Fred Merkel

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Fred Merkel
Nation: United StatesUnited States United States
Motorcycle world championship
statistics
Starts Victories Poles SR
3 - - -
World Cup points: 5
Podiums: -
According to class (es):
500 cc class
First start: 1989 Grand Prix of Nations
Last start: Great Britain Grand Prix 1989
Constructors
1989  Honda
World Cup balance
World Cup thirty-sixth ( 1989 )
Starts Victories Poles SR
3 - - -
World Cup points: 5
Podiums: -
Superbike World Championship
First start: United KingdomUnited Kingdom Donington (Run 1) 1988
Last start: PortugalPortugal Estoril (Run 2) 1993
statistics
Constructors
1988–1991  Honda  • 1992–1993  Yamaha  • 1993  Ducati
World Cup balance
World Champion ( 1988 , 1989 )
Starts Victories Poles SR
117 8th 4th 6th
World title: 2
World Cup points: 848.5
Podiums: 24

Fred Nels Merkel (born September 28, 1962 in Stockton , California ) is a retired American motorcycle racer .

Merkel is considered one of the most successful Superbike pilots in history and was known as Flying Fred during his active career .

Career

Merkel began his career with dirt track race in 1981 and 1982, he contested the 250 cc class of the US Championship and graduated from the ranks of three and two, making it the interest of Honda went on to .

From 1983 Merkel started for Honda in the AMA Superbike Championship and won the series in 1984, 1985 and 1986. He was also victorious in the Suzuka 8-hour race in 1984 and won the Italian Superbike Championship with Honda in the 1991 season.

In 1988 he moved to the newly created Superbike World Championship , where he competed for the Italian team Rumi on a Honda RC 30 . Merkel was only able to win two of the 17 races held, but still secured the title just ahead of the Italian Fabrizio Pirovano . In the following season he was even able to repeat this success and won, again extremely tightly, in front of his brand colleague Stéphane Mertens . Fred Merkel started in the World Cup until 1993 , but was unable to build on his initial successes. In total, he completed 114 World Superbike races, of which he was able to win eight.

Merkel also took part in three races in the 500 cc class of the motorcycle world championship on a Honda in the 1989 season . The eleventh place at the Grand Prix of Great Britain in Donington was his best result.

In 1994 Fred Merkel went back to the USA and took part in the US championship in different classes for two more years. At the end of the 1995 season, an accident ended his active career. In 2001 he was inducted into the American Motorcyclist Association 's Motorcycle Hall of Fame .

After his career ended, Merkel moved to New Zealand with his family and founded a successful company for the manufacture of building materials.

statistics

title

In the motorcycle world championship

season class motorcycle run Victories Second Third Poles Nice Race laps Points position
1989 500 cc Honda 3 - - - - - 5 36.
total 3 - - - - - 5

In the Superbike World Championship

season team motorcycle run Victories Second Third Poles Nice Race laps Points position
1988 RCM /
Moto Club Bergamo		 Honda RC30 17th 2 2 1 - 2 99 World Champion
1989 Team Rumi RCM Honda RC30 22nd 3 2 5 4th 2 272 World Champion
1990 Team Rumi RCM Honda RC30 16 3 1 3 - 2 197 6th
1991 Team Rumi Honda RC30 22nd - - 1 - - 124 8th.
1992 Fred Merkel Racing Yamaha OW 01 18th - - - - - 65 13.
1993 Team Yamaha BYRD Yamaha YZF 750 6th - - - - - 91.5 11.
Red Devils Racing Ducati 888 16 - 1 - - -
total 117 8th 6th 10 4th 6th 848.5 2 world titles

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Merkel, Fred
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Merkel, Fred Nels (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American motorcycle racer
DATE OF BIRTH September 28, 1962
PLACE OF BIRTH Stockton (California)