DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Could there be an encore of the magical 1992 Daytona 200 By Honda photo finish between Scott Russell and Doug Polen in the upcoming SunTrust MOTO-ST Series 8 Hours At Daytona Finale on Saturday, Oct. 20?
Motorcycle fans can only hope.
Polen is adding his name to the list of motorcycle legends, which includes five-time Daytona 200 By Honda winner Russell, which will be competing in the season-ending endurance race. Polen, a four-time World champion, will team with Frank Shockley and Pete Friedland on the No. 77 Touring Sport Ducati SS1000 in the GST class.
Polen, who won two straight World Superbike Championships in 1991 and 1992 and earned Ducati's first AMA Championship in 1993, has six top-five runs in the Daytona 200 By Honda and two runner-up finishes, including 1992 when he finished second to Russell by a margin of .182 seconds.
Touring Sport Ducati and Shockley are in a tight points battle for the GST season championship. Touring Sport Ducati is second in class, just seven points behind Richie Morris Racing and Shockley is 10 points out of the lead in rider points behind Shawn Higbee.
Shockley needed a veteran rider for this weekend's race. He immediately thought of Doug Polen, who still has a relationship with Ducati North America. After a phone call to Ducati North America, Shockley had secured the former World Superbike Champion as a teammate for the 8 Hours At Daytona.
"I was looking for a ringer, somebody who could help propel us to the win, and I got to thinking about Doug," Shockley said. "It'll be tremendous. His reputation is world wide. I don't know anybody that I would have rather had. He's a pretty cool guy. I've followed his career myself. I'm just excited. I can't believe he said yes."
The 8 Hours At Daytona will boast an international field of top riders from the United States, Europe, South America and Canada in three classes – The Buell Motorcycle Company SuperSport class (SST) which includes motorcycles producing between 90-118 horsepower, the BMW GrandSport Twins class (GST) covering motorcycles producing 75-90 horsepower and Sport Twins (ST) for machines under 75 horsepower.
Included in the $100,000 purse is $7,500 to the overall winner of the 8 Hours At Daytona and $7,500 to the SuperSport Twins class winner, $5,000 to the GrandSport Twins winner and $3,500 to the Sport Twins Bonus.
The SunTrust MOTO-ST Series 8 Hours At Daytona finale is scheduled to go green at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 20 and is part of Fall Cycle Scene. Tickets are available online at www.racetickets.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.
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From Grand-Am / MOTO-ST
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