Yvon Duhamel

Who is Yvon Duhamel?

Yvon Duhamel is a French-Canadian professional motorcycle racer and father to current AMA Superbike roadracer Miguel Duhamel. He won the World Championship Snowmobile Derby in 1970. He was also a very active ice racer, using hockey shin pads to allow him to lean over farther, scraping his knee on the ice rather than merely sliding his foot as did speedway racers.

Duhamel is best remembered as a member of the Kawasaki factory racing team during the 1970s along with team-mates Gary Nixon and Art Baumann. He made famous the #17 on the neon green factory Kawasaki, a number now honoured by his son Miguel.

Following in the footsteps of motorcycle legends Joe Weatherly and Paul Goldsmith, Duhamel raced a NASCAR Winston Cup race at the North Wilkesboro Speedway in 1973, finishing tenth for Junie Donlavey in the #90 Truxmore Ford after starting 15th, completing 381 laps of the 400-lap Gwyn Staley 400.

Never officially retired, Duhamel raced the 24-Hour World Championship in 1988 with his sons Miguel and Mario and continues to race in the Vintage series to this day. He is still open to offers of racing the Daytona 200. Duhamel was inducted into both the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame and the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999.