Michael Doohan

Michael "Mick" Doohan
Doohan aboard the Rothmans Honda NSR500
Nationality	Australian
Born	4 June 1965 (1965-06-04) (age 46)
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 117 54 95 58 46 2283

Michael "Mick" Doohan AM (born 4 June 1965(1965-06-04) 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.

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. He is one of the few 500 cc or MotoGP World Champions to have won a Superbike World Championship race.^[1]

He made his Grand Prix debut for Honda on a 500cc two-stroke motorcycle in 1989. 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 serious damage to his right leg due to medical complications and, at one stage, risked 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 4 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

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 gave him an enormous 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 new 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).^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

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 over an alleged altercation with a bouncer early on Saturday morning.

Marriage

Doohan married his partner Selina Sines of eleven years on Friday, 21 March 2006, on Hamilton Island; the couple has 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.^[2]

Doohan's Motocoaster

Doohan helped design an Intamin AG Motorbike Launch Roller Coaster, named Mick Doohan's Motocoaster. The ride is located at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast, Queensland.^[3]

Grand Prix career statistics ^[4]

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 DNF	AUS 8	USA 8	ESP DNF	NAT DNF	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 NC	USA 2	ESP 4	NAT 3	GER DNF	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 DNF	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 DNF	MAL 4	JPN 7	ESP 4	AUT 2	GER DNF	NED 2	EUR 2	SMR 1	GBR DNF	CZE 3	ITA 2	USA DNF	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 DNF	GER DNF	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 DNF		340	1st	12
1998	500cc	Repsol Honda	NSR500	JPN DNF	MAL 1	ESP 2	ITA 1	FRA 2	MAD DNF	NED 1	GBR 2	GER 1	CZE DNF	IMO 1	CAT 1	AUS 1	ARG 1			260	1st	8
1999	500cc	Repsol Honda	NSR500	MAL 4	JPN 2	ESP -	FRA -	ITA -	CAT -	NED -	GBR -	GER -	CZE -	IMO -	VAL -	AUS -	RSA -	BRA -	ARG -	33	17th	0

References

1. ^ Michael Doohan career World Superbike statistics at worldsbk.com
2. ^ "Teddy Yip's Feast from the East". FORIX.com. http://www.forix.com/8w/theodore.html. Retrieved 2007-03-13. 
3. ^ Parkz. "Mick Doohan's Motocoaster (Dreamworld)". Database Entry. Parkz. http://www.parkz.com.au/parks/AU/Gold_Coast/Dreamworld/rides/286-Mick-Doohan-s-Motocoaster.html. Retrieved 3 July 2010. 
4. ^ "Rider Statistics - Michael Doohan". MotoGP.com. http://www.motogp.com/en/MotoGP+Legends/profiles/Mick+Doohan. Retrieved 2008-09-04. ^{[dead link]}

External links

• Official website for Mick Doohan
• The Age article on Doohan

Preceded by Kevin Schwantz

500 cc Motorcycle World Champion 1994-1998

Succeeded by Àlex Crivillé

Persondata
Name	Doohan, Mick
Alternative names	Doohan, Michael
Short description	Australian motorcycle racer
Date of birth	4 June 1965
Place of birth	Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Date of death
Place of death