Mick Doohan

Michael "Mick" Doohan
Doohan aboard the Rothmans Honda NSR500
Nationality	Australian
Born	(1965-06-04) 4 June 1965
Motorcycle racing career statistics Grand Prix motorcycle racing Active years 1989 – 1999 First race 1989 500 cc Japanese Grand Prix Last race 1999 500 cc Japanese Grand Prix First win 1990 500 cc Hungarian Grand Prix Last win 1998 500 cc Argentine Grand Prix Team(s) Honda Championships 500cc- 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 137 54 95 58 46 2283

Michael "Mick" Sydney Doohan, AM^[1] (born (1965-06-04)4 June 1965 in Brisbane, Australia) is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racing World Champion, who won five consecutive 500 cc World Championships. Only Giacomo Agostini with eight (seven consecutive) and Valentino Rossi with seven (five consecutive) have won more premier class titles.^[2]

Biography

Originally from the Gold Coast, near Brisbane, Doohan attended St. Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace. He raced in Australian Superbikes in the late 1980s, and also won both races as Superbike World Championship visited Oran Park in 1988 as well as the second leg of the Japanese round held earlier in the year. In a break-out season Doohan also won the final Australian motorcycle Grand Prix to be held in the TT format at Mount Panorama before the race became a round of the World Championship the following year and moved to Phillip Island. He is one of the few 500 cc or MotoGP World Champions to have won a Superbike World Championship race.^[3]

He made his Grand Prix debut for Honda on a 500 cc two-stroke motorcycle in 1989. Late in the 1990 season Doohan claimed his first victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix on his way to third in the championship. In 1991, he was paired with Wayne Gardner on a Honda RVF750 superbike and won the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race. Doohan competed successfully throughout the early 1990s and appeared to be on his way to winning his first world championship when he was seriously injured in a practice crash before the 1992 Dutch TT. He suffered permanent and serious damage to his right leg due to medical complications and, at one stage, faced amputation of the leg. At the time, Doohan was 65 points in the lead of the championship, but could not compete for eight weeks after the crash. After an arduous recovery, Doohan returned to racing for the final two races but could not prevent Yamaha rider Wayne Rainey from winning his third consecutive title (by four points from Doohan). In 1993 he struggled with the healing of his leg and the ability to race the Honda at elite level, stating later that in that year it was all he could do to just keep his ride at Honda. It was also during this time he switched to a left thumb-operated rear brake, as his right foot is no longer able to perform this function.^[4]

In 1994 however, he won his first 500 cc World Championship. Thereafter, until 1998, he dominated the class, winning five consecutive 500 cc World Championships. In 1997, his most successful year, Doohan won 12 out of 15 races, finished second in another two, and crashed out of the final race of the season at his home GP while leading by more than six seconds. In June 1996 Doohan was inducted as a Member of the Order of Australia for his contribution to the sport of motor racing.

Despite up to eight rivals on non-factory HRC Honda motorcycles Doohan's margin of superiority over them was such that in many races Doohan would build a comfortable lead and then ride well within his limits to cruise to victory. Although pure riding skill clearly played a large part in his success, the ability of his chief race engineer, Jeremy Burgess, to perfect the suspension and geometry of a racing motorcycle may have given him an advantage over his rivals. Between 1994 and 1998 the bike was said not to have had many changes, with Honda engineers reportedly becoming frustrated at Doohan's reluctance to try innovations such as electronic shifting (it was only when Rossi came to Honda in 1999 that Honda engineers had their head with Rossi willing to try more innovations).

One notable trait of Doohan's post-crash riding style was the use of a thumb-operated rear brake developed during 1993. This was operated by a "nudge" bar similar to a personal water craft throttle, but mounted on the left handlebar. In 1999 Doohan had another accident, this time in a very wet qualifying session for the Spanish Grand Prix. He again broke his leg in several places and subsequently announced his retirement. Jeremy Burgess, Doohan's chief engineer for his entire career, later became Valentino Rossi's chief engineer. After Doohan retired he went to work as a roving adviser to Honda's Grand Prix race effort. At the conclusion of the 2004 season, Doohan and Honda parted company.

In June 2011, Doohan made an appearance at the Isle of Man TT. Doohan completed a parade lap, and was most enamored by the thrill and spectacle of the Snaefell Mountain Course. He then went on to pay tribute to his former Honda racing team-mate, Joey Dunlop.^[5]

Court case

In August 2006 Doohan appeared in Darwin Magistrates Court to face charges over a weekend fracas at a strip club. He faced charges of assault and failing to leave licensed premises^[6] over an alleged altercation with a bouncer early on Saturday morning.

Marriage

Doohan married Selina Sines, his partner of eleven years, on Friday, 21 March 2006, on Hamilton Island; the couple have two children.

Formula One

After his success in Grand Prix motorcycle racing he got a chance to test a Formula One race car, the Williams FW19, at Circuit de Catalunya (in Spain) in April 1998. He found the car difficult to drive and crashed against a guard rail.^[7]

Doohan's Motocoaster

Doohan helped design an Intamin Motorbike Launch Roller Coaster, named Mick Doohan's Motocoaster. The ride is located at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast, Queensland.^[8]

Honours

Doohan was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1996 and received an Australian Sports Medal in 2000.^[1][9] He was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2009.^[10]

Grand Prix career statistics

This section lists Doohan's Grand Prix achievements.^[11] Points system from 1988 to 1992

Position	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Points	20	17	15	13	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1

Points system from 1993

Position	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Points	25	20	16	13	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1

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

Year	Class	Team	Machine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Points	Rank	Wins
1989	500cc	Rothmans Honda	NSR500	JPN Ret	AUS 8	USA 8	ESP Ret	NAT Ret	GER 3	AUT 8	YUG 6	NED 9	BEL 8	FRA 8	GBR -	SWE -	CZE -	BRA 4		81	9th	0
1990	500cc	Rothmans Honda	NSR500	JPN Ret	USA 2	ESP 4	NAT 3	GER Ret	AUT 3	YUG 4	NED 4	BEL 6	FRA 4	GBR 4	SWE 4	CZE 9	HUN 1	AUS 2		179	3rd	1
1991	500cc	Rothmans Honda	NSR500	JPN 2	AUS 2	USA 2	ESP 1	ITA 1	GER 3	AUT 1	EUR 2	NED Ret	FRA 2	GBR 3	SMR 3	CZE 2	VDM 2	MAL 3		224	2nd	3
1992	500cc	Rothmans Honda	NSR500	JPN 1	AUS 1	MAL 1	ESP 1	ITA 2	EUR 2	GER 1	NED DNS	HUN INJ	FRA INJ	GBR INJ	BRA 12	RSA 6				136	2nd	5
1993	500cc	Rothmans Honda	NSR500	AUS Ret	MAL 4	JPN 7	ESP 4	AUT 2	GER Ret	NED 2	EUR 2	SMR 1	GBR Ret	CZE 3	ITA 2	USA Ret	FIM INJ			156	4th	1
1994	500cc	HRC Honda	NSR500	AUS 3	MAL 1	JPN 2	ESP 1	AUT 1	GER 1	NED 1	ITA 1	FRA 1	GBR 2	CZE 1	USA 3	ARG 1	EUR 2			317	1st	9
1995	500cc	Repsol Honda	NSR500	AUS 1	MAL 1	JPN 2	ESP Ret	GER Ret	ITA 1	NED 1	FRA 1	GBR 1	CZE 2	BRA 2	ARG 1	EUR 4				248	1st	7
1996	500cc	Repsol Honda	NSR500	MAL 5	INA 1	JPN 6	ESP 1	ITA 1	FRA 1	NED 1	GER 2	GBR 1	AUT 2	CZE 2	IMO 1	CAT 2	BRA 1	AUS 8		309	1st	8
1997	500cc	Repsol Honda	NSR500	MAL 1	JPN 1	ESP 2	ITA 1	AUT 1	FRA 1	NED 1	IMO 1	GER 1	BRA 1	GBR 1	CZE 1	CAT 1	INA 2	AUS Ret		340	1st	12
1998	500cc	Repsol Honda	NSR500	JPN Ret	MAL 1	ESP 2	ITA 1	FRA 2	MAD Ret	NED 1	GBR 2	GER 1	CZE Ret	IMO 1	CAT 1	AUS 1	ARG 1			260	1st	8
1999	500cc	Repsol Honda	NSR500	MAL 4	JPN 2	ESP DNS	FRA -	ITA -	CAT -	NED -	GBR -	GER -	CZE -	IMO -	VAL -	AUS -	RSA -	BRA -	ARG -	33	17th	0

World Superbike Championship

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

Year	Make	1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		Pos	Pts
		R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2
1988	Yamaha	GBR	GBR	HUN	HUN	GER	GER	AUT	AUT	JPN 31	JPN 1	FRA	FRA	POR	POR	AUS 1	AUS 1	NZL	NZL	12th	30

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Michael Doohan.

• Official website
• The Age article on Doohan

Preceded by Kevin Schwantz

500 cc Motorcycle World Champion 1994–1998

Succeeded by Àlex Crivillé

500cc/MotoGP Motorcycle World Champions     1949 – L. Graham 1950 – U. Masetti 1951 – G. Duke 1952 – U. Masetti 1953 – G. Duke 1954 – G. Duke 1955 – G. Duke 1956 – J. Surtees 1957 – L. Liberati 1958 – J. Surtees 1959 – J. Surtees 1960 – J. Surtees 1961 – G. Hocking 1962 – M. Hailwood 1963 – M. Hailwood 1964 – M. Hailwood 1965 – M. Hailwood 1966 – G. Agostini 1967 – G. Agostini 1968 – G. Agostini 1969 – G. Agostini 1970 – G. Agostini 1971 – G. Agostini 1972 – G. Agostini 1973 – P. Read 1974 – P. Read 1975 – G. Agostini 1976 – B. Sheene 1977 – B. Sheene 1978 – K. Roberts 1979 – K. Roberts 1980 – K. Roberts 1981 – M. Lucchinelli 1982 – F. Uncini 1983 – F. Spencer 1984 – E. Lawson 1985 – F. Spencer 1986 – E. Lawson 1987 – W. Gardner 1988 – E. Lawson 1989 – E. Lawson 1990 – W. Rainey 1991 – W. Rainey 1992 – W. Rainey 1993 – K. Schwantz 1994 – M. Doohan 1995 – M. Doohan 1996 – M. Doohan 1997 – M. Doohan 1998 – M. Doohan 1999 – À. Crivillé 2000 – K. Roberts, Jr. 2001 – V. Rossi 2002 – V. Rossi 2003 – V. Rossi 2004 – V. Rossi 2005 – V. Rossi 2006 – N. Hayden 2007 – C. Stoner 2008 – V. Rossi 2009 – V. Rossi 2010 – J. Lorenzo 2011 – C. Stoner 2012 – J. Lorenzo 2013 – M. Márquez 2014 – M. Márquez