Introduction
Michelle Ann Duff (born Michael Alan Duff on December 13, 1939 in Toronto) is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. Her best season was in 1965 when she won the 250cc Finnish Grand Prix and finished the year in second place to Phil Read.
Duff suffered a near-fatal crash in Japan and required extensive surgery and physical therapy. Her recovery was documented in the 1967 National Film Board of Canada short documentary film Ride for Your Life, directed by Robin Spry.
Following sex reassignment surgery, she wrote about her life as a trans woman in Make Haste, Slowly: The Mike Duff story.
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 | ||||||||||||