MARKHAM, Ont. – The Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame is pleased to announce the seventh member of the class of 2013. Dave Sehl will be honoured at the Eighth Annual Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame Induction Banquet and Reunion, which takes place on November 2 at the Delta Meadowvale Hotel and Conference Center in Mississauga, Ont.
First in Canada as a privateer and then in the U.S. on the Harley-Davidson factory team, for a few shining years Dave Sehl ruled the half-mile dirt tracks like few others.
Sehl’s first success came in ice racing in 1966 when he won the CMA Junior 500 national championship. In ’67 he was Canada’s top half-mile dirt track competitor in the Senior class, repeating the win in ’68 as an expert. He topped that in 1969, winning on the ice again as an Expert and taking the CMA No. 1 plate in dirt track.
An AMA national victory in 1970 provided Dave with a huge boost and three weeks later he won again, this time another half-mile in Columbus, Ohio. He was on a roll, and over a five-year spell he won Louisville three times.
“It was a nice track,” he says in retrospect. “Big and smooth, and nobody got in your way.” Over a five-year span Dave was on the Louisville podium all five times.
Perseverance and talent were rewarded and in 1971 Dave placed fifth overall in AMA standings — his best year. At the same time, his dominance of Canadian racing continued and Sehl took the CMA championships in 250 and 750cc half-mile dirt track in 1970 and ’73.
This year, the Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame will honour eight legends and champions. It will also be honouring The Corduroy Enduro™ as it celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2013.
The Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame Induction Banquet and Reunion is the annual signature event of the Canadian International Motorcycle Heritage Museum Foundation, a non-profit association with charitable status. It is governed by an independent board of volunteer directors located from coast to coast and is sponsored in part by the Motorcyclists Confederation of Canada (MCC).
Founded by Bar and Hedy Hodgson in 1999, the Canadian International Motorcycle Heritage Museum Foundation preserves and promotes Canadian motorcycle history for the benefit of the motorcycling community and the public. Since the first induction banquet in Toronto in 2006, almost 100 distinguished motorcyclists have been inducted into the Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame.
For more information about the Eighth Annual Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame Induction Banquet and Reunion, contact Daniel H. Tessier at daniel@motorcycling.ca or at (647) 920-1334.
For information about past inductees, historic motorcycle collections, event sponsorship, and tax-deductible donations, visit www.motorcyclehalloffame.ca.
–From the Motorcyclists Confederation of Canada
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