| Michelle Duff | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | Michael Alan Duff (1939-12-13)13 December 1939 Toronto, Ontario, Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 23 July 2025(2025-07-23) (aged 85) Liverpool, Nova Scotia, Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Michelle Ann Duff (born Michael Alan Duff; 13 December 1939 – 23 July 2025) was a Canadian Grand Prix motorcycle road racer.
Riding
Duff's best season was in 1965, winning the 250cc Finnish Grand Prix and finishing the year in second place to Phil Read.12
Duff suffered a near-fatal crash in Japan and required extensive surgery and physical therapy.3 The recovery was documented in the 1967 National Film Board of Canada short documentary film Ride for Your Life, directed by Robin Spry.4
Personal life and death
Duff married a Finnish woman in 1963 and had a son with her the same year, and a daughter two years later. In 1984, she changed her name to Michelle and commenced transition, separating from her wife.5 Following gender-affirming surgery, she wrote about her experiences as a professional motorcycle racer (note that this book is not about her life as a trans woman) in Make Haste, Slowly: The Mike Duff story.67
Duff died in Liverpool, Nova Scotia on 23 July 2025, at the age of 85.89
World Championship results
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Points | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap. An empty black cell indicates that the class did not compete at that particular championship round.)
| Year | Class | Motorcycle | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | FRA | IOM | NED | BEL | GER | ULS | NAT | ||||||||||
| 500 cc | Norton | Ret | — | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 1961 | ESP | GER | FRA | IOM | NED | BEL | DDR | ULS | NAT | SWE | ARG | ||||||
| 350 cc | AJS | 15 | 6 | 6 | 17th | 2 | |||||||||||
| 500 cc | Matchless | 14 | 4 | 5 | 11th | 5 | |||||||||||
| 1962 | ESP | FRA | IOM | NED | BEL | GER | ULS | DDR | NAT | FIN | ARG | ||||||
| 350 cc | AJS | 5 | 6 | 5 | 9th | 5 | |||||||||||
| 500 cc | Matchless | Ret | — | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 1963 | ESP | GER | FRA | IOM | NED | BEL | ULS | DDR | FIN | NAT | ARG | JPN | |||||
| 125 cc | Bultaco | 6 | Ret | 16th | 3 | ||||||||||||
| MZ | 5 | ||||||||||||||||
| 350 cc | AJS | 6 | 4 | 6 | 10th | 5 | |||||||||||
| 500 cc | Matchless | 4 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 6th | 11 | ||||||||||
| 1964 | USA | ESP | FRA | IOM | NED | BEL | GER | DDR | ULS | FIN | NAT | JPN | |||||
| 250 cc | Cotton | Ret | 4th | 20 | |||||||||||||
| Yamaha | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | |||||||||||||
| 350 cc | AJS | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 3rd | 20 (24) | |||||||
| 500 cc | Norton | 4 | 4th | 18 | |||||||||||||
| Matchless | Ret | 2 | 2 | 4 | |||||||||||||
| 1965 | USA | GER | ESP | FRA | IOM | NED | BEL | DDR | CSK | ULS | FIN | NAT | JPN | ||||
| 125 cc | Yamaha | 3 | 1 | 6th | 12 | ||||||||||||
| 250 cc | Yamaha | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2nd | 42 (50) | |||||
| 350 cc | AJS | Ret | — | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 500 cc | Matchless | 3 | 11th | 4 | |||||||||||||
| 1966 | ESP | GER | FRA | NED | BEL | DDR | CSK | FIN | ULS | IOM | NAT | JPN | |||||
| 125 cc | Yamaha | 6 | 4 | 10th | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 250 cc | Yamaha | 5 | 3 | 4 | Ret | 9th | 9 | ||||||||||
| 500 cc | Matchless | Ret | — | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 1967 | ESP | GER | FRA | IOM | NED | BEL | DDR | CSK | FIN | ULS | NAT | CAN | JPN | ||||
| 350 cc | Aermacchi | Ret | — | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 500 cc | Matchless | Ret | 3 | 11th | 4 | ||||||||||||
References
References
- "Mike Duff career statistics at MotoGP.com". Archived from the original on 22 March 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2008.
- Mojo (15 February 2017). "Michelle Duff Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame Legend". Motorcycle Mojo. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
- Fowler, Rich (19 June 2010). "Ride for your life - A Documentary about Grand Prix racer Mike Duff". Motorsport Retro. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
- Spry, Robin. "Ride for Your Life". Documentary film. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
- "The curious case of Michelle Duff". Half of My Life - Phil Hall's Motorcycling. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
- "Michelle Ann Duff (1939 - ) Motorcycle racer". 19 April 2008.
- Duff, Michelle Ann (1999). Make Haste, Slowly: The Mike Duff story. Toronto: [mad8 Publishing] [www.michelle-duff.ca]. p. 366.
- https://www.motorcyclingcanada.ca/post/michelle-duff-1939-2025
- "Michelle Duff, Famed Racer, Passes Away". Motorcycle Mojo. 31 July 2025. Retrieved 1 August 2025.