Mike Edwards (motorcycle racer)
Mike 'Spike' Edwards (born February 1962)[1] based in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, is an English motorcycle road racer. He is a six-time British national champion in various classes.
Edwards has competed in short circuit racing, as well as road circuits, winning the Macau Grand Prix on board a ROC Yamaha 500 in 1995, and the North West SS600 title in 1994. He currently races in European and World competition, being the only Briton to have won the Imola 200 since Paul Smart in 1972. Edwards currently competes in endurance racing and Supermono events. In addition to being one of just a few ACU certified Coaches; Edwards together with Shaun Brown have recently become the only official Coach / Instructor Assessors who will train and assess all new Instructors and Level 1 Coaches in the new ACU training scheme.
Edwards has trained as a Driving Standards Agency, Compulsory Basic Training and Direct Access Training instructor. Edwards founded his eBay project 'Gordon' where he took a £454 Yamaha SZR 660cc salvage yard wreck to rostrum finishes in the British Supermono Championship. Through the creation of 'Gordon's Special Friends' the bike was totally rebuilt and race prepared; with the progress documented on a popular website and blog.[2] Edwards now offers an on track assessment scheme, V2Pro where he uses video footage to help other motorcyclists improve their riding skills.
Mike is certified by the sport's governing body the ACU[3] as the only independent commercial road racing coach.
Career highlights
- 1988 British JuniorStock Champion
- 1992 400cc British Supersport Championship
- 1995 600cc British Supersport Championship
- 2004 British Supermono Champion (watercooled)
- 2014 British Historic GP Champion
- 2015 British Historic GP Champion
Mike Edwards is an established motorcycle racing journeyman - a competitor with over 33 years race experience, having raced something every year since 1982. With 6 separate British Championship titles, in depth experience, winning on the Roads, and at World and European level - his history in the sport runs deep.
On the 'pure' roads Mike’s won: The Macau Grand Prix on a works Yamaha engine ROC 500 North West 200 Supersport 600cc race
He’s had some great fun in World Endurance, with many rostrums with different bike manufacturers, racing all over the world, including the iconic Suzuka 8hr; Mike’s favourite result being 2nd at the Bol d'Or with team mates Robert Holden and Steve Manley to the factory Yamaha team with the Sarron brothers and Yasu Nagai in 1984. He’s the last Briton to have won the Imola 200, Paul Smart 1972 then Mike in 2002.
Supermono bikes and the racing class has long held an attraction for Mike, who enjoys the camaraderie and engineering skills that this class particularly offers. Having ridden the factory backed MuZ Skorpion single to many race wins, Mike also enjoyed great success racing a ‘mini mono’ – 450cc engine in a 125 size frame in the European Supermono series. His notorious project ‘Gordon’ www.gordonsalive.com was born from Mike’s love of supermonos.
Wanting to pass on the wealth of knowledge Mike’s been lucky enough to acquire over the years; he is now also a road race coach. It’s not been easy to achieve; but by giving something back to the sport that has given him so much over the years, he definitely thinks it’s worth it. Mike has been the only independent ACU certified commercial road racing coach for the last six years.
Mike enjoys a good online presence across many motorcycling message boards and has a good following of his racing related videos on his YouTube channel,[4] or you can simply search for him online to see them.
|Mike 'Spike' Edwards international motorcycle racer and independent ACU certified road racing coach. Image:Moto450-trophy.jpg|Mike Edwards (left) and bike builder Mark Hanna proudly display their winners trophy. Image:Circuit-draw.jpg|Mike Edwards discusses circuit layout with one of his race coaching students. </gallery>
Sources
External links
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Steve Hislop |
Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix Winner 1995 |
Succeeded by Phillip McCallen |