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VOLUME 58 ISSUE 45 NOVEMBER 9, 2021 P105 of other Canadians such as Billy Mathews, who made the move to American racing. Yvon's friendly and outgoing personality made him a fast favorite. His aggres- sive win-at-all-cost riding style also endeared him to fans, but often made his fellow competi- tors a little nervous. By 1968, DuHamel was a major factor at Daytona. Riding a Deeley Yamaha, he won the International Lightweight (250 GP) that year and again in 1969. In 1968, he and Art Baumann shared the distinction of being the first two-stroke racers to fin- ish on the podium in the Daytona 200. DuHamel finished second, behind Harley-Davidson's Cal Rayborn. Baumann was third. One of his biggest accom- plishments at Daytona was put- ting a Yamaha 350cc two-stroke on the pole for the Daytona 200 in 1969. He was the first-ever rider to crack the 150-mph bar- rier in Daytona qualifying, back in the days when a lap around the NASCAR oval was used to determine the starting grid. Du- Hamel's pole on the diminutive 350cc machine against the big 750cc four-strokes marked the beginning of the two-stroke era in AMA road-race Nationals. DuHamel remembers some of the tricks he and his team used to get that kind of speed out of the little TD3. "I was 125 pounds then and 5-foot-3, so I could get under the bike really well," DuHamel recalled. "I took some duct tape and padded the handlebars and then moved the handlebars in real close to the gas tank so my arms wouldn't catch the wind. I also put duct tape around the wrist and neck so wind wouldn't get under my leathers and blow up like a bal- loon. "Bob Work, my mechanic, told me in qualifying to go around and as soon as I took the checkered flag to pull in the clutch. They were running the bike very lean to get the most power, and I think were afraid I'd blow the bike up. For years I thought they put 60 pounds of pressure in my tires for the qualifying, but years later Work admitted to me that they put 90 pounds in the tires. The tire company—I don't remember if it was Dunlop or Goodyear—said it was too dangerous to run it at that pressure—they were afraid the tire would explode or the rim would fail—but I made it. "I think all that helped me get to 150.5 mph, while a lot of the other Yamahas only ran 148 or 149 mile per hour." Running full speed around the NASCAR oval put some tremendous pressures on the motorcycles. Yvon remembers his clip-ons would loosen up and move from the pressure he exerted on them around the tri-oval. The AMA, seemingly not happy with the invasion of the little Japanese-made two- strokes, handicapped the little bikes by forcing the teams to run four-speed gearboxes instead of the bike's normal five-speed setup. After his impressive rides with Yamaha, Kawasaki came after DuHamel to ride its new beast of a two-stroke triple in the road-race Nationals. He signed a lucrative factory contract and then set about the task of taming the peaky Green beasts. Yvon starts quickly when describing the Kawasaki Triple. "They were pretty fast," he said with a smile before launching into one of racing's great under- statements. "Those bikes were not so easy to ride. The handling was not so hot because of the USHERIN G IN T WO ERAS