Doug Polen

Who is Doug Polen?

Doug Polen is a 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.