Speed Dating: September 21 - 27

September 21

RRX senior editor Laurel Allen (US) was born on this date in an undisclosed year. She has been with the magazine since 2005. Allen is the co-author of BMW Racing Motorcycles: The Mastery of Speed, written alongside RRX contributor Mark Gardiner.

September 22

Lucio Pedercini (IT) was born on this date in 1972. Pedercini raced six seasons in the 500cc Grand Prix series from 1992 through 1997, primarily with the ROC Yamaha team. In 1998, Pedercini established his own World Superbike team, Team Pedercini. Lucio raced, finishing as high as ninth in the championship in 2003, until he was sidelined by a back injury in 2006. Team Pedercini has remained a successful privateer team in WSBK, and this year is providing Kawasaki machinery for Luca Scassa and David Salom.

Former 500cc World Champion Ernst Degner (DE) was born on this date in 1931. Degner began his Grand Prix career in 1957, racing for the MZ team. The East German factory campaigned two-stroke motorcycles that utilized exhaust expansion chambers to maximize the positive effects of exhaust resonance. This technology descended directly from flow-dynamics experimentation on German rocket motors during World War II and was a closely guarded East German state secret. Degner defected from East Germany in 1961 during the weekend of the Swedish Grand Prix, taking with him documents and schematics of the MZ two-stroke. He found a home with Suzuki for the following season, winning the 50cc World Championship (Suzuki’s first world title) using an engine suspiciously similar in configuration to the MZ. Degner was forced to retire after being badly burned during a horrific crash at Suzuka in 1962. Sadly, he became dependent on the pain medication given to him after the accident, and would die of an apparent overdose in 1983.

Carlo Ubbiali (IT) was born on this date in 1931. A nine-time world champion in the 125cc and 250cc classes, Ubbiali won over half of the races he entered in his twelve-year Grand Prix career. Ubbiali won his first crown with the Mondial team in 1951, but moved to the MV Agusta squad in 1953, where he would win eight more.  Ubbiali retired in 1960.

September 23

Ryuichi Kiyonari (JP) was born on this date in 1982. The 2006 and 2007 British Superbike Champion, Kiyonari currently rides for the Hannspree/Ten Kate Honda team in World Superbike. Kiyonari scored three wins last year, but he has yet to secure a victory this season. He is eleventh in the WSBK standings entering this weekend’s Imola round.

Katja Poensgen (DE) was born on this date in 1976. Poensgen is one of the only women ever to have raced in the Grand Prix series, contesting the 250cc class in 2001 and 2003. The 1998 European Supermono Cup champion, Poengsen has also competed in the IDM German Superbike Championship, the BMW Boxxer Cup, and the predecessor of the World Supersport series. Since retiring from riding in 2004, Poensgen has served as a broadcaster on German television and has also competed in a variety of international rally-raid events.

On this date in 1983, Freddie Spencer (US) secured the 500cc World Championship with a second-place finish at Imola, besting Kenny Roberts by two points to take the title. At 21, Spencer was the youngest person to ever win the 500cc World Championship.

On this date in 2007, Casey Stoner (AU) won the MotoGP World Championship with a sixth-place finish at Motegi, earning the first MotoGP title for Ducati. Stoner took ten wins during the season, finishing the year with a margin of 125 points over championship runner-up Dani Pedrosa.

September 24

Ed Kretz (US), the winner of the first Daytona 200, was born on this date in 1911. Kretz began his career racing in depression-era Southern California, but was promoted to the national championships to compete for the Indian factory team. He won the 1937 Daytona 200 on the beach, and quickly became one of the most popular riders on the national circuit. Kretz served as an Army motorcycle instructor during World War II, but returned to racing after the war, competing until his retirement in 1959. He retired with nine Grand National wins. Kretz died in 1996 at the age of 84.

Mert Lawwill (US) was born on this date in 1940. The 1969 AMA Grand National Champion, Lawwill retired with 161 Grand National starts in his fifteen-year career. Lawwill’s unsuccessful championship defense in 1970 is featured in the documentary On Any Sunday. Lawwill retired in 1977, but continued in the sport as a successful frame designer and builder.

September 27

Nicolas Terol (ES) was born on this date in 1988. Terol has competed in the 125cc World Championship since 2004, but did not secure his first championship victory until winning the rain-shortened 2008 Red Bull Indianapolis GP. This year, Terol is riding for the Jack & Jones Aprilia team and is currently second in the 2009 standings, with a win at the Czech Grand Prix.

Doug Chandler (US) was born on this date in 1965. One of the most versatile American riders of all time, Chandler got his start in motocross before moving to dirt track, earning AMA Rookie of the Year honors in 1983. Chandler began competing in road racing in 1985, and would eventually win the AMA Superbike Championship three times. He spent four years in the 500cc Grand Prix series, finishing as high as sixth in the championship with Suzuki in 1992. Today, Chandler operates the Doug Chandler Performance Motorcycle School. He is one of only four riders to ever earn the AMA Grand Slam, composed of scoring national wins at mile, half-mile, short track, TT, and road racing events (the three other riders being Dick Mann, Kenny Roberts, and Bubba Shobert).