2024 is the 20th year in which the Ducati Sporting Club Desmo Due race series has run with continued support from Dunlop and NGRRC for the 2024 season meaning we get to retain the much-loved SportSmart TT control tyre and stay in a very welcoming NG paddock respectively. The series was started to give DSC club members the opportunity to race production bikes with limited permitted modifications and a control tyre, where rider talent was what mattered rather than the size of the rider’s cheque book! The ethos of the original series lives on today as it did then, as a result a number of the bikes on the grid are essentially lockwired road bikes with the unnecessary bits removed.
The first round of the series took place on Saturday the 23rd of March 2024 at the fast-flowing Oulton Park circuit.
Weather conditions were cold and with just a one-day round qualification was dispensed with and starting grid positions were decided based on 2023 championship points with new entrants to the series at the back of the grid. Unfortunately, on the sighting lap an off at the first corner saw three riders fail to make the start as the grid formed. Off the lights Dominic Cann (1) took an early lead with Carl Smalley (691) matching his early pace and Enrico Belsito (13) in third with Dan James (12) and Chris Norris (22) just a second down the road. By the end of lap two Cann (1) had increased the pace to a point where he was pulling a clear second ahead of the rest of the field and Smalley (691) chasing with Belsito (13) maintaining his pace but not quite doing enough to keep local man Norris (22) from assuming the third spot. The race finished with, defending champion, Cann (1) in first place 4.5 seconds ahead of Smalley (691) with Norris (22) in third just 1 100th of a second ahead of Belsito (13) in fourth. In B class with just three entrants willing to travel for a one-day round, and one of those missing due to the sighting lap incident all riders had to do was finish to gain a place on the podium! Sean Coyle (57) and Jim Robinson (55) had a close fought race with Robinson (55) leading up until lap 4 at which point Coyle (57) assumed the lead and opened a slight gap putting another rider in between them on that final lap to take the win by three seconds.
For the 2nd and final race of the round, and the final race of the meeting, temperatures dropped considerably, and rain looked imminent, with light fading a reduced grid lined up. Dominic Cann (1) immediately took the lead from the lights with Belsito (13) following and immediately at a pace mirroring the earlier race the pair circulated in those positions until lap 7 when Smalley (691) overtook Belsito (13) for second on the road and maintained that position to the end with both lapping at matched pace and nose to tail. Dan Hobson (137) finished in fourth having set the fastest lap from a starting position of 7th on the grid. In B class Sean Coyle (57) led from the lights but a succession of fastest laps from Jim Robinson (55) on laps 3,5,6,7 and 8 saw him catch and overhaul Coyle (57) on lap 5 and extend his lead which he held to the end. Will Pugh (71) finished third to take the final trophy.
The next round of the series will take place at Cadwell park on the 12th 13th of April.
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 in what can only be described as chilly conditions and to Dunlop and Clinton Howe for the continued tyre support.
Report by Andy Hind