By Phil Wain
May 9 2006

Cameron Donald put in a sensational performance at the Tandragee 100 road races on Saturday, piloting the Robinson Concrete Honda to a brace of Superbike victories - Despite never having seen the circuit before. The 27-year-old quickly got to grips with the 5.5-mile course and was immediately on the pace, astounding the locals with his speed and skill. To cap a brilliant day, Cameron also left with a new outright lap record, and took a solid fourth place in the Supersport 600cc race on the Wilson & Craig Honda.

The first Open race was held in two parts and, after taking a comfortable lead in the first part, Cameron could afford to sit behind Martin Finnegan, safe in the knowledge he was ahead on aggregate time. The duo had a terrific dice, but Cameron ran out the winner by a comfortable 3.9 seconds. The 600cc race was halted after the warm-up lap due to rain but, no sooner had it started, then it stopped, so Cameron and the team opted for slick tyres. However, just 30 seconds before the re-start, the rain returned and Cameron knew he would be unable to fight for the win so settled for a solid fourth place.

With ideal conditions for the feature Tandragee 100 Superbike race, Cameron made life difficult for himself by getting a sluggish start, and he completed the first lap in sixth place. However, he soon began to move through the pack and, having overhauled Adrian Archibald, Raymond Porter and John Burrows, he set about closing the gap on Martin Finnegan. Once he had caught him, he overtook straight away and, with a new outright lap record of 106.753mph, he was able to extend his lead, eventually taking the chequered flag by 1.9 seconds for a sensational victory.

Speaking after the event, a delighted Cameron said:
“What an awesome day! It’s been absolutely fantastic, and went so much better than I expected. I was hoping to come here and run a similar pace to the front guys, but didn’t think I’d be in a position to beat them. I loved the circuit from the very first lap of practice, and that played a big part in me learning it so quickly. When you’re enjoying your racing like that, things come to you a lot sooner, so I was able to get to grips with the circuit early on.

“We made a bit of a gamble with the tyre choice in the 600cc race, which didn’t pay off, so I just brought the bike home in a steady fourth. As for the Superbike races, they were brilliant and, after the first race, I realised that Martin (Finnegan) was slightly quicker on the back section of the course, so as soon as I got the lead in the main Superbike race, I got my head down to try and break him. Fortunately, it worked, and I was able to open up a bit of a lead, and to get the lap record as well was superb. The bikes are working really well, and it’s put me in a great frame of mind for the North West 200, so I can’t wait for it to start.”

The International North West 200 road races take place on Saturday, 9th May, with practice getting underway on Tuesday evening. Cameron will have five races in total on Saturday, and he will be joined by fellow Uel Duncan Racing teamsters Les Shand, Steve Plater and Stephen Thompson.