John Duff

John Francis Duff (January 17, 1895 – January 8, 1958) was a Canadian racecar driver who won many races and has been inducted in the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame. He was one of only two Canadians who raced and won on England’s famous Brooklands Motor Course. The other, Kay Petre, is already an honoured member of the CMHF. Duff was the first Canadian to race in the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. To date, he is the only Canadian to win the overall classification at Le Mans.

Le Mans Career
John Duff, a Bentley Boy, finished fourth in the first-ever Le Mans in 1923, and managed to win it in 1924 in Bentley's first victory. But it was not until the late 20's that the term Bentley Boys, to refer to the race winning Bentley drivers of the pre-war period, was coined. By then, drivers like Woolf Barnato, Bernard Rubin and Sammy Davis had won the classic race.