Douglas Eugene Polen (born September 2, 1960) is an American former professional motorcycle road racer. Polen was a dominant national and world champion road racer in the late 1980s and early 1990s, culminating with his Superbike world championships in and . 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.

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. 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. 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. He earned more money than any privateer rider in the history of American motorcycle racing. His success earned him a contract to race for the Yoshimura Suzuki racing team in 1988. With the Yoshimura team, he became the first competitor to win both the AMA 750cc Superbike and the 600cc Supersport titles.

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. While in Japan, Polen received a one-time offer to race in the Japanese round of the Superbike World Championship and, made an impressive debut by winning the first race and finishing the second race in fourth place. Polen joined Eraldo Ferracci's "Fast By Ferracci" Ducati racing team to compete in the 1991 Superbike World Championship. 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. He also set a World Superbike Championship record by winning six consecutive pole positions, a record which stood for 18 years until it was broken by Ben Spies in . Polen successfully defended his title by winning the 1992 Superbike World Championship. He also finished third overall in the 1992 AMA Superbike national championship.

In 1993, Polen left the world championship to compete exclusively in the United States and won the AMA Superbike national championship. In . 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 but not before teaming up with Aaron Slight to win the prestigious Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race for Honda. 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.

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 is a single-season championship record. 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.

Career statistics

Superbike World Championship

Races by year Year Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 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 GBREX GBREX 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 JPN1 JPN4 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 JPN8 JPNDNS FRA FRA ITA ITA MAL MAL AUS AUS NZL NZL 48th 8 1991 Ducati GBR1 GBRRet SPA1 SPA1 CAN CAN USA1 USA1 AUT2 AUT1 SMR1 SMR1 SWE1 SWE1 JPN1 JPN1 MAL4 MAL5 GER1 GER2 FRA1 FRA1 ITA1 ITA2 AUS2 AUS1 1st 432 1992 Ducati SPA2 SPA6 GBR6 GBR4 GER1 GER1 BEL5 BEL1 SPARet SPA1 AUT3 AUT5 ITA2 ITA3 MAL8 MAL1 JPN1 JPN1 NED1 NEDRet ITA10 ITA5 AUS2 AUS4 NZL1 NZL2 1st 371 1994 Honda GBR9 GBR7 GER5 GER3 ITA12 ITA15 SPA6 SPA7 AUT3 AUT3 INA4 INA6 JPN10 JPN16 NED11 NEDRet SMR11 SMR7 EUR12 EURRet AUS11 AUS11 4th 158 1995 Honda GER GER SMR17 SMRRet GBR GBR ITA ITA SPA SPA AUTRet AUTRet 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 1989 500cc Suzuki JPNRet AUS USA SPA NAT GER AUT YUG NED BEL FRA GBR SWE CZE BRA NC 0

FIM Endurance World Championship Year Bike Rider 1997 Suzuki Doug Polen Peter Goddard 1st 1998 Honda RC45 Doug Polen Christian Lavieille 1st

Suzuka 8 Hours results Year Team Co-Rider Bike Pos 1994 Team HRC Aaron Slight Doug Polen Honda RVF750 RC45 1st

MotoAmerica SuperBike Championship

YearClassTeam1234567891011PosPtsR1R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R22009SuperBikeYamahaDAYFONFONRATRATBARBARINFINFRAM13RAM19LAGOHIOHIHRTHRTVIRVIRNJENJE 33rd 10

References

External links

Doug Polen at the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Doug Polen's Official Racing School Doug Polen's AMA Career profile