Ducati Sporting Club UK > DesmoDue Race Series > DesmoDue - General Questions and Chat > Rattler's 2009 Donny report....“It’s not the way I planned it”…

[Rattler]

Alternative titles….
…."a grid too far"……
…."best before 2009".....
…."2009: A pace odyssey"....

In truth I hadn’t intended to line up on a DD grid in 2009 at all, I’d sold my DD race bike, hung up my Diablos and bought myself a sorted Trumpet 675 for some 2009 SoT and trackday fun.

But the pull of an early Donny meeting, the lack of any decent test time on the 675 and an extremely kind offer from Chaz of a loan OD2 DD bike was too much for me to resist….

And so with the smell of fear in my nostrils, an uneasy naive feeling and knowing that the last time I’d raced a DD bike I’d broken my collarbone (again!!!), I squeezed into my ever-shrinking leathers on a cold March morning.

In brief, qualifying was eclectic, race 1 was wasted cheaply and race 2 was a hoot, I was way off the pace, but on the limit.

Thanks to Andy Challis for a race long battle and many congrats to the podium sitters new and old, and especially to Otei’s for his first win.

Thanks to all I’ve raced with and those who’ve supported me over the DD years.

I’m off to the land of flattering power and sticky tyres…

Tim