Two times TT winner Cameron Donald will be piloting an Egli Vincent in the 2016 Senior Classic TT, as he aims to add to his already accomplished record on the Mountain Course.
The machine that Cameron is competing on, an absolutely immaculate 500 single Egli Vincent, adds an additional touch of variety to the Senior Classic TT field.
Photo by Jim Gibson
Relishing the Egli Vincent challenge, Cameron said:
“I have no illusion of how difficult a task it will be to get the bike onto the podium, the TT course is brutal on machinery.
Top teams have decades of experience in building bikes capable of withstanding the torture. Add to this, a single-cylinder Vincent has never been among the TT front runners.
It has been some time since I’ve raced a 500cc classic single and I’ve had to re adapt my style to suit the low powered thoroughbred.
A regular diet of modern bikes makes it easy to become complacent about having excess power on hand.
Aboard a 500cc single the key is to carry your speed through the turns and maintain momentum. You can quickly spoil your lap time with a mistake as simple as running off line in a corner that then requires you to close the throttle.
This is what I like most about racing this class of bikes, smooth riding and precise rider inputs is the only way to get results, and that’s easier said than done.
We are now really close to the bike’s Isle of Man debut and I can feel a positive momentum building in the team.
Luis’ passionate vision of a single-cylinder Vincent succeeding at the Isle of Man is getting closer and I’m relishing the challenge as the rider to take it there.”
Just like Cameron machine owner Luis Gallur has high expectations as does original founder of the iconic machine originally built in Switzerland, Fritz Egli.
Words by Stevie Rial