  The Wolf-Rayet binary system gamma^2 Vel (WR 11} is the closest known
Wolf-Rayet (WR) star. Recently, its distance has been redetermined by parallax
measurements with the HIPPARCOS astrometric satellite yielding 258^{+41}_{-31}
pc, significantly lower than previous estimates (300 -- 450 pc). Wolf-Rayet
stars have been proposed as a major source of the Galactic 26Al observed at
1.809 MeV. The gamma-ray telescope COMPTEL has previously reported 1.8 MeV
emission from the Vela region, yet located closer to the Galactic plane than
the position of gamma^2 Vel. We derive an upper 1.8 MeV flux limit of 1.1
10^{-5} ph cm^{-2} s^{-1} (2 \sigma) for the WR star. With the new distance
estimate, COMPTEL measurements place a limit of (6.3^{+2.1}_{-1.4}) 10^{-5}
M_\odot the 26Al yield of gamma^2 Vel, thus constrains theories of
nucleosynthesis in Wolf-Rayet stars. We discuss the implications in the context
of the binary nature of gamma^2 Vel and present a new interpretation of the
IRAS Vela shell.
