Ducati Sporting Club UK > DesmoDue Race Series > DesmoDue - General Questions and Chat > 14 finishers of 30 entries

[bradders]

Thick skinned about sums it up Kev. Onward and upward

[Senna3]

Thing is Paul as you know the riders rep is there for you to talk to and to voice your opinion to right people not for you to go and abuse because your pi55ed off
if your feeling that strongly its best just to go straight to the top and speak to the Clark of the course , the guy that makes the final decisions

[mat2hew]

I've always stayed out of the wets debate, I always liked the odd wet race, even on road tyres, when I bought my class A bike I also bought a set of Wets and a spare set of wheels as it was the end of the season and I had booked every single race in a 1 day event in November at Donington, it didn't rain and I had a brilliant day I raced my 620 monster in all classes even in the 1000's and finished about 2/3s down the order, I took my unused wets home with me.

After booking track day at my local (Brands) I was looking forward to the forecast rain just so that I could test the wets for the first time, which I did, in all honesty I didn't notice much difference, it was the first time I'd ridden a dd bike on wets, maybe I didn't go fast enough to warm them up or something but I didn't notice much.

I have got a photo of me on my 999s on wets at druids hairpin with my knee planted firmly down but I only rode that in the wet once maybe the extra power helps? and I don't think it was that wet or a particularly slippery day.

I am at a point in my life/racing career, 6 years racing in DD, where I wouldn't mind racing with wets, but if I'm honest when I was first thinking about racing, a stage that everybody must be at at some point, racing on road tyres and not having wets was one of the draws of DD over other classes, every thing was new and confusing and it was one less thing to worry about, I thought I'd buy a bike and come race it, the end.

I do remember a trackday me and Neal Catlin did at mallory, I had the slicks on and it was raining when we arrived so I missed the first session, Neal missed it as well having stayed in to help me change the wheels, I didn't have spare discs so had to change them as well, then it dried up and we both missed the 2nd session as well and just before the 3rd session guess what? I left the unridden 999s in the paddock and rode the DD bike all afternoon.

so,

do I want wets? Maybe.
is it right for DD? not sure.

Kev E Kev P and Trudi, Please don't leave us, my life would not have been as good without you guys in it.

Matt

[Spjallen]

Well said. I agree with all that. Especially the last statement.

[Trumpet]

I think the consideration over wets has opened a much more important debate, the future of DD! This is also compounded by the very sad news of the people who do the most for the series are considering standing down.
Like many others, I joined the series because it is accessible (especially for novices), friendly, comparatively cheap with big competitive grids. My fear is that going to wets possibly changes things to an extent where it is not that different from other race series and the DD grids would just get smaller.
Another consideration is that if we were on wets, the argument that we should be on our own for safety reasons does not apply any more, and then we could find ourselves out with other classes!
From riders far better qualified than myself it seems that opinion is divided over the technical merits of going to wets, but if there is any possibility that allowing wets in DD puts the future of the series at risk I am completely opposed!
Finally, those people who have tirelessly worked on keeping this fantastic series running for 10 years need our support, so as one of a great many in the paddock who are just happy with how things are (and therefore do not usually make much comment) I would like to fully support the fantastic work being done on our behalf, and please stay on.

PS. This is not meant to stifle healthy debate, just a note of caution and my personal support

[badgerpilot]

An excellent point made.

Suppose we go with wets, why would a potential newbie spend £2500 on a 15yr old DD bike, plus the additional costs of a set of wheels (at an inflated cost due to supply and demand), generator for warmers (no brainer that they would be next) to be put on track against modern classics (for example) which have twice the power and far greater acceleration and speed? Yes we would still be racing in our own class but even the best DD riders would get lapped by a decent bloke on a CBR600.

Or we stay as we are and the newbie goes for a £900 class B with no extra cost. With wets we'd be just another race series, as we are we're a one-off with low budgeting as a huge plus point.

IMHO the 2 Kevs and Trudi want to stay with us but without the 5h1t they've had to endure recently, I hope they stay even if just to advice their successors. It's safe to say without them DD wouldn't be here now and defo wouldn't be the same without them

[Ghost]

Well put Scott, on all points.

[bradders]

cost is a red herring. You can pick up a part worn set for next to nothing and don't need warmers. Having discussed this a lot with seasoned racers and really experienced guys, thats my mind made firmly up.

But, the issue is not wets; its whether anyone will pick up the reigns and keep it going...or does it mean it becomes a Hottrax product and the end of DSC led series

[mat2hew]

Originally Posted by bradders

cost is a red herring. You can pick up a part worn set for next to nothing and don't need warmers. Having discussed this a lot with seasoned racers and really experienced guys, thats my mind made firmly up.

for racers with a little experience it isn't too daunting a prospect I know, but for complete newbies it might be, in my first year of racing I spent so much money on **** that people told me I needed.

[Gbyte666]

Well they were right Matt it got you to the front and wining races & those crash bungs just paid for themselves :-)

Craig