Ducati Sporting Club UK > DesmoDue Race Series > DesmoDue - General Questions and Chat > Desmo Due meeting 12-2-04

[ChrisBushell]

Just to let everyone know, we will put out an e-mail to participants regarding what was discussed on Saturday later on toda.

Please watch out in your in boxes


Chris

[rockhopper]

Cant it be posted on here as well Chris so those that are not taking part can get some idea of whats going on? Remember what Jools said about the club splitting?

[skidlids]

I remember what Jools said but as I have been racing longer than I have owned Ducatis or been a member of the DSC I can't see why other members going racing should be a problem.
Since my time in the DSC I have been to numerous rideouts, track attacks, BMF twice, AGM twice as well as still doing some racing and running my mate on my bike at the TT.
I just see the Desmo Due as a way of combining it all.
Just wish I had time to work on the bike

[Jools]

Skids, it's really not a question of the individual participants in Desmodue not being good club members or contributors. I've got to know quite a few people taking part and without exception they're all sound people. Individually, they absolutely embody all the qualities that makes this club a good place to be and I know that they get involved in all the club activities, not just the racing.

On the other hand, however humble it's original intent, desmodue is fast becoming the 'sexy' end of the DSC's activities. Far more glamorous than organising other stuff in the club calendar. Increased interest from Ducati UK, Ducati dealers, other parts of the trade and the possibility of getting onto Ducati's own web site, let alone the press attention. All very seductive for a club that wants to raise it's profile.

It may be nobody's intention to give off false "them and us" signals, but "closed door" meetings at the AGM, "secret" emails for participants eyes only, and suggestions from some quarters that there should be a desmodue entrants only web area all start to give off the impression that the desmodue entrants are the elite and the rest of us are the great unwashed.

Don't get me wrong. I think Desmodue is a great idea and would be doing it myself but for lack of funds and wifely hostility. I also appreciate that for the idea to fly, the management team need to put a lot of their time and attention into it. I just want a couple of things to be remembered.

First, that getting a race series going is just ONE of the things that the DSC does, not the only thing that gets attention.

Second, It's just that I want it to be OUR series...all six hundred and whatever members not just the thirty odd racers.

I'm quite prepared to stand back and leave the racers decisions (like tyre choices) to the racers - quite plainly it's daft to put those decisions to all members. But for goodness sake let's have all the race discussions open to everyone to look in on

[skidlids]

Originally posted by Jools
Second, It's just that I want it to be OUR series...all six hundred and whatever members not just the thirty odd racers.

Trouble is Jools this is a public forum and some of the information that is to be released will probably be very attractive to non DSC members, we could well find racers from other clubs joining the DSC just for the race series and never getting involved with anything else the club does and probably the only Ducati they have ever owned would be their Desmo Due racer.
Now if we had a Members section we could probably have a bit freer flow of information.
as for the meeting after the AGM I could see no reason to exclude DSC members other than it would probably have made the meeting even longer and I would have been riding home in the dark, it was bad enough with 20 or so of us there all trying to exspress an opinion.

Other than the tyre debate a bit of time was spent introducing ourselves, giving our reasons for entering, naming our weapon of choice and race number, something i'm sure all DSC members will be interested in.

And Jools as I know you have a real interest in the race series, probably still considering having a go yourself you will be welcome to have a go on my 583cc 600Ss at the Cadwell trackday.

kev

[NBs996]

Jools, speaking for myself, I really appreciate the level of support and interest the non-participating club members are showing. But as I said in another thread today, this 'closed door' policy is actually a false perception.

The riders don't know very much more than you do, it's just that many parts of the the discussions which go into finalising things have to involve the riders. That's why they get to know what's being talked about first... we still await final publication of of things like tyres.

I would think many decisions have to be published to the direct participants first just in case someone needs to say "hey, that's not what was agreed!" then we'd end up with public confusion about what is and what isn't final.

You're right about it being the limelight of the club tho, but while the DD series is big news, the rest of the club activities still seem to be going on as before.

Just my thoughts... hope they're clear enuf!

[chicken]

Originally posted by weeksy

You don't think that's happend already to some extent Kev ? At the end of the day, if the series grows as it looks like it may, i don't see the grid being full of DSCers next season, i see it being full of racers from clubs loooking to get a slightyl cheaper class of racing than their current on.

Isn't that part of the point of the club though? Getting people onto Ducatis who might never consider them otherwise?

The presence of experienced racers should not detract from what was designed to be a chance for club members to dip their toes into the racing world.

If we were to exclude anybody that has raced before, then this would rule out this season's riders from entering next year (and lots of the guys have at least a 2 year plan for DD). A beginner (like me) should not expect to be competitive but should be looking at this as a taster with the potential to step up to bigger things in the future.

The most I am hoping for is that there are two or three people that I am comparable to that I can aim to beat over the season. Set your bar low so you never have to experience disappointment!

Chi
(soon to be known as il pollo corsa!)

[Jools]

Well. I don't want to be too 'bleeding heart' about all this and I hope I'm not being too precious.

The trouble is, you see, that I'm a mouthy type of bloke who has always got something to say. Since I have to write a lot in my job, some years ago I thought that I would be a lot more productive if I learned to touch type. So now, since I can type nearly as fast as I can speak, you lot get the dubious benefit of me being mouthy on-line as well.

I'm not saying that there is a two tier club...yet. I'm not pointing fingers at any racers, or the management team, for trying to give the DSC more pizazz. It's just that I see the first little hairline cracks appearing in the fabric of the club and all I'm saying is - let's all be aware that this could happen, and guard against it, before the little hairline cracks become bigger. I thought that I might be in a minority of one when I piped up at the AGM, but the general mutters of agreement in the meeting and the many people who told me that they shared my views in the pub afterwards tells me that we do have an issue that could escalate if it's not carefully managed.

I really hope that the series is a success, but it could also become a victim of it's own success. If it starts getting publicity on ducati.com, in MCN and some of the monthlies perhaps it may start to attract more serious racers. A couple of years down the line we could hear things like "Well, Desmodue has been a rip-roaring success, hey, have you seen that you can get a 748 for £3-3500 now? What about running a 748 series alongside Desmodue" and so on.

It doesn't take a large stretch of the imagination to see that in a few years time the club could be running several championships. You could have a growing section of the club that only cares about racing and who look upon the likes of people that staff the BMF stand as boring old fogies that they have nothing in common with.

Do you see where I'm coming from? If my DSC history is correct, the DSC itself was formed through people who wanted a livelier club that catered for the newer bikes rather than being stuck in a bevel driven time warp. Could it be that a similar racing faction might find itself at odds with the 'boring' road rider and launch the Ducati Racing Club?

I hope not, but let's not be in denial about the fact that it could happen unless we acknowledge the possibility and guard against it.

PS: Skids

Appreciate the offer of a whizz round Cadwell, but I won't be at the trackday. It's just a few days from my daughters wedding and Mrs Jools wants me to remove any possibility that I'll turn up in plaster. She could have a point, I would've been in plaster at my own wedding (after a coming together between my Kawasaki and a Group 4 armoured transit) if I hadn't sawn the pot off myself the night before

[jobr]

I agree with Jools that possibly there is a danger of a bit of a split. I have only had a Duke a few months and used these boards even less, my DSC membership started 31/12/04.

I think we have missed one point and that is perhaps other club members would like to know whats going on in the series? Agree about the boards being open to all and thus perhaps the best medium to get everything over to all is Pronto.

On the same subject a guy I know who races a Ho Ho unpronouncable word has already looked at the site and commented "that's a cheap way to go racing" so some of those fears above are very real.

I have no desire to go racing, god I have never done a track day something I hope to correct this year but I am very interested from a spectator point of view on the series.

[dickieducati]

Originally posted by jobr
I think we have missed one point and that is perhaps other club members would like to know whats going on in the series? Agree about the boards being open to all and thus perhaps the best medium to get everything over to all is Pronto.

I have no desire to go racing, god I have never done a track day something I hope to correct this year but I am very interested from a spectator point of view on the series.

believe me as soon as all details are comfirmed, you will be bombarded with info on the series both on board and in pronto.