Fred Merkel bounds down the steps of the home he and his wife built in Taupo, New Zealand, and offers an outstretched hand and a smile to welcome a visitor from a place he once called home.
The two-time World Superbike Champion leads with his jaw, a prominent feature he passed on to his son Travis, who’s now following in his father’s racing footsteps. Welcome to Taupo, he says, looking every bit as youthful and vibrant as when he was tearing up racetracks around the world.
Before he left the U.S. to win the first two World Superbike titles, he won three AMA Superbike titles (’84-’86). There is also the Italian Superbike Championship, the Italian F1 Championship, and the TTF1 Championship. "I think there’s eight titles in the end. Just all the money stuff," he says.
Merkel lived in New Zealand when he wasn’t racing in Europe and moved to Taupo permanently in 1996, after recovering from the injury that ended his career at Firebird Raceway in Chandler, Arizona. There was no question that the crash, which came in the final race of the 1995 season, was the worst of his career.
"I knew because the pain was so bad," he begins. "I mean I’ve had a lot of—as every racer does—broken things in my career. When it finally came down to, wow, I’m hurt’, I finally noticed that I couldn’t move my arm. The pain was so bad, because I bruised my heart so bad, and by doing seven or eight ribs through this side and sticking three or four through the lung and losing part of the lung. It took about three days until I realized I’ve got something wrong here. How long’s this going to take to heal?’"
It took about three years of hard work and therapy to resume something resembling normal use of his right arm, but it will never be 100 percent. In the first month after the accident he sensed his career was over. "There was just nothing happening, the arm’s not working. And I knew at my age then, you couldn’t miss the training window. And I was at my peak fitness. There was a couple of times after I got home from the hospital and tried to ride one of the old Triumphs around the driveway. I went 'I’m in deep, deep trouble. Big time.’ And then you have basically a two-month window to start tire testing and I figured, 'Well, I’m done.’ And that’s when I called Donnie (Sakakura) and said, 'Man, I know I signed up for next year, but I can’t do it.’ And then had to call Mr. Ito and that was one of the most difficult..." he says, his voice trailing off. Merkel told him to hand over the ride and his contract to another rider, but Suzuki wouldn’t hear of it. Not only did it pay out his contract, but Suzuki gave him his 1995 bike, which sits in the garage next to the house.
On the starting grid of an...
On the starting grid of an AMA Superbike race in 1985, with Merkel sitting behind mechanic Mike Velasco, and the late Merlyn Plumlee standing beside the pair. Plumlee followed Merkel on the American’s World Superbike exploits.
The first of Merkel’s AMA Superbike titles was his most impressive. In 1984 he won ten races, a record that stood until Mat Mladin broke it in 2005; Merkel won again in 1985 and ’86. After winning his third AMA Superbike title for Honda, he wasn’t offered a contract for 1987. He left California and the AMA under a bit of a cloud, one that he’s reluctant to discuss.
Gary Mathers—the legendary team manager who won nearly 80 championships in various disciplines (snowmobiling, roadracing, dirt track, motocross, Supercross, off-road) for a number of manufacturers—never saw eye to eye, in anything, with Merkel. "Even the years I rode for him. And actually we’ve had a few words and, yeah, I’d rather not comment on that." There have been allegations of improper behavior by Merkel, but Mathers has never commented, except to say there were communication issues between Merkel and his management. The bigger problem was with Wayne Rainey. Rainey had ridden for Mathers at Kawasaki before heading to Europe for a difficult season in the 250cc Grand Prix World Championship.