Ducati Sporting Club UK > DesmoDue Race Series > DesmoDue - General Questions and Chat > Desmo Due 2012...discuss

[numbskull]

Originally Posted by PDL

Let me start by saying I am actually the type of person that DD is looking to attract. I race but not with DD and I race a 583. So I think my point of view is quite pertinant and quite valid, take it on board if you wish.

As I see it the problem you've got and it's a nice problem is DD is a one make series, so effectively you are only ever going to attract mostly Ducati enthusiasts. It's all about marketing DD and you have a very good tool at you disposal the DSC membership. Wether you chose to scrap class A for 695, 696 or even 800SS is immaterial really as it is a one make series, and your audience is limited.

I have started racing this year on a 583 in Mini Twins with W100 and also PDMCC, yes the SVs are faster but it is really my lack of skill not the bike as the 583 at the likes of Anglesey, 3Sisters & Oulton is good enough for mid pack in the right hands. The difference is Mini Twins is open to all makes, so with W100 I get 3 races for £90 or 7 races for £120; with PDMCC I get 6 races for £85. It is cheaper than DD and local.

So back to DD, the reason I didn't start in DD as a first timer it is too costly, you have too many rounds for me spread all over the country. You don't use tyre warmers (not that they matter that much) and you don't use wets; and you have a control tyre. Ok I could join in one or two rounds local to me, I could put up with no tyre warmers, but I like Power Ones and I like wets. So in a nutshell I may try some DD next seaosn I may not, but I know I will be racing with W100, PDMCC and maybe NG next season for sure and it will be on a 583 or even an 800SS.

The DD is fine as it is, but at the outset it was supposed to be a cheap way into racing and actually your not. It is cheaper for me to race with W100 and PDMCC, and simply, that is probably what puts a lot of people off - Cost.

Remember what I said at the start of my post - I am the type of person you should be looking to attract, my opinion is probably the most valid here.

Regards

Paul Lewis
#96 W100, #196 PDMCC

Taking this on board, where are most of the DSC members located geographically so we can make the change next year to run the series with a club that only runs on tracks close to the DSC heartland.

That would reduce the travel costs for most people.

[Jolley]

To be honest, things do seem to have picked up a little this year compared to the end of last year. We probably just need to keep our momentum going, and keep getting our name out there.

[bradders]

not sure you can ever pin point a heartland.

cost comparison is interesting - what kind of grids are there at the two mentioned? T

BH if I were local to Mallory, or Anglesey, or a track which has a series centered on it (Knockhill I think also does that) I would probably be racing part of that - not sure if instead of DD tho as the level playing feild (ish ) makes it far more interesting

but thats because I am now a racer - I would not have done that as a fisrt step; DD has given me that already

still say keep it simple: as it is right now

[PDL]

Originally Posted by bradders

...cost comparison is interesting - what kind of grids are there at the two mentioned?...

W100 ran a grid of about 26 on 30th May at Anglesey, the twins where eight bikes composed of an 800SS, me, and the other were SV 650s. The rest of the grid was 125 GP, 250 GP and formula 400.

PDMCC ran a grid of 14 mini twins - CB 500, couple of ER6, and the rest SV 650s.

Plus at each club you can run in the Open race, rookie (for me) and pre injected.

[bradders]

of interest, and off thread, what times were you doing on your chosen tyres around A/sey on Monday? Not sure if it was wet or not...

[ells]

As a way of attracting new riders - Hottrax have some of their classes televised. Not sure of the details but available of the internet - Thinks its 2 wheels TV. Some of Thundersports races are televised.

Would this add extra riders to the grid? Especially class A where they are going to be up front???

With regards to Pauls comments about it being a one make series. I can honestly say I never owned any Italian bikes and until I got my 583 bike(might make me the minority here). I chose DD as a good entry level race series with a great bunch of geezers.Last year it was that but times have moved on and costs are different this year. I have been considering extra races or different class but still want to do DD.

[PDL]

Started the day in the wet at 1:50, by the final race had got it down to 1:34 on my tyres of choice. I know the bike can go a lot faster it is my skill that is holding me up but was running a laptimer on the bike so that helps to focus. I struggle with left handers, why I just don't know oh and right handers . The winners were at about 1:17 with mid pack around 1:20 to 1:23.

Anyway back on topic, the DD is a great series you just need to know who to market it to and market it properly. I will join it next year hopefully.

Paul

[Jolley]

Originally Posted by numbskull

Taking this on board, where are most of the DSC members located geographically so we can make the change next year to run the series with a club that only runs on tracks close to the DSC heartland.

That would reduce the travel costs for most people.

You could drop Anglesey and Pembrey for Silverstone and Donnington.... but that would be dependant upon whatever Hottrax decide to do, and I suspect it is a lot cheaper to run at Pembrey/Anglesey than it is at Silverstone/Donnington.

I quite like the tracks we run at.

[PDL]

Originally Posted by Jolley

You could drop Anglesey and Pembrey for Silverstone and Donnington.... but that would be dependant upon whatever Hottrax decide to do, and I suspect it is a lot cheaper to run at Pembrey/Anglesey than it is at Silverstone/Donnington.

I quite like the tracks we run at.

As a guide Oulton costs £28k to hire I would expect Donny is the same, and Anglesey is about £18k to hire. But they are building new pits/garages and Tower so it may go up

[antonye]

Originally Posted by Jolley

I quite like the tracks we run at.

Good!!!

When we were discussing the "offers on the table" late last year, one of the club offered us a calendar which looked something like this:

Cadwell Park
Cadwell Park
Cadwell Park (Mountain)
Cadwell Park
Mallory
Cadwell Park
Cadwell Park

Now even as someone who loves Cadwell, that wouldn't appeal to me as a race season!

Track selection is one of the big things that dictates the cost, as I'm sure you appreciate, and we are getting a great selection of tracks with Hottrax that is comparable with anything we had with New Era ... maybe with the exception of including Assen!

The formula for DD has always been cost, and will remain a focus going forward. We have discussed many times the "extras" that we could put into DD - tyre warmers, tyre choice, rule changes - but it always turns out that it adds to the cost rather than reducing them.

We also had the opportunity to switch club last year, and thus look to see if we could get better value for money, and Kev did an amazing job of balancing up the cost-per-minute of track-time from ALL the offers we had, and they were all within pennies of each other, so we had no real issues to deal with sacrificing the cost of entry against quality of circuits.

In my opinion, and it is just my opinion for what it's worth, I really don't see any problems in DD. The fact that the riders have any say over things like the rules and direction of the series is something you would not get in any other race series to this degree, that I am aware of.

Maybe the series really isn't broken and doesn't need fixing at all?