Mike Baldwin

Mike Baldwin (born January 15, 1955 in Pasadena , California ) is a retired American motorcycle racer .

Career

Mike Baldwin's first motorcycle at age 14 was a minibike powered by a lawnmower engine . A year later, he rose to a 50 cc - Honda to with which he drove through the surrounding forests.

In 1972, at the age of 17, Baldwin and a friend saw a motorcycle race, which encouraged the two of them to put number plates on their motorcycles and to take part in a club race themselves. Baldwin immediately took fifth place with his Kawasaki 750 H2 . At that time, his parents did not know anything about their son's racing activities.

During the semester break, Mike Baldwin attended a course at Kawasaki and then became service manager in a newly founded Kawasaki subsidiary. A wealthy customer of this branch and sponsor of Baldwin's had a heavily tuned Kawasaki Z1 and asked Baldwin to drive this machine around on a racetrack. During these test drives, the customer bought a Yamaha TZ 125 and a TZ 250 from another racing driver for Baldwin. Baldwin started on these machines a few weeks later in Canada and immediately won the race in the 250 cc class, beating him the future Formula 750 world champion Steve Baker , who started for Yamaha Canada . Several more victories followed in various club races on the Yamaha TZ.

In the mid-1970s, Mike Baldwin took part in long-distance races on superbikes from the Italian brands Ducati and Laverda , and sometimes competed in club races in eight to nine classes at the same time on a racing weekend. He also took part in dirt track and ice races in winter to improve his driving skills and machine control.

In 1975 Baldwin started in an AMA entry-level class, filled with climbers from the club class, including talents such as Richard Schlachter , Dave Roper , David Emde and Harry Klinzmann.

In 1976 Baldwin was one of the most successful drivers in the AMA 250cc class, but his big breakthrough came on a Moto Guzzi Le Mans built by Reno Leoni in an AMA superbike race in Loudon . Baldwin soon appeared in all three classes of the AMA road championship, in the Formula 750, the 250 cc Grand Prix and the Superbike class; he was able to win a superbike run in Charlotte .

In 1978 Mike Baldwin won the Formula 1 road championship (successor to Formula 750) with his Yamaha TZ 750, including victories in Sears Point and Pocono ; His third place in Laguna Seca behind the successful American participants in the motorcycle world championship Kenny Roberts sr. was also impressive . and Steve Baker. He was also successful that year in Canada and Suzuka (Japan) in two rounds of the Formula 750 World Championship. In Canada, where the race was held on the Mosport track , he beat the then top US driver and later world champion Kenny Roberts by a huge margin of 40 seconds. Baldwin also won the first 8-hour race in Suzuka , Japan, together with Wes Cooley in a Suzuki in 1978 .

In 1979 Kawasaki signed the talented driver. And Baldwin could almost have celebrated the so-called Daytona Triple Crown , winning the Daytona 200 , the Lightweight class and the Superbike class if a training accident in which he had broken his collarbone had not stopped him. As he was unable to take part in qualifying due to this injury, he had to start at the end of the field in the Daytona 200. The leaders had already covered three quarters of the first lap when the third starting group with Baldwin was sent out on the track at the end. In the end, he achieved fourth place with his Kawasaki KR 750 despite the long start delay and the painful shoulder and could feel like a moral winner.

In addition to his involvement in the AMA races, Mike Baldwin also took part in races in the 500 cm³ class for the motorcycle world championship in Europe in 1979 with a private Suzuki . Among other things with a pole position and third place in the Spanish Grand Prix of Spain in Jarama . During these races he emerged as Kenny Roberts' challenger for the crown of the best American motorcycle racer until an injury forced him to take a break.

In a race in Loudon in June 1979 for Kawasaki, Mike Baldwin suffered a complicated broken leg in an accident. It was only in mid-1980 that he - still not fully recovered - was able to participate in racing again, now for Honda, as support for Freddie Spencer , who works for Honda should win the AMA Superbike Championship. In the end, Baldwin was ninth in the championship.

In 1981 Baldwin took part in the World Endurance Championship for Honda together with David Aldana . Although the team was unlucky this year, Baldwin won the Suzuka 8 Hours for the second time in his career.

The following year, 1982, Mike Baldwin was fully recovered and was now driving again in the United States. He started for Honda with the revolutionary FWA 1000 V-Four and thus helped the company to win a title in the AMA Foreml 1 championship with a four-stroke motorcycle for the first time. Baldwin was successful in this class for the next few years and was able to defend his title in 1983, 1984 and 1985. In the AMA Superbike Championship of 1982 Baldwin finished second behind Kawasaki rider Eddie Lawson , and in 1983 he also finished second overall, this time behind Wayne Rainey (also awasaki).

In 1984 Baldwin was able to win the 8 Hours of Suzuka for the third time - and thus as the first driver ever - with a factory Honda, this time in a team with Fred Merkel .

In 1985, the American took part in parallel to the AMA races in the USA on the race-free weekends with his Hondas in some races of the world championship in the 500 cc class in Europe and ended the season with tenth overall, tied with points Exit Boet van Dulmen .

1986 Baldwin completed his most successful season in the 500cc World Championship on a Yamaha in the Lucky Strike Roberts team in the Kenny Roberts team with fourth place overall. He achieved five podium finishes in eleven races and was only beaten by Eddie Lawson (Yamaha), Wayne Gardner (Honda) and his team-mate Randy Mamola in the overall standings . In the same year he scored the last victory of his career in a national race in Laguna Seca.

In 1987 Mike Baldwin was injured at the German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring , so that he had to forego the start of some races and finished in 18th place with just six points.

In the last “full-time” year of his racing career, 1988, Baldwin started for a private team on a Honda. His best placement was tenth at the US Grand Prix ; in the end he was in 19th place. He also achieved fourth place overall in the AMA Superbike Championship on a Suzuki.

After 1988, Baldwin still took part sporadically in various national races in the USA, his last being on a Honda Superbike in Miami in November 1991.

After his active career, Baldwin opened a racing school, and later he found employment with a petroleum company.

Mike Baldwin is married with two children.

statistics

title

• Victory at the 8-hour race in Suzuka : 1978, 1981, 1984

In the motorcycle world championship

season	class	motorcycle	run	Podiums	Poles	Points	Result
1979	500 cc	Suzuki	4th	1	1	17th	13.
1981	500 cc	Suzuki	1	-	-	0	-
1985	500 cc	Honda	10	-	-	18th	11.
1986	500 cc	Yamaha	11	5	-	78	4th
1987	500 cc	Yamaha	5	-	-	6th	18th
1988	500 cc	Honda	6th	-	-	14th	19th
total			37	6th	13	133

Web links

• Mike Baldwin on the motorcycle world championship official website.
• Mike Baldwin. www.motorcyclemuseum.org, accessed April 9, 2012 .