Michael "Mick" Sydney Doohan AM born 4 June 1965 (age45) 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. Doohan is considered to be one of the greatest motorcycle racers in the history of the sport.
Originally from the Gold Coast, near Brisbane, Doohan raced in Australian Superbikes in the late 80s, 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]. Attended St. Joseph's College Gregory Terrace.
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.
Throughout 1993 he struggled to regain fitness and the ability to race the Honda at elite level. However, in 1994 he won his first 500 cc World Championship. From then 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 soft/weak 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. Other Honda riders (particularly Doohan's teammates), though, also benefited somewhat from his ability to perfect the bike's handling. It is generally accepted that Burgess' development of the Honda throughout the 1990s helped the company to dominate racing for many years. At the time of Doohan's retirement, the Honda had developed into a much better handling machine than it had ever been previously.
One notable trait of Doohan's post-crash riding style was the use of a hand-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. Some commentators have argued that this technique offered Doohan an additional advantage in rear brake control, though there was nothing to stop other riders from trying it (and some did, most notably Troy Corser and Miguel DuHamel, neither of whom had restricted use of their right foot).
In 1999 Doohan had another accident, this time in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix. He again broke his leg in several places and subsequently announced his retirement. He was somewhat unlucky, as his accident rate was far lower than many competitors. Jeremy Burgess, Doohan's chief engineer for his entire career, later became Valentino Rossi's chief engineer. After Doohan's retirement, he worked as a roving adviser to Honda's Grand Prix race effort. At the conclusion of the 2004 season, Doohan and Honda parted company. Mick married his long term partner Selina Sines of 11 years on Friday 21 March 2006, on Hamilton Island. Mick and Selina have two children, Allexis and Jack. Many current generation MotoGP riders consider Mick as an inspiration, including 2007 MotoGP world champion, Casey Stoner.
Michael Doohan - Best known in Australia and around the world as five times Moto GP World Champion 1994 to 1998, and holding four world records in 1997 for his outstanding racing achievements. Mick Doohan has been awarded many honours in his career from Order of Australia in 1996, to being placed in the Australian Sports Hall of Fame three times.
After his success in Grand Prix motorcycle racing he got a chance to test a Formula One racecar, the Williams FW19, at Circuit de Catalunya, Spain, in April 1998. He found the car difficult to drive and crashed against a guard rail.
Michael 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, Australia.
GRAND PRIX CAREER
ROAD RACE DEBUT 1984, Surfers Paradise Raceway, Australia
500cc GRAND PRIX DEBUT 1989, Suzuka, Japan
500cc GRAND PRIX STARTS 137 (1989-99)
500cc GRAND PRIX WINS 54 (1st win - 1990 Hungaroring, Hungary)
500cc PODIUM FINISHES 95 (1st podium - 3rd, 1989 Hockenheim, Germany)
500cc POLE POSITIONS 58 (1st pole position - 1990, Jerez, Spain)
500cc WORLD CHAMPION 1994-95-96-97-98
AWARDS/HONOURS Order of Australia 1996
Australian Male Athlete of the Year 1995-96-97
Australian Sports Personality of the Year 1998
Australian Sports Hall of Fame honour 1994-95-96
Nominated World Sports Awards of Century 1999
WORLD RECORDS (all 1997) Most 500cc grand prix wins in season - 12
Most 500cc grand prix pole positions in season - 12
Most 500cc successive pole positions - 12
Most 500cc grand prix points in a season – 340
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