Doug Polen

Doug Polen (born September 2, 1960) is an American former professional motorcycle road racer.[1] Polen was a dominant national and world champion road racer in the late 1980s and early 1990s, culminating with his Superbike world championships in 1991 and 1992.[2][3] He raced successfully in AMA Superbike, Japanese Superbike Championship, Superbike World Championship and endurance racing. Polen was inducted to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2011.[1][4]

Doug Polen
Polen at Suzuka in 1990.
Nationality United States
Motorcycle racing career statistics
Superbike World Championship
Active years1988 - 1992, 1994 - 1995
ManufacturersDucati, Honda
Championships2 (1991, 1992)
1995 championship position-
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
80 27 40 17 17 1002

Motorcycle racing career

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Polen's family moved to Denton, Texas where he began his motorcycle road racing career in 1977 as a privateer racer.[1] Injuries sustained in a crash in mid-1982 made Polen decide to quit racing but, friends convinced him to begin racing again in late 1985.[1] In 1986, he competed in the newly created Suzuki GSXR National Cup Series. He was so successful at winning races that in only two years, he earned $260,000 in contingency fees while competing in the Suzuki sponsored series.[5] He earned more money than any privateer rider in the history of American motorcycle racing.[5] His success earned him a contract to race for the Yoshimura Suzuki racing team in 1988.[1][6] With the Yoshimura team, he became the first competitor to win both the AMA 750cc Superbike and the 600cc Supersport titles.[1]

In 1989 Polen had the opportunity to race for the Yoshimura team in Japan, winning the Formula 1 and Formula 3 in the All Japan Road Race Championship, the first time anyone had captured both titles the same season.[1] While in Japan, Polen received a one-time offer to race in the Japanese round of the 1989 Superbike World Championship and, made an impressive debut by winning the first race and finishing the second race in fourth place.[2] Polen joined Eraldo Ferracci's "Fast By Ferracci" Ducati racing team to compete in the 1991 Superbike World Championship.[1] He won the championship in a dominating fashion, winning 17 of 24 races in the series and finishing 150 points ahead of his nearest rival, the defending world champion Raymond Roche.[1][2] He also set a World Superbike Championship record by winning 6 consecutive pole positions, a record which stood for 18 years until it was broken by Ben Spies in 2009.[3][7] Polen successfully defended his title by winning the 1992 Superbike World Championship.[1][2] He also finished third overall in the 1992 AMA Superbike national championship.[1]

In 1993, Polen left the world championship to compete exclusively in the United States and won the AMA Superbike national championship.[1] In 1994 he joined the UK-based Castrol Honda team to race the then-new RC45 in the Superbike World Championship, insisting that the team use Dunlop tyres due to his close ties with the company.[8] He left the team abruptly in early 1995 but not before teaming up with Aaron Slight to win the prestigious Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race for Honda.[9][10] He teamed up with Peter Goddard to win the 1997 FIM Endurance World Championship before switching to a Honda to win the 1998 Endurance World Championship with Christian Lavieille.[1]

Polen's total of 18 AMA pole positions was a record until Mat Mladin matched it in 2006. His 13 fastest laps in World Superbike competition in 1991 is a single-season championship record.[11] After retiring from racing, Polen formed a road racing school to help motorcyclists improve their skills. In 2011 Polen was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame.[1]

Career statistics

Superbike World Championship[2]

Races by year
Year Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pos. Pts
R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2
1988 Suzuki GBR
EX		 GBR
EX		 HUN HUN GER GER AUT AUT JPN JPN FRA FRA POR POR AUS AUS NZL NZL NC 0
1989 Suzuki GBR GBR HUN HUN CAN CAN USA USA AUT AUT FRA FRA JPN
1		 JPN
4		 GER GER ITA ITA AUS AUS NZL NZL 21st 33
1990 Suzuki SPA SPA GBR GBR HUN HUN GER GER CAN CAN USA USA AUT AUT JPN
8		 JPN
DNS		 FRA FRA ITA ITA MAL MAL AUS AUS NZL NZL 48th 8
1991 Ducati GBR
1		 GBR
Ret		 SPA
1		 SPA
1		 CAN CAN USA
1		 USA
1		 AUT
2		 AUT
1		 SMR
1		 SMR
1		 SWE
1		 SWE
1		 JPN
1		 JPN
1		 MAL
4		 MAL
5		 GER
1		 GER
2		 FRA
1		 FRA
1		 ITA
1		 ITA
2		 AUS
2		 AUS
1		 1st 432
1992 Ducati SPA
2		 SPA
6		 GBR
6		 GBR
4		 GER
1		 GER
1		 BEL
5		 BEL
1		 SPA
Ret		 SPA
1		 AUT
3		 AUT
5		 ITA
2		 ITA
3		 MAL
8		 MAL
1		 JPN
1		 JPN
1		 NED
1		 NED
Ret		 ITA
10		 ITA
5		 AUS
2		 AUS
4		 NZL
1		 NZL
2		 1st 371
1994 Honda GBR
9		 GBR
7		 GER
5		 GER
3		 ITA
12		 ITA
15		 SPA
6		 SPA
7		 AUT
3		 AUT
3		 INA
4		 INA
6		 JPN
10		 JPN
16		 NED
11		 NED
Ret		 SMR
11		 SMR
7		 EUR
12		 EUR
Ret		 AUS
11		 AUS
11		 4th 158
1995 Honda GER GER SMR
17		 SMR
Ret		 GBR GBR ITA ITA SPA SPA AUT
Ret		 AUT
Ret		 USA USA EUR EUR JPN JPN NED NED INA INA AUS AUS NC 0

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

Races by year[12]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Pos Pts
1989 500cc Suzuki JPN
Ret		 AUS USA SPA NAT GER AUT YUG NED BEL FRA GBR SWE CZE BRA NC 0
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References
  1. "Doug Polen at the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame". motorcyclemuseum.org. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  2. "Rider Profile - Doug Polen". wsb-archives.co.uk. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  3. DeWitt, Norman L. (2010). Grand Prix Motorcycle Racers: The American Heroes. Books.Google.com. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  4. "Ducati celebrates the AMA Hall of Fame Induction of two legends: Phil Schilling and Doug Polen". motorcycledaily.com. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  5. "Doug Polen: King of Club Racers". latimes.com. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  6. "Aztrackday Superbike School To Offer Instruction By Polen". Road Racing World. 2006-12-11. Retrieved 2007-08-25.
  7. "Spies Breaks Record, Earns Seventh Consecutive World Superbike Pole Position, At Miller". roadracingworld.com. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  8. Dean Adams. "Eraldo's Boy Speaks Out: Interview with Larry Ferracci from 1995". Superbike Planet. Archived from the original on 2007-10-17. Retrieved 2007-08-25.
  9. "Doug Polen". motorcycle.com. Archived from the original on 2006-05-08.
  10. "1994 Suzuka 8 Hours results". motoracing-japan.com. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  11. "2006 Superbike World Championship - Round 12 - Magny Cours". mcnews.com.au (Motorcycle News Australia). 2006-10-08. Archived from the original on 2006-10-07. Retrieved 2007-08-25.
  12. "1989 Japanese Grand Prix results". motorsportmagazine.com. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
Preceded by
Raymond Roche		 World Superbike Champion
1991-1992		 Succeeded by
Scott Russell
Preceded by
Scott Russell		 AMA Superbike Champion
1993		 Succeeded by
Troy Corser
Preceded by
Brian Morrison		 Endurance FIM World Champion
1997
With: Peter Goddard		 Succeeded by
Doug Polen
Christian Lavieille
Preceded by
Doug Polen
Peter Goddard		 Endurance FIM World Champion
1998
With: Christian Lavieille		 Succeeded by
Jéhan d'Orgeix
Terry Rymer
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