Miguel Duhamel (born May 26, 1967) is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
former professional motorcycle racer. He is the son of
Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame
The Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame (CMHF) is a hall of fame run by the Canadian Motorsport Heritage Foundation as a not-for-profit charitable institution that "honours and recognizes the achievements of individuals and institutions that have ma ...
member
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 ...
. He is tied with
Toni Elias for the fourth-winningest rider in the
AMA Superbike
AMA Superbike Championship is an American motorcycle racing series that has been run every year beginning in 1976. For most of its existence it has been considered the premier motorcycle road racing series in the United States. It is sanctioned ...
series with 32 wins (
Mat Mladin
Mathew Mladin (born 10 March 1972, in Camden, New South Wales) is a retired Australian professional motorcycle racer who last raced in 2009, riding a Yoshimura Suzuki in the AMA Superbike series. He won the title seven times (no other rider ...
is #1 with 82,
Josh Hayes
Joshua Kurt "Josh" Hayes (born April 4, 1975 in Gulfport, Mississippi) is a professional motorcycle roadracer who started his road racing career at age 19 and made a quick ascension up through the ranks where he won his first three WERA titles in ...
is #2 with 61, and
Cameron Beaubier
Cameron Charles Beaubier (born December 6, 1992) is an American motorcycle racer. He won the MotoAmerica championship 5 times. In 2022 he rode a Kalex in the Moto2 World Championship.
Career Early career
After competing in the 2007 Red Bull Mot ...
is #3 with 38). Duhamel was inducted into the
AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame
The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum is an offshoot of the American Motorcyclist Association, recognizing individuals who have contributed to motorcycle sport, motorcycle construction, or motorcycling in general. It also displays motorcycles ...
in 2016.
Racing career
Born in
LaSalle, Quebec
LaSalle () is the most southerly borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located in the south-west portion of the Island of Montreal, along the Saint Lawrence River. Prior to 2002, it was a separate municipalit ...
, Duhamel began his professional racing career in 1988. He raced for
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...
in the FIM Endurance Cup and for
Team Suzuki
Suzuki MotoGP was the factory-backed team of Japanese motorcycle manufacturer Suzuki in the MotoGP World Championship, most recently using the name Team Suzuki Ecstar for sponsorship purposes. Suzuki withdrew from MotoGP competition at the conclu ...
in the Canadian Superbike Championship. He also rode a limited
AMA 250 Grand Prix schedule. Duhamel won his first
AMA Superbike
AMA Superbike Championship is an American motorcycle racing series that has been run every year beginning in 1976. For most of its existence it has been considered the premier motorcycle road racing series in the United States. It is sanctioned ...
race in 1990 at
Heartland Park Topeka
Heartland Motorsports Park, formerly known as Heartland Park Topeka, is a multi-purpose motorsports facility south of downtown Topeka, Kansas near the Topeka Regional Airport.
When it opened in 1989, Heartland Motorsports Park was the first new ...
, and was the AMA Superbike Rookie of the Year.
Duhamel won the 1991
Daytona 200
The Daytona 200 is an annual motorcycle road racing competition held in early spring at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The race was founded in 1937 when it was sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association ...
, when he replaced the injured Randy Renfrow. He also won seven races en route to winning the AMA 600cc SuperSport Championship. He won the 1992 FIM World Endurance Team Championship with Team Kawasaki France. He finished twelfth in the 500cc
Grand Prix World Championship
The Grand Prix World Championship (GPWC) refers to a number of proposed alternative world championship auto racing series to rival or replace Formula One. Founded in 2001, the GPWC was created as a tool to assist the companies in bargaining wit ...
that year for Team Yamaha France, the only time he raced at this level.
He was the 1993 AMA 600cc SuperSport Champion on a Kawasaki after winning seven races. He won the AMA Superbike final at
Sears Point
Sears Point is a prominent landform that juts into the San Pablo Bay in Sonoma County, California, United States. This hill is the southernmost peak of the Sonoma Mountains and forms the southwestern ridge above Tolay Lake. Starting with Europ ...
by beating
Doug Polen
Doug Polen (born September 2, 1960) is an American former professional motorcycle road racer. Polen was a dominant national and world champion road racer in the late 1980s and early 1990s, culminating with his Superbike world championships in ...
by inches. In 1994,
Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depressi ...
selected Duhamel to race its VR1000 Superbike. He led parts of the
Mid-Ohio
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington. Mid-Ohio has also colloquially become a term for the entire north-central regio ...
and
Brainerd Superbike finals, which were the only times the Harley VR1000 led an AMA Superbike race.
Duhamel became the first Canadian to win the AMA Superbike title in 1995. He was named the 1995 AMA Pro Athlete of the Year. He had six consecutive AMA Superbike wins, which broke
Wayne Rainey
Wayne Wesley Rainey (born October 23, 1960) is an American former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, he won the 500cc World Championship three times and the Daytona 200 once. He was characterized by his s ...
's record of five victories. Duhamel also dominated the 600 SuperSport Championship by winning nine of the 11 events. His eight straight victories broke Doug Polen's record. Duhamel finished third and fourth at the U.S. round of World Superbike, mirroring the results of teammate
Mike Hale
Mike Hale (born December 14, 1972 in Dallas, Texas, United States) is an American motorcycle racer
Motorcycle racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) is the motorcycle sport of racing motorcycles. Major varieties include moto ...
.
In 1996, he became the winningest rider in SuperSport with his 28th career victory. Duhamel won his fourth 600cc SuperSport Championship, after reaching the podium in all but three events. Duhamel won four Superbike races (Daytona, Pomona, Homestead, and Loudon) and had six podium finishes in ten events.
He won another 600 SuperSport title in 1997. He had five wins and two additional podium finishes on the way to his fifth series Championship. He had four wins in Superbike, and he finished second in the points. As in 1996, it was
Doug Chandler
John Douglas Chandler (born September 27, 1965) is an American former professional motorcycle racer. He earned a reputation as one of the most versatile racers of the 1980s and 1990s. Chandler is one of only four riders in AMA racing history to ...
who beat him for the AMA Superbike title.
Duhamel won four Superbike races in 1998 before he had a season-ending accident while qualifying at
New Hampshire International Speedway
New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a oval speedway located in Loudon, New Hampshire, which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1990, as well as the longest-running motorcycle race in North America, the Loudon Classic. Nicknamed "The Magic Mil ...
. He had also scored two second-place finishes. He won the 600 SuperSport race at Sears Point. He still had lingering injuries as the 1999 season started. He stunned the crowd by winning both the AMA Superbike and 600 Supersport events at the season-opening
Daytona 200
The Daytona 200 is an annual motorcycle road racing competition held in early spring at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The race was founded in 1937 when it was sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association ...
races. He had a second-place finish at Sears Point in the 600 SuperSport race before his season was cut short by crashing at
Road Atlanta
Road Atlanta (known for sponsorship reasons as Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta) is a road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, United States. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur spo ...
.
Duhamel won the 2000 Brainerd event in the Superbike Championship. He also won the
Road America
Road America is a motorsport road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, United States on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, WeatherTech SportsCar Champ ...
event for Honda. He had four 2001 AMA Superbike podium finishes for Honda. He won AMA SuperSport races at Daytona, Mid-Ohio, and Brainerd. Duhamel swept both 2002 events at Road America. He also had five Superbike podium finishes en route to finishing third in the Superbike points.
In 2003, Duhamel was with American Honda. He earned his fourth AMA Superbike victory at Daytona and made seven additional podium appearances in the series. He also raced in AMA Supersport, taking a win at Brainerd International Raceway and two additional series podium finishes. Duhamel won the Daytona 200 in 2004. He had seven additional podium finishes. He had a Supersport victory at Brainerd and two additional podium finishes. He won the 2004
AMA Formula Xtreme Formula Xtreme was a professional racing class sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association. Formula Xtreme was part of the AMA's road racing series, which also included AMA Superbike Championship, AMA Supersport Championship, and AMA Supers ...
Championship.
Duhamel won the 2005 AMA Formula Xtreme Championship with four wins and five second-place finishes in nine events. He battled
Jake Zemke in a close race for the Championship. In Superbike, he had podium finishes at Road Atlanta and Mid-Ohio on his
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...
.
He had a
wildcard
Wild card most commonly refers to:
* Wild card (cards), a playing card that substitutes for any other card in card games
* Wild card (sports), a tournament or playoff place awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal pla ...
ride for Gresini
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...
at the United States
Grand Prix
Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour
Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to:
Arts and entertainment ...
held on July 22, 2007 at
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca) is a paved road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, built in 1957 near both Salinas and M ...
, replacing the injured
Toni Elías
Antonio "Toni" Elías Justícia (born 26 March 1983) is a Spanish professional motorcycle racer and inaugural champion of the Moto2 World Championship. He is the third member of the Elías family to compete in motorcycle racing. He currently ride ...
. He pulled out of the MotoGP race early because he was unable to get a feel for the unfamiliar Honda RC212V he was riding. He also raced the AMA Superbike round at the same meetin
Duhamel had a crash while practicing at
Road Atlanta
Road Atlanta (known for sponsorship reasons as Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta) is a road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, United States. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur spo ...
on August 8, 2007. He suffered a lacerated liver, and a perforated and bruised lung.
In 2008, Duhamel again raced for the Factory Honda Superbike team in AMA Superbike, riding a CBR1000RR-based Superbike, and he scored five top-five finishes. Duhamel finished seventh in the 2008 AMA Superbike points standings. In 2012, Miguel won the FIM e-Power & TTXGP race despite a three-year break from competition. The Canadian had lost nothing of his will to win as he rode the US Barracuda Lightning Racing Team's electric motorcycle.
In February 2016, Miguel Duhamel announced that he would come out of retirement to race in the Bol d'Or Classic endurance race in France held on September 15–17, 2016.
Career statistics
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
All stats from MotoGP.com
Races by year
(
Template:Motorsport driver results legend, key)
References
External links
*
Miguel Duhamel at the AMA Hall of Fame*
Miguel Duhamel WebsiteHonda Racing biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duhamel, Miguel
1968 births
Canadian motorcycle racers
Living people
Sportspeople from Montreal
500cc World Championship riders
AMA Superbike Championship riders
People from LaSalle, Quebec
French Quebecers
Superbike World Championship riders
Gresini Racing MotoGP riders
MotoGP World Championship riders