An influential figure starting to take an interest in Doohan's rise was former British great Barry Sheene, the 500cc world champion in 1976-77. Sheene had moved to the Gold Coast: "Every now and then someone comes along with extra talent and you don't have to be a genius to spot it. Mick's got talent by the bucketloads."

Sheene continued: "Everyone expected Mick to continue on where Kevin Magee left off. That's not an easy thing to have hanging over your head. I think Mick has succeeded beyond everyone's expectations."

But Doohan was not having things entirely his own way. Phillis won the second and third rounds of the Australian Endurance Superbike Championship, and Dowson took the honors in the Denso Victorian Superbike Championship at Winton.

Dowson, the Marlboro Yamaha Dealer Team's senior rider, had a Japanese racing programme organised for 1988 which included a cemented ride on a factory Yamaha YZF750 in the Suzuka Eight-Hour two-man teams event.

At the start of the year Doohan's prospects of racing in Japan depended very much on his results in Australia. It came as no surprise when he was summoned by Yamaha Motor Company to join Dowson for the Suzuka Eight-Hour in July.

YMC had three factory-prepared YZF750s entered in the event. The No 1 team comprised Kevin Magee and his Lucky Strike Yamaha 500cc grand prix team-mate Wayne Rainey, from the United States. Dowson was paired with Japan's Kunio Machii. Doohan's team-mate was Tadahiko Taira, the Yamaha hero from Japan.

Magee and Rainey swept to a comfortable win, completing 202 laps, followed by Suzuki-mounted Americans Kevin Schwantz and Doug Polen. The Doohan-Taira machine expired 10-minutes from the finish when they held third place.

Doohan may have failed to finish, but YMC were impressed with Australia's emerging star. He was invited to make two further appearances on the YZF750 Formula One machine in late 1988, the TBC Road Race at Sugo and the Fuji SuperSprint.

A week after the Suzuka Eight-Hour, Doohan swept to victory in both heats of the fifth round of the Australian Endurance Superbike Championship at Oran Park. Phillis and Campbell filled the minor placings. Doohan repeated the Oran Park effort in the sixth and final round of the national series at Lakeside, breaking Kevin Magee's superbike lap record in the process.

Between the Oran Park and Lakeside meetings, Doohan and Dowson travelled to Japan for their World Superbike Championship debuts at Sugo. Doohan became the first Australian to win a race in the series by taking the chequered flag in the second of two heats.

Queensland's former international grand prix rider Gregg Hansford, runner-up in the 250cc world championship in 1978-79, predicted Doohan had the ability to succeed in 500cc racing: "If you put Mick on a competitive 500 and gave him a few days of testing he would finish in the top 10."

In September a startled Doohan was contacted by Suzuki and asked about his intentions for 1989. The Japanese manufacturer was interested in securing Doohan for their 500cc grand prix line-up, which in 1988 comprised Texan Kevin Schwantz and England's Rob McElnea.

Barry Sheene then revealed he had recommended Doohan to Marlboro Yamaha 500cc grand prix team boss Giacomo Agostini, the 15-times world champion from Italy, plus Honda Racing Corporation and Suzuki.

"I'm putting Mick's name up in the right places," said Sheene. "He's a smooth rider with a good attitude and I'd put money on him making the grade."

The interest in Doohan by the Japanese factories intensified after his brilliant display in the Australian round of the World Superbike Championship at Oran Park. He won the first heat by 20.090-seconds, and the second race by 20.980-seconds. Dowson was second both times in a memorable one-two quinella for the Marlboro Yamaha Dealer team.

An interested spectator at Oran Park was Masayasu Mizoguchi, an influential figure in Yamaha Motor Company's racing division. After the meeting he said Yamaha would make every effort to retain Doohan for 1989.

And what did Doohan think of all the fuss: "To be honest I was pretty surprised," he said. "I didn't expect it all to happen so quickly. All I could do was concentrate on my racing at the time and look at the offers when they came along."

"The main thing was it looked like I'd have a ride on a 500 grand prix bike the next year. It was a question of going with the team with the best package."

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