Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128363
Doohan Crashes to Success OU could say that Mick Doohan's illustrious world road racing career started with a crash and ended with a crash, the first one, unlike the last, coming not on a factory Honda GP machine, but rather on a Yamaha World Superbike ride. That crash, however, was followed immediately by his first World Championship race victory, and it couldn't have come at a more perfect place for Doohan. The win came at Sugo, Japan, in the backyard of the powerful Big Four Japanese motorcycle manufacturers. "It was a big win for me," Doohan, now 39, says. "I'd been to Europe earlier in the year. Barry Sheene had helped some of the teams understand what I was doing back at home, and I had talked to Suzuki earlier on. I also went and saw some of the Yamaha guys at Assen... [Giacomo) Agostini [who was running the Marlboro Yamaha GP team at the time) and a few others. Then I Y Series, and Doohan, a relatively unknown 23-year-old road racer from Australia, was brought in by the Marlboro Dealer Team to contest the race. "I remember being a little cocky when I got out there:' Doohan says. "I'd been doing quite well in Australia, and it was my first year of superbike racing. I got out there and went reasonably well in qualifying, but I think my teammate [Michael Dowson) and [Marco) Lucchinelli and those guys... I was surprised how fast the Ducati was going because I'd never seen a Ducati perform like that before." The first of the two legs began just after rain drenched the opening ceremonies. Doohan, who had qualified fifth for the race, took the early lead, only to crash. "In the first race, it was raining, and I got to the lead and fell off on the first lap." Doohan says. "I picked it back up and got to third, and then I crashed again. That was it. I stopped." Miele Doohan' level success s first taste of 1M e but rother ab:'::J n~t aboardo:/~~hdmpionship. a omaha World ~ a GP bilee uP&rbile e . ' and he laid down the law a little bit:' Doohan recalls. But under drier conditions, Doohan was able to show what he was made of. Yamaha's Fabrizio Pirovano blasted into the lead in race two, while Doohan, who came from inside of row two, was mired in the pack. But Doohan's fortunes would change again as the result of another crash - this time, not one of his own. Stephane Mertens dropped oil on the track, and on the next lap, Marco Lucchinelli hit the slick spot and went down, leaving Doohan's Marlboro teammate and fellow Australian Michael Dowson with nowhere to go. Dowson crashed as well, his Yamaha disintegrating and bursting into flames, forcing the race to be red-flagged. When the race was restarted, 36 riders were on the grid to do battle for 22 laps. Pirovano again got a blazing start, but this time Australia's Robert Phillis and Doohan came with the Italian. Phillis was the first to pass him, but Doohan soon passed both to take over the lead. After staving off some pressure from Virginio Ferrari on the Honda RC30, Doohan and his Yamaha pulled clear to take an important victory. "I won it, and won it Mick Ooohan today. The five·time World Champion now bottles his own wine. did that race [Sugo), and then Honda came asking about what I wanted to do." Held on August 28, 1988, the Sugo race was round five of the fledgling World Superbike Championship 78 FEBRUARY 2, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS New Zealander Gary Goodfellow won the race, while Doohan was credited with 31 st place, a result that didn't please his team manager one bit. "Warren Willing was the team manager at the time, quite easily:' Doohan says. "Within two weeks, Honda was at my door at home wanting me to sign with them. I won the next race in Australia and then went and tested the Yamaha [GP bike). Then I signed for Honda when I went to Fuji to do an F I race. And Yamaha wasn't too pleased. I signed with Honda on a Saturday and had to race for Yamaha the follOWing day. "Everything I did in Japan in 1987 and '88, I couldn't put a foot wrong, and that sort of steered me on the path to go Grand Prix racing." Judging by the five 500cc World Road Racing crowns that he went on to earn before retiring after another crash, it was a good path to take.