Ducati Sporting Club UK > DesmoDue Race Series > DesmoDue - General Questions and Chat > 2009 DD season - What it cost me in ££££s

[skidlids]

To give an idea of the costs to those thinking of racing in the 2010 Desmo Due Championships

Starting with Last Seasons Bike and already owning a transponder and a Van the Cost of running in Desmo Due for 2009 were

DD Championship Entries including Allcommers, Plus Bike & van Fuel £1,724
Non Championship & test day Entries, plus Bike & van Fuel £561
Pirelli Diablo Tyres, 4 rears & 3 fronts, sold 2 sets of scrubs £490
Other associated costs, such as service items, damage repair, dyno time etc £570


So total for Season was £3345

If I hadn't run on any Saturdays or took part in a couple of test days the running in the DD championship would have cost £2784

I didn't go to Angelsey and used the money saved to put towards upgrading my van (2.5l 6cyl Turbo Diesel H reg LT35 to a 2.8l 4cyl TDi V reg Fiat Ducato) which cost me £1150 on top of what I got for the old van.
The improved savings in fuel consumption has already started paying for the van

[injected]

I just added up the season's total race times, and including the Allcomers races that works out at £10 per minute of racing!

[Gbyte666]

Thats quite an intresting post Kev. Partly because I hav'nt wanted to think about it, partly because if I did start thinking about the money I would never have done it.
But I would have to say the money I spent on DD could not have bought that sort or much fun even if I was locked in Disney World for a season with Krusty the Clown following me around.
But now you made me think about it and I recon I spent the same as you + £3.5k for a van, Angelsey, and more pratice track days, B&B + Petrol for the family, bag of knickers etc So I recon about 7k easyly.
But now I have the van so look on it as £3.5 cheaper next year.

Do it next year... hell yea if I can get the money / sponsorship

[WeeJohnyB]

This should have ***SPOILER*** in the title

Please use the universal conversion rate and change to 'bike pounds' immediately,(or at least before our better half's see it).

Think of the money you will have saved

WeeJohnyB

[Chris Wood]

How many rounds then Kev.

After 3 seasons, I'd say it was 500gbp a round including everything required for the season. Trackdays, extra races, crash damage, etc.

Sure, you can get away with less, but why?

IMHO

[badgerpilot]

No chance I'm putting how much I've spent just in case the ball and chain sees it.

Least the kids can have Heinz beans till March.

Doing it next year????????????????????????? Hell yeh!

[Chris Wood]

No need to justify it! If you adjust any spending over the life of your mortgage, it costs pennies a month.

Perfect solution!

[SixtyTwo]

I don’t mean this to turn into a competition to see who can spend most, but our costs are shown below. We did start from a very low point after the 2008 Snetterton crash, with new leathers/helmet etc for Sam and lots of bike repairs.

Memberships/license £115
Leathers, helmet, gloves, etc £1330
Race Entries – 9 rounds, some with both days, some with Allcomers £1855
Ten test/track days £1279
Bike repairs and development £3862
(This includes buying a spare engine as well as having an engine rebuilt after it trashed a piston at Snetterton requiring a new barrel)

Not including any travel, fuel or subsistence. And definitely not including the motorhome!

Total £8441

Worth every penny!

Peter

[WeeJohnyB]

Depends where you start from to do any sort of comparison. Fully costed from scratch would include all your gear, the bike, a van maybe etc, or simply incremental costs of a season so excluding the above and simply looking at fuel for bike and van, entry fees, test fees, repairs, tyres, servicing inc oil and brakes.

Where do you put depreciation of van and bike? These costs are also net out of your disposable income, what do you really have to earn to pay for it?

What about putting a price on the opportunity cost of spending time with your other half and the kids?

For everything else, there's mastercard

WeeJohnyB

[skidlids]

Originally Posted by Chris Wood

How many rounds then Kev.

After 3 seasons, I'd say it was 500gbp a round including everything required for the season. Trackdays, extra races, crash damage, etc.

Sure, you can get away with less, but why?

IMHO

8 rounds Chris, only missed Angelsey so just over £400 a round

As WJB says it depends where you start

Well my initial layout was in 1997 when I got my first ACU licence and my first race bike, I have been through quite a few bikes since then and also a few vans and there must also be a tyre mountain somewhere with my name on it.

I have also used the same leathers and helmets for the last couple of years.
I have paid my membership to New era every year since 1998 and my DSC membership has been renewed anually since 2002.

Last year I only ran on one Saturday to keep costs within budget as the trip across to Assen added a sizeable amount to the travel costs and was worth every penny of it.

Budget for 2009 had been set at £3000 for going racing, ie entries, fuel, tyres etc, as I sold a few items in August/September and as this could be my last season racing I decided to use some of the extra cash for doing practice at Pembrey and also Saturday at the Dave Holland Festival.

The rest has gone to upgrades for the race bike in the event that I can race next year if I can earn a suitable income, which is one of the reasons I was looking at what this seaon had cost me, as WJB points out its a net cost and you need to earn a good percentage more to cover it.

so knowing what my Monthly Bills/Direct Debits come to along with the other cost of living expenses I have a good idea of what I need to earn next year if I want to go racing.
So a lot will depend on if I'm looking for a new job come March 2010 or possibly taking a lower paid job within the company I currently work for.

There is a slim chance we will get a stay of execution for 12 to 24 months which would be great but is wholey dependent on one customer extending his contract with us.

Knowing what to set as a budget isn't a bad thing, I have now done 12 seasons of racing all done on Pay as you Earn, therefore thankfully no debts due to it, then again no large deposit accounts either.

Its a choice you make and i have ne regrets as I have had some great times, met lots of great people and made some life long friends.

Next years race Budget needs to be £3500 if I want to compete in the majority of the rounds, which equates to putting aside £300 each month from now to the end of next season, so by the end of March I will have hopefully put away £1800 but if I'm then out of a job it will be going on things other than racing.