Yvon Duhamel

Yvon Duhamel (October 17, 1939 – August 17, 2021) was a French Canadian professional motorcycle and snowmobile racer.

A six-time winner of the White Trophy, the highest award in Canadian motorcycle racing, he was one of the most accomplished motorcycle racers in Canadian motorsports history.

In 1957, when Duhamel was 17, he began ice racing and the following year he began dirt track racing.

He stood only 5ft 3in tall and weighed 125 lb which gave him an advantage when racing against heavier competitors.

Using borrowed riding gear, he finished second in his first dirt track race in Quebec.

By 1959, his impressive results earned him the sponsorship of local motorcycle dealer George Davis, who provided him with a BSA Gold Star for dirt track and road racing, and CZ and Jawa machines for motocross and ice racing.

He supported his racing activities by working 18-hour days at his brother's service station.

His motorcycle racing career spanned the transition from the 60 horsepower four-stroke motorcycles of the 1960s, to the 100 horsepower two-stroke motorcycles of the 1970s.

Duhamel was a versatile rider competing in numerous motorcycle racing disciplines including; trials, motocross, ice racing, drag racing, flat track racing and most prominently in road racing as a member of the Kawasaki factory racing team.

Duhamel developed a reputation as a tenacious competitor who always raced at his complete limit with great intensity and skill.

Unfortunately, his unyielding approach to racing often led to spectacular crashes as often as it led to race victories although, many of his crashes were attributed to mechanical failures rather than his unrelenting drive to win races.

Duhamel's reputation as a tenacious competitor with an aggressive riding style earned him the respect of other racers and made him popular with racing fans.

Duhamel competed all year, racing motorcycles in the summer, then switching to snowmobile racing in the winter.

Duhamel won the Canadian Motorcycle Association's prestigious White Memorial Trophy given to the best performance by a Canadian rider in all racing disciplines six times (1961-1962, 1965-1968).

He won the CMA 500cc senior championship in 1961 and 1962, then won the CMA 250cc expert championship in 1964.

In dirt track racing he was ranked the top rider in 1963 and then from 1965 to 1968.

In motocross racing, he was the top ranked CMA rider in 1965 and 1966.

In 1967, he won the CMA road racing championship.

Davis helped launch Duhamel's professional racing career by connecting him with Trev Deeley, the Canadian distributor for Yamaha motorcycles.

His timing was fortuitous as, Yamaha was about to introduce new two stroke engined motorcycles that would go on to dominate the next decade of motorcycle racing.

In 1967, Canada hosted its first World Championship Grand Prix race at the Mosport Circuit, where Duhamel placed fourth in the 250cc class behind world championship regulars Mike Hailwood, Phil Read and Ralph Bryans.

Duhamel began competing for the Deeley Yamaha team at AMA races in the United States such as the Daytona 200 and the Loudon Classic.

At the 1968 Daytona 200, He won the 250 lightweight support class ahead of reigning world champion Phil Read, then in the 200-mile main event, he rode a 350cc Yamaha to finish second behind Harley-Davidson’s Cal Rayborn, becoming one of the first two-stroke riders to make a Daytona podium finish.

His second place finishing position would be the best result of his career at the Daytona 200, which at the time was considered one of the most prestigious motorcycle races in North America.

His son Miguel Duhamel, would become a five-time winner of the event.

Duhamel also raced in AMA Grand National dirt track events during this period with his best result being a sixth place in the 1968 Sacramento Mile, but uncompetitive dirt track machinery kept him from seriously contesting the Grand National championship.

In Canadian racing, Duhamel won the 1968 CMA 500cc expert ice racing championship and scored a second place in the 1968 Canadian observed trials national championship.

He participated in the opening round of the 1968 Inter-AMA motocross series in Pepperell, Massachusetts riding a ČZ motorcycle against European factory racers such as Roger De Coster, Joël Robert and Bengt Åberg.

He became one of the first factory supported snowmobile racers when he was selected to drive for the Ski-Doo factory racing team in 1969.

In the winter of 1969, Duhamel was selected to drive for Ski-Doo factory racing team, becoming one of the sports first factory supported snowmobile racers.

Duhamel returned to Daytona in March 1969 and repeated his victory in the Daytona 250 lightweight class, beating future 250cc world champion Rodney Gould.

He then accomplished one of his most impressive achievements at Daytona when he won the pole position for the 1969 Daytona 200, becoming the first rider to qualify for the event with a lap speed above 150 mph. Duhamel’s pole position on the tiny 350cc Yamaha motorcycle against the larger 750cc four-strokes marked the beginning of the two-stroke era in AMA road racing competitions.

Although he started from the pole position, he would retire from the race due to a mechanical failure.

He also won the 250cc class at Indianapolis in 1969.

His snowmobile racing accomplishments culminated with his induction into the Snowmobile Hall of Fame in 1988.

Duhamel's sons, Miguel and Mario Duhamel, became successful motorcycle racers during the 1990s, with Miguel Duhamel winning the AMA Superbike championship in 1995 and becoming the all-time leading AMA Superbike race winner in 1998.

Duhamel was born in Montreal, Canada where he became an avid bicyclist and established a small bicycle repair shop when he was only 13-years-old.

At the age of 15, he bought his first motorcycle, a 500cc Triumph T-100.

In 1999 he was inducted into both the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame and the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame.

In 2007 he was inducted into the Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame.