Following on from a soggy round 1 at Brands hatch the paddock arrived at Castle Combe hoping for better weather but with a mixed forecast for the weekend. Wet tyres were required for those taking advantage of the few spots available on the Friday test day and the remaining 20 class A (injection) and 7 Class B (pre-injection) riders crossed fingers for better weather on Saturday.
With the damp conditions of the previous day a distant memory, reigning A class champion, Dominic Cann (1) made his return to the paddock felt by setting a 1:21.674 pole lap, a staggering 1.6 seconds ahead of current championship leader Carl Smalley (691) who was closely followed by Chris Norris (22) just five 100ths of a second further adrift. In B class Floyd Moody (7) set the benchmark time of 1:27.750 with class rival and championship leader after Brands, Brian Tipple (27) some 2 seconds adrift. Jim Robinson (55) used his experience to good advantage to bag the third spot ahead of three riders in their rookie season with the DD paddock.
For the race Cann (1) set the early pace, leading the mixed field for seven of the nine laps and finishing 9.6 seconds ahead of second place man Smalley (691) with Norris (22) again occupying the final podium position. In B class Moody (7) came in ahead of Tipple (27) by 7.4 seconds with Robinson (55) claiming third some 15 seconds ahead of fourth place.
Misty conditions meant a delayed start to morning practice on Sunday but the sun soon made a full appearance leaving the track dry and visibility superb, Dominic Cann (1) set the early pace before the race was red flagged on lap 5 after an incident with back markers at the bus stop chicane at camp left bikes stranded in the track. Smalley (691) and Norris (22) again occupied the next two spots albeit a classified a lap down having not quite lapped the back markers involved. In B class Moody (7) had only managed to pull a 1 second lead on Tipple (27) in second, with rookie Enrico Belsito (13) claiming his first trophy in the series occupying the final podium position.
Sunday afternoons race was again red flagged, but this time after 6 laps, during which Cann (1) again asserted his dominance with a 8.5 second gap to Smalley (691) in second, with Dan James (12), having experienced braking issues in race one, coming in in third. In B class Tipple (27) claimed his first win of the meeting ahead of Moody (7) with Belsito (13) continuing his newly acquired podium streak to a run of two trophies.
As always the Ducati Sporting Club would like to express their thanks to all of those at NGRRC for organising the event and especially the marshals and medical teams who looked out for our fallen riders and to Dunlop and Clinton Howe for the tyre support.
If you are thinking of joining the series in 2023 or beyond please seek out the “Desmo Due Paddock” page on Facebook or Ducatisportingclub.com for further information or come and have a chat with us in the Paddock.