Chris Vincent

Chris Vincent in 1958 on his Championship-winning 646 cc Norbsa, a BSA A10 powered Manx Norton grasstrack outfit. Passenger may be Ivan Kitching Chris Vincent (20 January 1935 – 18 February 2021) was a British motorcycle sidecar road racer who was very successful in short-circuit (tarmac) racing in the 1960s and early 1970s. He entered Grands Prix using BSA, BMW and URS engines. He also rode solo motorcycles, particularly in the smaller race classes and production-machine categories.

Early life Vincent was born in Birmingham, West Midlands in January 1935. He left school at the age of fifteen and joined the BSA factory situated in Birmingham. In 1954 he joined the Norton race shop and started racing in speedway and on grass using a speedway machine with a JAP engine, later replaced by BSA engines. involving road testing for performance and economy including regular stints at the MIRA proving ground.

After racing on grass-tracks and speedway, Vincent graduated to tarmac courses in 1959 on a BSA. He raced a solo BSA Road Rocket in the Thruxton 500 mile endurance race partnered by Norman Storer finishing seventh, finishing with speedway and selling his outfit in 1961. followed by 1961, with DNFs in both events. He then won in 1962 with passenger Eric Bliss whom he first raced with for part of the 1961 season, establishing the first all-British Sidecar TT win since 1954, the first mountain circuit win by a British machine since 1925, and the first-ever international TT victory by a BSA. who used a semi-kneeler in the 1950s, Chris' own frame designs enabled a sidecar outfit with a much lower frontal area and smaller proportions hence better streamlining and lower centre of gravity which is fundamental for high-speed cornering. Vincent believed his road-racing success was in part due to his experiences on grass giving him an advantage over many of his rivals, stating "Where I have an advantage over many of my rivals is on corners. The power comes in much sooner and my grass track experience has taught me how to avoid and get out of trouble".

During the middle 1960s, sidecar riders sought to achieve greater engine capacities and basic raw power. This included use of car engines and three-wheeled, car-type layouts driving a pair of front wheels.

He started to develop a new concept with a repositioned Rennsport BMW engine. Instead of a shaft driving the rear wheel, it would drive the front and sidecar wheels. The outfit was soon 'outlawed' by the FIM, the European road-race regulatory body, as the front and rear wheels (non-sidecar) were designed to be out-of-line, hence deemed to be a three-wheeler (or cyclecar), causing Vincent to revert to his 'old', conventional outfit.

For the 1972 season Vincent used a Munch-URS engine based on a Helmut Fath design. He finished fourth in the Championship with a win at the Finnish Grand Prix held at Imatra.

Before the start of the 1973 season, Munch backer American George Bell pulled the finance from the race team, putting the project up for sale, leaving Vincent without machinery. Vincent retired from competition in 1974 after campaigning a Yamaha-engined outfit, although he continued to ride in demonstration events.

Personal life During the 1980s, Vincent had a motor cycle shop in Earl Shilton, Leicestershire where he still lived.

Vincent's sons Max (born 1969) and Jason (born 1972) were both established as solo motorcycle road-racers by the 1990 season. Jason 'Jay' Vincent was a successful racer at national, international and world level during the 1990s and continuing into the 2000s, scoring points in the British round of 2001 500cc GP at Donington Park on a Red Bull Yamaha when standing-in for injured Garry McCoy, having been released by his Pulse team for the event. He retired at the end of 2006 season.

Always a motor enthusiast, during the 1990s, Vincent had an American Vixen motorhome (a compact-size, high-quality, low-volume production, low exterior profile, coachbuilt camper with a BMW diesel engine) and owned Brough Superior vintage motorcycles.

Vincent died in February 2021 at the age of 86.