Born on October 17, 1939 in Montreal, Quebec, Canadian motorcycling legend Yvon Duhamel passed away at the age of 81 on August 17.
The Canadian's racing career began with ice racing at the age of 17 before expanding to other disciplines starting with track the following year.
In 1967, he entered Daytona in the 250 category and finished 8th. The following year, he returned to Florida and won the 250 while he finished second in the 200 miles with his Yamaha 350. In 1969, the Quebecer won a second victory at Daytona in the 250 Lightweight and signed the pole position at 200 miles.
This made him noticed by Kawasaki USA, which in 1971 offered him an official handlebar to ride the wild three-cylinder 750s...
This will be his prosperous period at the highest level, with among others victories at Talladega, Road Atlanta, Assen, Brands Hatch and Montreal.
Although he only made two appearances in Grands Prix (fourth in the 1967 Canadian Grand Prix on a 250 on a Yamaha, and fifth in the Dutch Grand Prix in 1975 on a 250 Kawasaki), he also went through Endurance, at the Bol d'Or and at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, associated with Jean-François Baldé in 1975 and 1976.
The man who also excelled in snowmobiling and dirt track retired from full-time competition in 1977, focusing on his business and the careers of two of his three sons, Miguel and Mario, also racing drivers. We will even see the trio racing at the Bol d'Or in 1988, but the image ofYvon Duhamel will definitely remain linked to the Kawasaki H2R number 17…
Official Kawasaki rider, but having also ridden Yamaha, Can-Am, BSA, Ducati, Jawa and Harley-Davidson, he entered the Hall of Fame of the American Motorcycle Association (AMA) in 1999, and of the Canadian Motorcycle in 2000 .
He will make an appearance again at the Moto Légende Cups in 2011, where the video below was filmed by our friends at Bike 70, despite a serious accident in 2002, at the age of 63, when he narrowly escaped death during a race bringing together legends.
We will miss his accent and his famous jacket…
