The ex-Doug Polen
1996 Suzuki GSX-R750 Racing Motorcycle
Frame no. JS1GR7DA 1T2102295
Engine no. R276-104088

• Raced by Doug Polen in the AMA Superbike Championship
• Rebuilt condition
• Equipped with numerous Suzuki race kit parts

This Suzuki GSX-R750 was raced by two-time World Superbike Champion Doug Polen on his return to AMA competition in the USA. Born in Texas in 1960, Polen learned his craft contesting money-paying club events in the USA, before landing a works ride with Yoshimura Suzuki in 1988. He had already won the Supersport championship and did so again in 1988, adding the new 750cc-class championship for good measure. Staying with Suzuki, he moved to Japan and claimed the Formula 1 and Formula 3 titles in 1989, becoming the first foreigner to win a domestic championship in that country, while a one-off ride at the Sugo round saw him win his first WSB race that same year. A serious injury delayed the star of Polen's 1990 season, but the indefatigable Texan still managed to finish 3rd in the Japanese Formula 1 championship.

It was then that Italian-American tuner Eraldo Ferracci offered Polen a full WSB season on the 'Fast by Ferracci' Ducati 888. Despite not being on a full works bike, Polen dominated the 1991 season in a manner that would not be seen again until Jonathan Rea switched to Kawasaki for 2015. Using Dunlop tyres in a field of mainly Michelin runners, he won 17 of the 24 races, including seven consecutively, was on the podium 21 times, claimed 10 out of 13 pole positions, set six lap records, and beat runner-up Raymond Roche on the full works Ducati by a massive 150 points. He repeated the feat again in 1992, though with several of the front runners now on Dunlops it was more of an even contest.

Ducati then asked him to concentrate on AMA races for 1993, and he duly obliged the Italian factory by claiming that year's AMA Superbike Championship with 64 points to spare. Returning to World Superbikes for 1994, but this time with Honda, he struggled with the RC45, as many did, and left the team at the start of the 1995 season, though winning the prestigious Suzuka 8-Hours with WSB team-mate Aaron Slight was some consolation.

For 1996 Polen returned to the USA and privateer status, running his own Suzuki GSX-R750 - the machine offered here - in the AMA Superbike championship and Formula USA. It was a difficult year, one of the few highlights being the achievement of Bridgestone's first national road race win in the USA. At the year's end Doug shared a SERT Suzuki with Terry Rymer and Peter Goddard at the Bol d'Or round of the World Endurance Championship, the team finishing second in a race it should have won. That led to a full-time ride with SERT for 1997, and Doug and Peter Goddard ended the year as World Endurance champions. The American stayed with the WEC for 1998, riding for the factory Honda squad on the by-now much improved RC45. He won the Championship for a second time. Laid low by a then undiagnosed medical condition that would come close to costing him his life, Dog Polen retired from racing at the end of 1998.

Totally rebuilt prior to its acquisition by current vendor Phil Morris in 2013, this ex-Polen GSX-R750 incorporates a host of special factory 'kit' racing parts, including the head gasket, camshafts, pistons, carbon fibre air box, charging system, endurance radiator, ignition coils, tachometer, wiring harness, oil pan, and titanium exhaust system. A full listing of its specification is available (perusal recommended). The accompanying history file also contains the Suzuki's original 'Certificate of Origin for a Vehicle' (dated January 25th 1996 and naming Doug Polen as owner) together with a quantity of parts invoices and dynamometer printouts.