Well done Shep
 

Sorry about sounding like John Noakes with the title,
but following yesterdays anouncement by way of a email sent to those registered for this years DD.

Andy should be congratulated on his Sponsorship of a Newcomers/Novice Cup championship.

The entry requirements look a bit rough around the edges (as I have spotted a few loop holes)but nothing that can't be sorted before the season starts in 7 weeks time, I have emailed my comments to the RC at desmodue@ducatisportingclub.com

Andy if you want a copy of the emailed comments PM me your email address and I'll fire it over.

I'm sure the reason the entry requirements are so stringent is to avoid people hanging on to their novice bids way longer than they should (knowingly or not), thus taking the prizes away from the true novices who haven't completed 10 meetings. This had become a bit of an issue last year with the champagne bottles, Andy just wants to make sure the true novices are awarded.

In order to qualify for Bemsee's Rooky 400s you musn't have done any races. If you've done a few meetings but still have a novice bib you're not elegible anymore, and it's the same thing here. Andy's the sponsor so it's his call!

And speaking of prizes, where are our REAL championship trophies?! It says in the regulations that the DSC would be giving out championship trophies at the end of the season, but it's almost the start of the next season and all seems to have been brushed under the carpet. The DSC should have absolutely ensured that we got them by now, one way or another.

typical woman...its all bling bling bling ;) :lol:

as there hasnt been an off-season get together, maybe they'll do a presentation at the first round???

Nice one Andy.

Not been fully involved in this one but I think its will be at the first round that we have the championship trophies but I will look into it.

I been working with Andy on this one and had a few emails back and looks like there could be a little movement in the rules. A few people look to be genuine novices i.e. had a licence in 2008 with intention of racing but did not raced and have no previous previous race history so I think in that case things will be okay. But I will double check with Andy to make sure.

p.s. Kev could you pass that email on to me as well, thank you

PM'd over the contents of the email regarding the Novice Cup, as i don't have your email address here at work.

one bit of it points out that if you were previously a Sidecar passenger, a Moto X rider, Hill Climber etc and have therefore held an ACU race Licence your not eligable.

Thanks for the positive comments guys.

I'd like to thank Dom Clegg for coming up with the idea, as we wanted to do something for the Novices but didnt know what.

Any opinions can be sent to my by pm or to the RC email.

Andy

ps. as Harriet said, whats happened to the trophies for our current champions? Lets give them the awards they deserve, well done guys & girls!

I think there's an opportunity for DD to be managed properly this year, but it has to start now. Its things like the trophies not getting sorted from last year that **** people off and show a lack of leadership with the series.

I'm not sure who the reps are this year either, have these been announced?

But someone at the top needs to get a grip of DD and show a controlling hand that offers direction and comfort for this year's players, particularly as there seems to be a large number of newbies to the series who would be looking for guidance, direction and leadership.

There's also other forums where DD is actively discussed and any thoughts/issues raised on there can cause potential ill-feeling towards DD if there's not an obvious way (or sufficiently responsive way) to officially air these views. Again, I believe a senior figure in the DSC / DD RC should be the go to person for these queries and not a generic (non-responding) email address that offers relatively little peace of mind for any queries. Even a quick response stating that "we have received your email and will get back to you as soon as possble" would help perhaps?.

Chris Wood seemed to play this role particularly well a few years back and a similar 'firm but fair' role needs to be demonstrated this year I feel. But the Antipodean warrior has slipped off to relax on a beach somewhere and there's only one Chris Wood - thank God !!! ;)

For what it's worth, I had offered my services to DD, but this has fallen on deaf ears, perhaps me resigning from the DD rep's role in the past has tainted the view of the popes of DD?

I am signed up for DD this year though, so maybe, just maybe !!! ;)

Tim

Hi Tim
I also feel like there is an opertunity
Riders reps also need sorting asap

Tim send me a pm and can sort out how to push forward with what needs doing.


Dom

i think anything that supports newcomers to the series, and in particular absolute newcomers to racing, is brilliant :) and i was really looking forward to seeing the trophy presentations last year as i know the effort that went into winning them (and yes, one in particular, i know i know!)

it would be great to do something a bit more special than simply making a presentation at the first round of a new season.

[quote=harriebird]i know the effort that went into winning them (and yes, one in particular, i know i know!)

No one in particular put in more effort than anyone else, we all put a lot of work and effort into our results. Unless of course you meant you wanted to SEE one person in particular! :D

It's not very "sporting" of the Ducati Sporting Club not to keep its end of the bargain though and reward its members. I've never heard of any other racing club not handing out the due trophies at the end of the season.

The DSC goes on about how Class B is for people new to racing. But this also means receiving a championship trophy is a big deal to them as it's most probably their first ever. This makes it doubly important for the trophies to be handed out properly at the end of the season as per regulations, not as an afterthought at the first round of the following season when no one could care less. I'm sure it's also important for those who've won championship trophies before, but I wouldn't know.

It's not like the forum is my first port of call and I'm bringing the series into disrepute by discussing this publicly. I've contacted the DSC several times about this and was assured it'd be sorted by January. Oh look, it's February!

The whole thing has lost its shine for me now, but it's something the DSC may want to bear in mind for the future as I'm sure other newbies will feel the same.

sorry, i wasnt suggesting that anyone had put any more or less effort than anyone else, just that i had seen the behind the scenes stuff for one person in particular.

[quote=Miss Riot]
Harriet, you make a very good point here and as usual I never saw it coming. Probably off-topic enough to deserve a thread of its own in my opinion.

Apologies to Skidlids and Andy for the hijack.

i believe several of the SV races i entered in 2008 and podium'ed, New Era didnt give trophies for... i'm awaiting the honour of receiving (my first and, due to retirement, only) the championship trophy, however, New Era havent as yet bothered to reply to my emails.