As it is a starter class and if numbers are sufficient I would expect the likes of myself, Paul Payne and Domski to bne ruled out on experience, leaving it to Novice Licence holders which would then rule out a few more the following year always leaving DD for newcomers to racing. If that did indeed happen then would it not be worth considering a 2nd class where people can move on to.
The deciding factor will be the number of members wanting to race. I could easily go back to doing SoT but if I did it probably wouldn't be on a Ducati more than likely a SV1000 after what I saw at Silverstone on Saturday, but there is a greater chance of me going back to the F600 clas on my GSXR.
And yes I am thinking about it now as this season will soon be over.

999's it is then :lol:

How about Desmo Due in its current form as the entry platform and.....

an open class running in parallel.

Any Ducati you want, minimal ACU regs, trackday bodywork - most serious t/day'ers have them - minimal outlay coz the bikes are already out there in our garages, road legal tyres and warmers. Sorted.

Entry criteria, must have been a DSC member as of March 2005 to qualify for 2006 (or7) season. Keeps the trophy hunters at bay.

Forget the level playing field and just run what you brung.

Ducati get to support all their models both old and new running in a race series.

I'd put off selling my 999 if this was a serious option.

Little bikes and novices in Desmo Due.

Big bikes and a bigger A&E waiting list in Desmo Open.

Well, I'm probably getting myself a reputation as someone who has got a real downer on DD, and that's not the case. Despite being greeted by a member of the management team at Cadwell with the words "have you just come here to moan" :mad: I really applaud everyone who has worked so hard to get it up and running. Fair play to the racers as well, who have sunk a lot of money and time into this, I think you're all doing us proud, and the racing is excellent to watch.

However, I have got some concerns about getting the right balance between the focus on DD and all the other club activities. When I spoke about it at the AGM, I just wanted the MT to be aware that running DD, without losing sight or focus on the clubs other activities would be a difficult challenge. I had some concern that DD would dominate. To a certain extent that has to be expected in it's first year and perhaps into subsequent years since it is a real first and a worthy flagship for the club. However, if we (as a club) are not careful we could see the racing bit start to take over to the point where the two parts of the club are no longer compatible. Who knows, the future may hold a Ducati Racing Club which span off from the boring old farts in the Ducati Sporting Club. I don't want that. I want to see a thriving race community in the framework of the existing club.

I'm not alone in this concern. When I piped up at the AGM there were a significant number of people who came up to me in the pub afterwards and said that they agreed with me. I've had several U2U's about it as well. These people, incidentally, are typically long standing and very active members, so I think that this is a valid viewpoint.

And, incidentally, as one of those people who will be on the DSC stand at the BMF on Friday, Saturday and Sunday I know that finding people to volunteer and organise this event - which is another real opportunity for club PR - was a hell of a lot more difficult this year and largely done by ordinary members slogging around trying to whip up support. It may just be my perception, but I haven't seen much MT involvement. I'm not pointing fingers here, the MT do the job voluntarily I know that they give a great deal of their time and do a damn good job.

Oh, I could go on...but I don't want to develop into the DSC DesmoDue bore (may be too late for that anyhow). I hope that if you know me personally, or judge me by my contribution to this board, you will know that I'm not anti DD, I'm not anti MT (if I could find the time I would volunteer to do more myself). I just hope my contributions are characterised by trying to maintain a sense of fair play and balance.

So. More power to DD, more power to the DSC...let's just try and maintain the balance for everyone. The recent VMan thread has shown that whatever side of that particular fence you sit on the DSC is a very rare and very special thing amongst clubs of it's type. I personally think the DSC 'ecosystem' is very finely balanced and fragile thing and if we don't keep it balanced carefully it may topple into something that would be a shadow of what it is now and could be in the future.

Oh...and don't call me Shirley, you can only do that every other weekend

Hi Shirley, oops mean Jools:P

just to say I agree with what you say:)

Alan is hoping to do some trackdays this year (booked 3 now, not done more than 1 in his life yet!) and is hoping to ride our bike in the DD series next year, as well as going to all the usual rideouts & shindigs too:D

C

OPEN CLASS

That would maybe pull Felix, Garry Smith and a few others in, but not me I have had enough (like Weeksy did) of pitting my 916 against 996SPS's 955's etc, as SoT and Open classes are a form of chequebook racing.
But then that would be my choice !

i think what, if anything, we do in future must have 3 main criteria that DD appears to have at the moment. namely; (relatively) cheap, accesible and close racing.