Quote:
| Originally Posted by Laverdisti The ending of a (very good) control tyre which can handle all conditions at all times was one of the very best things about the DesmoDue series. It is a great shame that this has gone and the penny will drop with some riders once the season begins just what has been lost. |
I mainly agree Martin, the series was brilliant when it was on the Diablo control tyres that it ran for when the series started and for several years until the Diablo was discontinued, back then we had 40 plus entries per meeting.
The change to the Rosso was a step backwards and is the only Z rated tyre we have had.
The D209GP Qualifier was a fantastic tyre in the dry but nowhere nar as good as the Diablo in the wet but with the Qualifier discontinued and then the move to the Sport Smart2 I think was a step backwards backed up by the declining grid sizes, with only 16 taking part at Pembrey for rd3. And by the end of the year we were down to 14 registered entrants at the final Pembrey round with 2 guest riders, just enough to secure our own grid.
We stuck with a single tyre rule for 11 years ( I know as I have done all but 3 meetings in that time) and in that period we have watched the grid sizes drop, had numerous calls for the introduction of wets, with riders voting with their feet and going elsewhere and we have seen two hosting clubs go to the wall and if DD didn't want to follow them we needed another club that could host us but with out the grid sizes we previously enjoyed DD no longer had the right to expect its own grid at every meeting so at times and depending on numbers DD will be sharing grids with other classes that are allowed to use Wets and in the interests of both safety and in an attempt to boost grid numbers we have also decided that introducing Wets is the way to go.