Doug Polen

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Douglas Eugene 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 Template:SBK and Template:SBK.[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]

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 Template:SBK 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 Template:SBK.[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 Template:SBK 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 Template:SBK 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 Template:SBK 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

Races by year

Year[2] Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />Pos.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 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

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

Year[12] Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />PosScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />PtsScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1989 500cc Suzuki JPN
Ret 		AUS USA SPA NAT GER AUT YUG NED BEL FRA GBR SWE CZE BRA NC 0

References

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External links

Template:Sister project

Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/checkTemplate:Succession box/check World Superbike Champion
1991-1992 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/checkTemplate:Succession box/check AMA Superbike Champion
1993 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/checkTemplate:Succession box/check Endurance FIM World Champion
1997
With: Peter Goddard Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/checkTemplate:Succession box/check Endurance FIM World Champion
1998
With: Christian Lavieille Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by

Script error: No such module "Navbox". Template:AMA Superbike Champions

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