Marvellous Miguel and Mario!
Or was Yvon the best racer to come out of Canada? As well as his own illustrious career, Yvon could watch with great satisfaction the racing life and times of his sons, Mario and the younger Miguel, even if the latter would also suffer serious injuries in his own career.
Mario was given a motorised two-wheeler aged two, with Miguel following him soon after. Mario would enjoy a 15-year career, becoming Canadian champion seven times as well as indulging in endurance racing. Both would take to a number of disciplines as kids, Mario starting in 1978 in motocross. That year he would become Junior 250cc Quebec Champion, 2nd in the 125cc class and 3rd in the 250cc National Series. A year later he’d be Quebec champ in the 125cc Senior Class and overall Canadian Champion in 250cc. He’d move to expert class and become a roadracer in 1984.
Miguel also started in motocross as a kid, but – like dad and big brother – short circuit road-racing would soon beckon. Miguel would only turn pro – aged 20 – in 1988 but he soon got to work… First up, was the chance to race with father Yvon and brother Mario at the Bol d’or Endurance race – the first father and sons team to do so!
Miguel took his first AMA Superbike win in 1990, at Heartland Park,topeka on his way to the Rookie of the Year award. Better was to come the following year, when he won the Daytona 200 race, replacing Randy Renfrow: the same year he’d win the AMA Supersport 600 series.
1992 was his baptism on the international scene, with a ride alongside Niall Mackenzie in the Banco Yamaha Moto France team aboardyzr500s, with his father’s number 17 on the bike – he’d finish 12th overall.
Returning to the USA, he would become the 1993 AMA Supersport 600 champion (the first of five such titles, he would also take two Formula Xtreme titles) and in 1994 he was one of the few to make the Harley-davidson VR1000 look competitive. Miguel would – in 1995 – become the first Canadian to win the AMA Superbike title on the Smokin’ Joes Honda RC45, then get 2nd to Doug Chandler in 1996. He’d be a major player at the Daytona 200, too: winning the 1991, 1996, 1999, 2003 and 2005 races for Honda in the varying ‘main’ classes of the event.
Injury was a big part of Miguel’s career: a terrible crash at Loudon, New Hampshire, saw Miguel have to use a cane for many months – suitably equipped with a Showa spring in it! Miguel always returned from injuries, thanks to his fanatical training regime – he is a keen cyclist and was even hit by a ‘BB’ gun pellet when riding around his home of Las Vegas in 2020 – thankfully the pellet only caused a minor wound.
Yvon was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999, Miguel in 2016 while Mario was inducted into the Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2012: a proud family legacy…