Miguel Duhamel to Ride for Lightning-Barracuda at Le Mans FIM E-Power/TTXGP Race

Miguel Duhamel is returning to action to race in the FIM e-Power International Championship for Lightning Motorcycles. The five-time Daytona 200 winner will ride the Lightning Barracuda electric motorcycle for the joint FIM and TTXGP race at Le Mans , and Motorcycle.com had a role in setting up the connection.

The topic of a rider for Le Mans came up during the preparations for Associate Editor Troy Siahaan‘s exclusive test of the Lightning race bike last month. Lightning normally competes in the TTXGP’s North American series but decided to enter the Sept. 7-8 round in France to take advantage of the high profile of sharing the stage with the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The problem was Lightning needed a rider and most North American riders, including Lightning regular Michael Barnes, were occupied with the AMA Pro Racing round at New Jersey Motorsports Park taking place the same weekend.

When Lightning Chief Executive Officer Richard Hatfield mentioned his conundrum, Motorcycle.com editor-in-chief Kevin Duke put forward Duhamel’s name and helped the two parties get in touch. The 44-year-old Duhamel has since thrown his leg over the Lightning race bike, recently testing it at Thunderhill Raceway. He now joins Lightning in France for the upcoming race.

Though not officially retired, the Duhamel last raced in 2010, competing in the AMA American Superbike race at Laguna Seca for Moto Forza NovaTac Racing Ducati. More recently, Duhamel was a guest instructor for the young racers competing in the 2012 Honda CBR250R series in his native Canada.

Duhamel is probably best known for his years with Honda (pictured above is Duhamel with the Honda RC51 in 2002.) With 32 race victories, Duhamel currently sits second in all-time AMA Superbike wins behind Mat Mladin and first in total wins from all classes.