World Champion Freddie Spencer | The Ballad Of Fast Freddie & Spa

Freddie Spencer was a factory Honda AMA Superbike rider in 1980, winning Road America for Honda on his first try, but even before then he’d announced his arrival. “It was obviously where he was going,” said Ian Mackay, who would later work for Honda Motor Company. “When he beat Gary (Nixon), if there were any doubters they should have been dispelled. You don’t beat Gary Nixon at Loudon. (Spencer) was virtually a child.”

The more impressive victories came in the Transatlantic Match Races. On April 4, 1980, the 18-year-old rode a Yamaha TZ750 tuned by Erv Kanemoto to victories in both legs at Brands Hatch, beating world champions Kenny Roberts and Barry Sheene, among others. Everything changed for Spencer that day.

Kanemoto laid the foundation for Spencer’s Grand Prix career by tuning Barry Sheene’s private Yamaha on the grand prix trail in 1981. That summer, Kanemoto and Spencer were given a glimpse of their future by the venerable Yoichi Oguma, the Honda racing boss at the time. Oguma flew to the U.S. with Takeo Fukui, who would go on to the top job at Honda Motor Company, with the three-cylinder engine that would power Honda’s NS500 the next year.

“Mr. Fukui brought it to American Honda in July 1981,” Spencer recalls. “Erv and I were sitting on one side of the conference table and Mr. Fukui and Mr. Oguma were sitting on the other side and they lifted the cover off the small engine crate sitting in the middle of the table and it was the three-cylinder engine. That was the first time we saw any part of the NS500.”

Spencer became the youngest-ever premier 500cc Grand Prix winner when he beat Barry Sheene and Franco Uncini at Spa-Francorchamps on July 4, 1982. That he was going to win was only a matter of time.

In the first race of the 1982 season in Argentina, Spencer finished 1.37 seconds behind Roberts and Sheene to take third. He would be on the podium again in Misano, but small problems kept him from finishing every race. On his first visit to Spa, he fell in love.

“I love the area,” he said. “I love the way it looks around the Spa area and the people and I have such great memories and that’s why I look forward to coming to this event.”

The event he was referring to is the Biker’s Classic, an annual gathering of world champions and vintage racers that was celebrating its tenth anniversary this year with a Superbike theme (although there were plenty of Grand Prix machines as usual). There were a number of motorcycles for Spencer to ride, most of which were replicas. The one true ex-Spencer machine was the Two Brothers Racing Honda RC30 that he rode to victory in the AMA Miami street race in 1991.

In 1982 Spencer was something of a mystery. He was too young to be this fast and different from the Americans who’d come before him, Roberts, Mamola, Hennen. He was quiet and religious, with a thirst for Dr. Pepper. He spent much of his time in his motor home. The mythology suggested he stayed on Shreveport time at the racetrack and watched Elvis videos. The truth was different. What wasn’t in dispute was his speed.

Images of Spencer from 1982 show a cherubic face with bangs. Thirty years on he still has the Louisiana twang, but he’s filled out a little and has a goatee. Spencer has been through a lot since he won his last 500cc World Championship in 1985.

Spencer doesn’t dote on the past. The fans at Spa are here to see him and he’s engaging and willing to sign autographs until his arm falls off.

Most people have a hard time remembering details of events so far in the past, but not Spencer. He remembers everything, every gear change, every tire, every bump in the track, every lap time.