VOLUME 58 ISSUE 34 AUGUST 24, 2021 P31
on one of the new Yamaha GP
bikes. He finished eighth. In
1968 and '69, Duhamel returned
to Daytona and won the Light-
weight class both years. He also
won the 250cc class at India-
napolis in '69.
During the 1968 Daytona 200,
Duhamel finished second behind
Harley-Davidson's Cal Rayborn
and became one of the first
two-stroke riders to make a Day-
tona podium finish. In 1969, he
earned the pole in the Daytona
200 with the first-ever qualifying
lap above 150 mph.
By the 1970s, Duhamel was
considered a road racing special-
ist and helping to solidify his repu-
tation was the fact that Kawasaki
hired him in 1971 to be one of its
factory riders. The company was
known for making fast, three-
cylinder, two-stroke racers, and
Kawasaki needed an expert
rider to handle the explosive and
narrow powerband of the bike.
Duhamel proved to be one of the
few riders in the world who could
tame Kawasaki's H2R.
Duhamel earned Kawasaki its
first AMA national victory in 1971
at Talladega, Alabama. From
1971 to 1973, Duhamel was the
winningest rider for Kawasaki,
earning five national victories for
Team Green during that period.
By the mid-1970s, Duhamel
was busy racing overseas, com-
peting in the 250cc Grand Prix.
He was also a factory world en-
durance racer who competed in
the famous LeMans and Bol d'Or
24-hour endurance races on
modified versions of the popular
KZ1000 street bike.
In the United States during the
mid-1970s, Duhamel won a slew
of production races for Kawasaki
on its Z-1 in races that would
eventually become AMA Super-
bike. By the late '70s, Duhamel
began to scale back his racing
schedule.
Soon, his sons were begin-
ning to get involved in racing and
Duhamel gave them full support.
While Duhamel never completely
retired from racing, Yvon, Mario
and Miguel Duhamel competed
together in the 1988, 24-hour
world championship endur-
ance race in Bol d'Or. The three
became the first father-and-sons
team to compete in that event.
During the mid-1990s, Duhamel
returned to racing in the AMA
Harley-Davidson 883 Sportster
Series. He earned a few top-10
finishes, proving that he could
still be competitive, even in his
50s.
CN
(Left) Canadian
legend Yvon Duhamel
(left) seen here with
son Miguel, passed
away at the age of 81.
(Right) Duhamel on the
winning three-cylinder
Kawasaki H1R at the
Talladega 200 in 1971.
