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Index by last name:
[A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] I [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] Q [R] [S] T U [V] [W] X Y Z
Index by year:
[1993] [1994] [1995] [1996] [1997] [1998] [1999] [2000] [2001] [2002] [2003] [2004] [2005] [2006] [2007]
The Mehlenbacher Family (1997)
The Mehlenbacher family of Cayuga, Ont., built and maintained Cayuga Dragway for 36 years, providing a venue for local drag racers and attracting many big-time racing stars to Canada. Operating the track until 1984 was a family affair, starting with patriarch L.B.(Lawson Bruce) Mehlenbacher, son Bruce Andrew Jr. and his wife Joan, grandsons Bill, Andrew and Bruce III.
More about this member :: Back to top Robert Theoret (2006)
Competitor Boat Racing
Robert Theoret was born 64 years ago in Valleyfield, Que., home of the
oldest continuously run powerboat regatta in Canada. Robert grew up with
hydroplane racing and started driving in 1970 when he purchased a 145 c.i.
class boat that he named Miss Virgo. The following year, he bought a
rear-engine, or cab-over 145, which carried on the Virgo name. From 1973 to
1979, Robert was virtually unbeatable. He won 10 Canadian and North American
high point championships and set five speed records along the way. In the
late 1970s, he served as a technical inspector and referee for the Canadian
Boating Federation. In 1980, Robert and Guy Lafleur, an architect, purchased
a 22.5 foot Grand Prix boat which they named Grand Prix Valleyfield (444).
From 1982 through 1988, he dominated the GP class winning 22 of 65 races and
was Canadian high-point champion every year except 1987. He also was U.S.
and world high-point champion in 1982, '83, '84 and '88 setting three new
world speed records. He retired in 1989 and became an owner/manager. His
two-boat team won the Canadian, U.S and world high-point championship plus a
North American championship and set two more world speed records. He also
found time to be chairman of the Grand Prix Hydroplane Association in 1984,
'89, '90 and '91. In his day, Robert Theoret was a major sports star and
celebrity in Quebec, winning the Merite Sportif Quebecois award for the
Athlete of the Year (Motonautisme) in 1974, '82, '83 and '84. He came to be
known as the Gilles Villeneuve of boat racing.
More about this member :: Back to top Jim Thompson (2005)
Jim Thompson, a graduate Naval Officer of Royal Roads who studied engineering at U of T and business at Western, had an avid interest in unlimited hydroplane racing. As co-founder and president of the Supertest Petroleum Co., he combined the two and established probably the most dynamic marketing and promotional program of the late Fifties and early Sixties: Miss Supertest. When fellow CMHF inductee Harold Wilson retired, Thompson bought Wilson's Miss Canada IV and renamed her Miss Supertest I. Thus began the journey that would ultimately establish a world's speed record and capture the Harmsworth Trophy - emblematic of world supremacy in powerboat racing - three years in succession. Initially, in the Supertest program, all the development driving and testing was done by Mr. Thompson. The result was Miss Supertest II, a Rolls Royce Griffon powered hydroplane and holder of the Canadian and British Empire speed record for propeller-driven craft. Driven by Art Asbury, Miss Supertest II shattered the existing world record with a speed of 184.54 in 1957. Supertest III soon followed and, driven by Bob Hayward, won the Harmsworth in 1959, '60 and '61. Miss Supertest III was never beaten in a race. She was retired following a tragic accident later in 1961 that took the life of Hayward, the driver who thought of her as human.
More about this member :: Back to top Imperial Tobacco (1993)
Imperial Tobacco, primarily through their Players Brand has been a signature sponsor of Canadian motorsport. From the Players Grand prix of 1961 through the first World Championship Canadian Grand Prix for Formula 1 car, through the Players Formula Atlantic Series and the GM Players series and a plethora of other series and individual races, Players has been a force in Canadian motorsport.
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