Doug Polen
Quick Facts
Biography
Doug Polen (born September 2, 1960) is an American former world champion motorcycle road racer. He raced successfully in AMA Superbike, Japanese Superbikes, Superbike World Championship and Endurance racing.
Polen was born in Detroit, Michigan. He was a privateer in AMA competition in the early 1980s, before quitting racing to concentrate on business commitments. In 1986 he returned to AMA, ultimately getting a works Yoshimura Suzuki ride in 1988 before going to international racing. Polen joined Eraldo Ferracci's "Fast By Ferracci" Ducati team in 1990. After breaking his contract to go to the Superbike World Championship, he won the title in both 1991 and 1992. In 1992 he also finished third overall in the AMA national championship. For 1993 he left the world championship to compete exclusively in the United States and won the AMA national crown. 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. 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. After returning to the AMA series, he set his sights on the Endurance World Championship and eventually won that championship in 1997.
His 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.
Polen was inducted to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2011.
Career statistics
Superbike World Championship
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
(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 |