India Bike week 2017 Preview

Two great icons of the two-wheeler world will be arriving in Goa to grace the India Bike Week. Leslie Porterfield and Freddie Spencer. Here’s a little background on who they are and what they’ve accomplished

Looking ahead to what should be a mega fifth edition of IBw, and back in goa, too!

At the 2017 IndIa BIke Week, to Be held in Vagator, Goa, on 24 and 25 November, two illustrious names from the motorcycle racing world will be part of the party. Your very own Bike India, in association with TVS Motor Company, is bringing in racing stalwart Freddie Spencer, and fans of ‘Fast Freddie’ will be able to interact with him face-toface at the IBW.

Freddie Spencer

Recognised as one of the greatest racers of all time by aficionados the world over, Spencer dominated the motorcycle racing scene through the 1980s. He made history in 1985 by earning the distinction of being the only racer in history to have won the 250-cc and 500-cc world championships in the same year; no one has repeated this feat since. The legendary rider will be joining in the two-wheeled celebrations at IBW this year, and you can catch up with him at the Bike India stall and TVS stall at the event. If you have a passion for reading and own a copy of his book, Feel: My Story, bring it along and get it autographed by the legend himself!

Fast Freddie has been racing motorcycles since he was four years old and, at the age of 18, won his first ever 500-cc Grand Prix. In 1983, aged 21, he won his first premier-class world championship, making him the youngest ever premier-class world champion, a record he held for 30 years until 20-year-old Marc Marquez won the title in 2013.

Spencer has raced Kawasakis, Yamahas and Ducatis, but shone brightest with the Honda Racing Team, with whom he won all three of his world titles, and has contributed to the development of several of the Japanese marque’s most successful and influential race bikes. He was also closely involved in the development of the oval-piston, four-stroke NR500, which he rode to victory against the firebreathing two-strokes of Randy Mamola and Kenny Roberts at Laguna Seca in 1981.

It will indeed be an honour to host this great motorcyclist at IBW, where he will be signing autographs and sharing his experiences with the Indian motorcycling community.