Mid Ohio round in July '11 shows AMA Superbike Championship Series bikes lined up in the pitlane.  AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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With the addition of the event at Mid-Ohio, AMA Pro Racing has now announced eight contract renewals for the 2012 AMA Pro Road Racing season. AMA Pro Racing will be working in conjunction with M1 Powersports for promotion of three additional events. Details about those three new events, which will complete the 2012 schedule, will be released shortly. The partial schedule is as follows:

March 15 - 17, 2012

Daytona 200

Daytona International Speedway

Daytona Beach, Fla.

May 4 - 6, 2012

Infineon Raceway

Sonoma, Calif.

May 26 - 28, 2012

Miller Motorsports Park

Tooele, Utah

June 1 - 3, 2012

Road America

Elkhart Lake, Wis.

June 22 - 24, 2012

Barber Motorsports Park

Birmingham, Ala.

July 13 - 15, 2012

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

Lexington, Ohio

July 27 - 29, 2012

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

Monterey, Calif.

September 7 - 9, 2012

New Jersey Motorsports Park

Millville, N.J.

AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com. For additional information contact: AMA Pro Racing Communications, (386) 492-1014, communications@amaproracing.com

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AMA Pro Road Racing Previews the AMA/WSBK Weekend at Miller Motorsports Park, May 28-30

The Wiseco Superbike 100 main event of the Camel Super Cycle Weekend presented by Dunlop gets off to a re-start on August 2, 1992 at the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course, after a red flag caused by a crash involving Vance & Hines Yamaha rider Larry Schwarzbach on the front straight delayed the race for close to an hour.  Unfortunately, Schwarzbach succumbed to his injuries less then 48 hours later, and as with all things in life, the racing did go on that day as the front row of the premier AMA Superbike Championship Series contenders roar away from the starting line. 

With a field of riders representing several U.S. and World Championships entered for the weekend's events, the races were filled with an air of international flair that weekend with current, present and former campaigners of the AMA Superbike Championship, the Canadian Superbike Championship,the World Superbike Championship and the World Championship GPs on hand at the 2.5 mile track outside the village of Lexington, OH. 

(L-R) Canadian Pascal Picotte on the #34 Fast by Ferracci/Arai/Bel Ray/SBS-sponsored Ducati 851 gets some air coming off of the front row restart.  This was the former multi-time Canadian Superbike Champion's first full year racing the AMA Series as a factory pilot, in what would see him spending over a decade running in the AMA Superbike Championship Series for Suzuki, H-D and Michael Jordan Motorsports before returning to his native Canada to finish out his career in the saddle in his native Canadian Superbike Championship Series.

Behind him on the #2 Vance & Hines/Bel Ray/Bell/Bates-backed Yamaha YZF-750, Jamie James tries to make up for the meat ball flag he had just served several laps before the red flag for getting what AMA officials deemed a 'pretty good jump' on the original restart.  Of note--notice the front brake shrouds on the '89 AMA Superbike Champion's bike.  Factory teams in those days were using carbon fiber brakes, which take an intense amount of heat built up into them in order to operate efficiently, thusly the covers on the #2 machine.  The extra costs for running the carbon fiber stoppers in those days was reported to be in the 'thousands of dollars' area.  In other words for us plain city and country folk, unobtanium.

Freddie Spencer appears to be 'gliding' off the line on his #19 Two Brothers Racing/Honda Motor Co/Michelin-sponsored RC-30, which of course would look that way coming from a former 3-Time World GP Champion.  Spencer would win several races for the Erion Brothers team before finishing out his career running Ducatis for Eraldo Ferracci in the AMA Superbike Championship Series after returning from Europe and winning, most notably, the '83 World 500CC Grand Prix Championship and the '85 250CC and 500CC World Grand Prix Championships.  Spencer was the youngest man at the time to ever win the premier 500CC Championship, and last man to have won two championships in different classes during one year.

Just behind Fast Freddie, partially blocked, is the #23 FBF/Ducati Mechanica/SPA/AGV-sponsored Ducati 888 of Doug Polen, who won the '91-'92 World Superbike Championships before returning to the U.S. full-time in the '93 season to win the AMA Superbike Championship, as well.  Polen would go on to lead runner-up Thomas Stevens ('91 AMA Superbike Champion) on the #1 Muzzy Kawasaki and 3rd place finisher Tom Kipp on the #16 Commonwealth Camel Honda to the event win.  Also to note, it was just announced in the last day or two that Polen will be enshrined in the AMA Hall of Fame this November.  Bravo, as it's been a long time coming! 

And finally, The Screamin Chief himself, Scott Russell on the #17 Muzzy Kawasaki/SBS/Ohlins/
Motul-sponsored ZX-7R launches his machine as if he could do it with his eyes closed (and looking closely, they almost are!)  The eventual '92 AMA Superbike Champion and '93 World Superbike Champion would go on to have his name pressed into minds across the globe forever, if not for his U.S. and World Championships, but for his 5-Time winning of the Daytona 200 in the glory days when Daytona was a full-fledged 200 mile Superbike race.  The Chief is scheduled to be on-hand in Utah this weekend fulfilling his duties as announcer for the AMA Pro Road Racing television coverage for Speed TV, and rumors have it he may actually don the leathers to take a few laps of some sort over the weekend in the mountains of Utah. 
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AMA Pro Road Racing Joins WSBK for BigM Memorial Day Weekend


DAYTONA BEACH, FL (May 23, 2011) - Hot on the heels of a great weekend of racing at Infineon Raceway's May 13-15 West Coast Moto Jam, the AMA Pro Road Racing paddock is ready to celebrate Memorial Day with some international friends. May 28 through 30, AMA Pro will join the FIM World Superbike Championship for the BigM Weekend Presented by Lucas Oil, hosted by the spectacular Miller Motorsports Park facility in Tooele, Utah.

AMA Pro returns to MMP following a two-season hiatus, but the series' official test at the circuit in early May proved the field is more than ready to work the flowing 3.048-mile track. That's especially true of reigning AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike Champion Josh Hayes (Monster Energy Graves Yamaha), who was dominant in both days of MMP testing and is coming off a Race 1 win at Infineon's Round 2.

Hayes won't have it easy, though; having split Infineon wins with Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Tommy Hayden, Hayes enters MMP Round 3 with a slim 6-point lead in the standings. Hayden himself has more to worry about than just the rider ahead, however; teammate Blake Young sits just two points behind in third overall, and despite a difficult Race 2 at Infineon, M4 Suzuki's Martin Cardenas remains fourth overall, the reigning AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Champion having proven he's a SuperBike contender by notching his first podium-finish (a third) in last round's Race 1.

With a total of twenty-eight National Guard SuperBike riders entered thus far, the riders listed above will have more than their fair share of competition, and the same can be said for the infamously intense AMA Pro Daytona SportBike class, currently boasting forty-one entries.
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Miller Motorsports Park, Tooele, Utah.  AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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Though the depth of talent in the Daytona SportBike field is almost as incredible as the class' tendency toward ten-deep lead changes that at times run four-wide, one rider has been unquestionably dominant in the results thus far: Team Latus Motors Racing's Jason DiSalvo, who's gone three-for-three in the series' opening rounds. Infineon, however, saw him regularly challenged by Monster Energy Graves Yamaha's Josh Herrin, GEICO Powersports/RMR Suzuki's Danny Eslick, and then-privateer Jake Holden. With the latter having since picked up season sponsorship from RidersDiscount.com, DiSalvo's sure to have his hands full at MMP.


The AMA Pro Motorycle-Superstore.com SuperSport class will also see its ranks swell at Round 3, as the BigM Weekend's edition of the rising-star class, the AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport Larry H. Miller Challenge, will feature a host of top local talent, all vying for a piece of the purse that's been doubled for this special event. Taking on all newcomers will be top series regulars like Roadracingworld.com's Benny Solis, Y.E.S./LTD Racing's Tomas Puerta and David Gaviria, Vesrah Suzuki's Corey Alexander, and more.

MMP fans will also be treated to the sights and V-twin sounds of AMA Pro Road Racing's newest class, the AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 division. These handlebar-to-handlebar, footpeg-dragging monsters are in their first full season of AMA Pro competition, and the already-packed field through which riders like Chris Fillmore, Kyle Wyman, Steve Rapp, and Michael Barnes barrel will see the return of reigning class champion Danny Eslick (joining RMR/Bruce Rossmeyer Daytona Racing teammates Fillmore and Wyman) aboard the #1 machine.

SPEED TV will highlight all of Round 3's AMA Pro races via an AMA Pro Road Racing Special set to air Monday, May 30, at 9 p.m. PST/midnight EST, and will broadcast the Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport and Vance & Hines XR1200 contests live on SPEED2. There won't be any substitute, however, for being there in person, as MMP has planned a big lineup of weekend concerts. Saturday night will feature country superstar Dierks Bentley, supported by Sawyer Brown and Reckless Kelly, while Blue Oyster Cult and Creedence Clearwater Revisited will take the stage on Sunday night. Whether you're a die-hard road race fan or just an admirer of all things wheeled, MMP is the place to be this Memorial Day Weekend.

For event-specific tickets and information, visit www.BigMweekend.com or call (435) 277-RACE. For general information about Miller Motorsports Park, visit www.millermotorsportspark.com.


To learn more and be a part of AMA Pro Racing, please visit www.amaproracing.com and join us via facebook.com/AMAProRoadRacing, twitter.com/AMAProSBK, and twitter.com/AMAProLIVE. 

AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com.

For additional information contact:
AMA Pro Racing Communications, (386) 492-1014, communications@amaproracing.com
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Round 3 of the 2011 AMA Pro Road Racing Series , the BIGM Weekend presented by Lucas Oil, from Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah will kick off on Saturday, May 28.  Event info can be found here:

http://amaproracing.com/rr/events/event.cfm?eid=2011011115

Here is the link to the most recent event schedule (as of this writing on 5/25/11):

http://amaproracing.com/assets/2011_MMP_AMAP_schedule.pdf

Here is the event info link for all of the classes and PDF files that will be available throughout the weekend:

http://live.amaproracing.com/live/results/pdfresults/rr/2011/R1115/default.aspx

And here is the link to AMA Pro Road Racing's Live Timing so you can keep up with all of the sessions throughout the weekend:

http://live.amaproracing.com/rr/

Tooele, Utah weather courtesy of The Weather Underground:

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=84074
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AMA Pro Road Racing Announces Purse Structure for Daytona

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Jamie James on the #2 Vance & Hines Yamaha leads Scott Russell on the #17 Muzzy Kawasaki, Freddie Spencer on the #19 Two Brothers Racing Honda and Thomas Stevens on the #1 Muzzy Kawasaki going into turn one at Road America in June of 1992. In what was one of THE classic AMA Superbike Championship races in the early '90s, James held off Russell and Spencer at the line after 16 fast and furious laps, with Stevens just a short distance behind.
All but Spencer in this group held claim to an AMA Superbike Championship. James, the '89 Champ while riding for Team Yoshimura Suzuki, Russell winning his championship later in the year after this shot was taken, and Stevens being the defending '91 AMA Superbike Champion from the previous year while riding for the Vance & Hines Yamaha team while a team mate to Jamie. Spencer, however, probably holds the heaviest of laurels when it comes to championships, winning his first 500CC World Championship in '83 while riding for Team Honda, and then repeating again in '85 and bagging the 250CC World Championship that year as well.

Road racing in the AMA Series has changed dramatically in the 19 seasons since this shot was taken. In the last few years, the series has seen many changes due to the global economic climate and the turnover of racing ownership to the Daytona Motorsports Group. Still putting the series back together again after the damages created by the Roger E era of '08-'09 and the economic disasters felt around the world the last few years, most riders are racing for lower purses and less up-front money (if any at all) to ride these 190+ HP machines. The days of six-figure salaries and bonuses are long gone, and a rider has to work even harder today to score personal sponsors to help line his (or her) pockets.

The 2011 AMA Superbike Championship kicks off next Thursday, March 10 when bikes hit the track for their first practice session at 1015 EST. Round one races kick off on Friday, March 11 at 1630 EST and Saturday, March 12 at 1115 EST. Both races will be shown tape delayed on Speed TV (DirecTV Channel 607) on Saturday, March 12 at 2300 EST, and the Daytona 200 will be shown live on Speed TV on Saturday from 1300-1530 EST. You can check out the link to AMA Pro Road Racing's event link after the press release below to also access the week's schedule.
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AMA Pro Racing Announces $235K Purse for Daytona 200 Round

DAYTONA BEACH, FL (March 4, 2011) - Traditionally the richest round on the AMA Pro Road Racing schedule, this year's Daytona 200 season-kickoff event is no exception. A total of $235,500 will be up for grabs when the series returns to Daytona International Speedway, the purse spread throughout the AMA Pro National Guard Superbike, Daytona SportBike, Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport, and Vance & Hines XR1200 classes. The 70th running of the legendary Daytona 200, which reverts to its traditional Saturday-afternoon start this year, will offer a bristling field of Daytona SportBike riders 57 laps to fight for a $20,000 winner's purse. The event's second- and third-place finishers will claim $15,000 and $10,000, respectively, with the remaining $64,500 paying down through 20th position. Each of the two 15-lap AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike races will award a $51,000 purse, for a double-header total of $102,000. SuperBike race-winners will take home $10,000 per victory, with the remaining $41,000 paying through 15th position. The Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport class---- for which Daytona serves as a combination East/West Division event---- will vie for a total of $7,000 per 10-lap race, each winner claiming a $1,500 purse and the remaining prize money paying through tenth position. The Vance & Hines XR1200 class, making its inaugural appearance at Daytona International Speedway and boasting the largest field the division's seen yet, will race for $10,000 in prize money. The first big V-twin to tear across the line will take home $3,750, with the remainder paying through tenth position. The stakes are high for AMA Pro's road race stars, and fans who emerge from Daytona International Speedway's tunnels into the legendary infield for the March 12 event will experience a full slate of pit-stops, autograph sessions, fan walks, vendors and exhibitors, live entertainment, and more. For ticket and event information, visit www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com; for complete AMA Pro Racing information, visit www.amaproracing.com. For a detailed breakdown of the purse payouts listed above, please consult Competition Bulletin #2011-06.

AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com. For additional information contact: AMA Pro Racing Communications, (386) 492-1014, communications@amaproracing.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can follow the action from Daytona here via the AMA Pro Road Racing site. Once the bikes hit the track for first practice at the World Center of Speed on Thursday, March 11 at 1015 EST for the first AMA Superbike practice, the AMA will also have a link posted for Live Timing and Scoring: http://amaproracing.com/rr/events/event.cfm?year=2011&eid=2011011105 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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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