Mick Doohan

Michael "Mick" Sydney Doohan, AM[1] (born 4 June 1965) is an Australian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racing World Champion, who won five consecutive 500 cc World Championships. Only Giacomo Agostini with eight (seven consecutive), Valentino Rossi with seven (five consecutive) and Marc Márquez with six (four consecutive), have won more premier class titles.[2][3]

Michael "Mick" Doohan
Doohan aboard the Rothmans Honda NSR500, 1990
Born	4 June 1965 Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Children	Jack Doohan
Motorcycle racing career statistics Grand Prix motorcycle racing Active years 1989–1999 First race 1989 500cc Japanese Grand Prix Last race 1999 500cc Japanese Grand Prix First win 1990 500cc Hungarian Grand Prix Last win 1998 500cc Argentine Grand Prix Team(s) Honda Championships 5 500cc: 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 137 54 95 58 46 2283

Biography

Originally from the Gold Coast, near Brisbane, Doohan attended St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace, Brisbane. 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 he 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.[4]

Doohan leads Kevin Schwantz, Wayne Rainey and John Kocinski at the 1991 Japanese Grand Prix

He made his Grand Prix debut for Honda on an NSR 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 his fellow Australian Wayne Gardner on a Honda RVF750 superbike and won the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race. He 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, he 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.[5]

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.[6]

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 2000 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 owing to the reduced range of motion in his ankle. 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.[7]

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 teammate, Joey Dunlop.[8]

Court case

On 8 August 2006, Doohan appeared in Darwin Magistrates Court to face charges over a weekend fracas at a strip club. He was fined $2,500 after pleading guilty to assaulting a bouncer and failing to leave a licensed premise. No conviction was recorded.[9]

Marriage

Doohan married Selina Sines, his partner of eleven years, on Tuesday 21 March 2006, on Hamilton Island; the couple have two children, including racing driver and Red Bull junior Jack Doohan.[10]

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.[11]

Targa Tasmania Tarmac Rally

Doohan's rally car

In 2001, Doohan drove a Mercedes Benz CLK55 AMG works rally car with his co-driver Mark Stacey in the 2001 Targa Tasmania rally. He was in thirteenth place on day three when he crashed the car ; he and Stacey were uninjured after the incident.[12]

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.[13]

Honours

Doohan was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1996 and received an Australian Sports Medal in 2000.[1][14] He was awarded the "Key to the City" by the City of Gold Coast in 1997.[15] He was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2009.[16] The first turn at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit is named after him.

In 2009 as part of the Q150 celebrations, Doohan was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for his role as a "sports legend".[17]

Career statistics

Races by year

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

Year	Bike	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

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) [18]

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

See also

• Daijiro Kato
• Nicky Hayden
• Motorcycle sport

References

1. "Doohan, Michael Sydney". It's an Honour. Archived from the original on 30 January 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
2. "Valentino Rossi: Record breaker". Crash.Net. 25 October 2009. Archived from the original on 5 March 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
3. "Marc Márquez wins fourth successive MotoGP title after Thailand triumph". The Guardian. 6 October 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
4. "Michael Doohan career World Superbike statistics at". Worldsbk.com. Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
5. "Man of steel: Mick Doohan". The Road Ahead Lifestyle (RACQ). Archived from the original on 19 March 2015.
6. "Australian Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet - Honours Search". 30 January 2018. Archived from the original on 30 January 2018.
7. "Doohan cuts ties with Honda - Breaking News - www.smh.com.au". 30 January 2018. Archived from the original on 30 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
8. "Mick Doohan rides the TT course". MotoGeo. 10 June 2011. Archived from the original on 13 August 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
9. "Doohan fined over strip club assault". abc.net.au. 8 August 2006. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
10. "Jack Doohan - Red Bull Junior Team". Archived from the original on 30 October 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
11. "Teddy Yip's Feast from the East". FORIX.com. Archived from the original on 27 February 2007. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
12. "AUS: Targa Tasmania news 2005-09-20". Motorsport Network. 20 September 2005. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
13. Parkz. "Mick Doohan's Motocoaster (Dreamworld)". Database Entry. Parkz. Archived from the original on 24 December 2010. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
14. "Doohan, Michael Sydney: Australian Sports Medal". It's an Honour. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
15. Services, corporateName=Office of the COO | Corporate Communication | Web. "Key to the City". www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
16. "Mick Doohan". Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
17. Bligh, Anna (10 June 2009). "PREMIER UNVEILS QUEENSLAND'S 150 ICONS". Queensland Government. Archived from the original on 24 May 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
18. "Rider Statistics – Michael Doohan". MotoGP.com. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 10 October 2012.

External links

• Official website
• The Age article on Doohan