Ducati Sporting Club DesmoDue Championship

The 'DesmoDue Championship' is a one-make motorcycle racing series based in the United Kingdom. The series was started by the Ducati Sporting Club in 2005 and is administered by them, staging races through New Era MCC[1] meetings in the UK until 2010, then with Hottrax Motorsport and most recently with North Gloucester Road Racing.

The motorcycles must be based on an air-cooled 2-valve Ducati twin-cylinder engine produced since 1992. The machines are allowed limited modifications. Most modifications are for safety reasons. The control tyre, which changed to a Dunlop Alpha 13 for the 2016 season, with Dunlop Wets also allowed.

Two capacity classes compete for the championship;

  1. Class A - 618cc fuel injection based machines
  2. Class B - 583cc carburettor based machines

Riders must hold an ACU racing licence, and be either a Clubman or Novice licence holder absent special dispensation by the race committee.

History

The series began in 2005 after mechanical rules had been set in late 2004 by Neil Spalding of Sigma. This innovative series consisted of 11 races at circuits including, Cadwell Park, Castle Combe, Snetterton, Donington Park and Brands Hatch. 41 riders took part. The inaugural series was won by a dominant Geoff Spencer, who took 8 races.

2006

In 2006 the series moved to two machine classes (Class A and B) and almost 50 riders. The circuit line-up expanded to include Oulton Park and the TT circuit of Assen in the Netherlands. The Dutch round of the series was hosted by the Ducati Club Nederland at their famous Club Races.

Phil Huntley became the inaugural 583cc Champion, winning 9 races, whilst Dominic Cann, for Charles Dudley's OD2 team, was crowned 620cc Champion with 8 wins. The two riders went head-to-head in the season finale at Cadwell Park. Huntley qualified for Pole Position. Cann won both races and went on to score 32 consecutive podium finishes over two and a half seasons.

2007

2007 Class A champion was Kyle Hinton, who smashed virtually all records riding for Alan & Charlotte Knight of the Knight RR Team, taking 11 victories from 13 starts, winning the last 7 races in a row and setting 5 new class lap records on the 620 Monster. The 583cc championship was wrapped up by Andy Sheppard who won 6 races, took 11 podiums and 5 Pole Positions.

2008

The 2008 season saw the Desmodue series given a large stamp of approval by the participation of repeat British champion and ex-International star Ian Cobby. Riding in the 620 series, having entered a one-off race the year before on a 583 machine at Oulton Park, Ian secured the title with one round still to go taking 9 races and 12 podiums. The ex BSB rider did not have things all his own way though and was repeatedly threatened by 2005 season 4th-place finisher, Mike Dawson, who won at Mallory Park, Pembrey and Cadwell Park. Richard Fogg also won a single inspired race in wet conditions at Brands Hatch. Mike almost ran Ian Cobby to the wire except for a bike blow up. He eventually came 2nd in the championship. 2007 B class champion, Andy Sheppard won his first A class race at the Cadwell Park finale, giving an indication of his future. The 583 championship was secured by Matt Traynar, who despite enjoying a 92cc advantage over most of his rivals managed not to win all of the races that year. Dominic Clegg put up a good fight to take second place, winning 5 races. Harriet Ridley became the first woman to take a top 3 championship position and showed that she was becoming a force to be reckoned with.

2009

2009 started with Andy Sheppard winning first time out at Donington Park. Tim Pritchard, started his first full season in Desmodue, having contested only the occasional rounds in previous seasons, won the next race that day and set in motion what would become an epic struggle. Pritchard suffered a slight dip in form at the midpoint, allowing Sheppard to take the upper hand. After discovering a bike set up to suit him though, Tim came back strongly at the end of the season with the midsummer races at Cadwell Park. 80% of the crowd fainted. Sheppard took the title at Pembrey, despite Pritchard winning both races.

In a dramatic twist to the end of the season, it transpired that Sheppard had been suffering with a heart defect and needed an immediate operation. Andy put the operation off to try to win the title, and in doing so became the first rider to win both the B class and A class championships. He was then medically prohibited from entering races and his number 65 was retired as a mark of respect. Andy and Tim were the only riders to win races in 2009, taking 11 and 7 respectively. The 583 championship was taken by Sam West, coming back from a horrific testing smash at Snetterton the year before that broke his leg into approximately 786 pieces. It was far from an easy ride though, with crashes and mechanical failures threatening to let Harriet Ridley through. Sam's misfortunes often came in non-championship races and won out with 10 wins. Harriet took runner up with 5 wins and held the consolation prize of “finest booty ever to grace a DD bike”.

2010

2010 was the fifth year of the series, and became a battle between Tim Pritchard and Mark Lister. Mark hurtled into the series at the first round, winning both races (on the OD2 prepared bike of 2006 title winning team boss, Chas Dudley), despite crashing in qualifying. He set a new lap record, beating Spencer's 2005 mark. Tim won the next 2 races at Silverstone, but couldn't match Lister's pace at Mallory Park where Mark easily won both races. Pritchard was injured in a nasty starting line smash during the second non-championship race at Snetterton, allowing Mark an easy yet inevitable cruise to the title as Tim missed the next 3 rounds. The series hadn't seen such raw pace since Ian Cobby entered the series in 2008 and even a healthy Pritchard would have been a longshot. Tim regained some pride at the end of the season though, winning his first race back from injury against Neil Appleby, whose progress over the season netted him the runner up spot. The 583 title was between several riders. The ones that mattered in the end were Matt “Awesome” Lawson, and Matt Larrett. Larrett took the title in a foul weather showdown at Cadwell Park. They took 3 and 5 wins each, respectively.

2011

The 2011 championship was run through New Era, but the majority of races were held with Hottrax Racing. The control tyre also changed to a Dunlop Sportsmax Qualifier, moving away from Pirelli for the first time. The finale at Oulton Park saw Class B rider Philip Wilcock take two wins and the championship by four points from Ron Jolley, who fell from a 20-second lead in the final race. Class A was won by Appleby 36 points above veteran Andy Challis.

2012

The 2012 championship added the Class C category, a step-up for those wanting to race larger capacity bikes. The bikes were still Ducati with rules to limit costs. The motorcycle must be either a water cooled Ducati twin cylinder motorcycle with 4 valves per cylinder produced between 1988 and March 2002 or an air-cooled 2 valve Ducati twin cylinder produced between 1992 and March 2005, displacing no more than 997cc. The machines are allowed limited modifications, for safety or to allow older generations of the Desmo family to remain competitive with the newer machines. Specifically, these are: 4 Valve 748: - Any model with the exception of the 748RS 851 / 888 : - Any production model 916: - Any model with the exception of 916 Racing and SPS 996: - Any model with the exception of SP, SPS, R & RS 2 Valve 748 & 904 cc single spark engine SS & Monster, including both carburettor and injection models. 803cc single spark SS & Monster manufactured prior to March 2008. 992 twin spark engine SS, Monster & Multistrada manufactured prior to March 2005

Top 7 Most Successful Riders

The top 7 most successful riders ever in the series (at end of 2011 season), based on wins and then podiums are as follows:

583 championship
Rank Rider Name Race
Wins
Podiums
1 Dominic Clegg 12 30
2 Sam West 10 14
3 Phil Huntley 9 12
4 Andy Sheppard 8 15
5 Matt Traynar 8 12
6 Ron Jolley 6 13
7 Harriet Ridley 5 21
620 Championship
Rank Rider Name Race
Wins
Podiums
1 Neil Appleby 13 22
2 Andy Sheppard 12 20
3 Geoff Spencer 12 19
4 Kyle Hinton 11 19
5 Tim Pritchard 9 22
6 Ian Cobby 9 12
7 Dominic Cann 8 32

Andy Sheppard remains the most successful rider overall, having attained an incredible 20 wins and 35 podiums over 2 classes.

Guest Riders/Journalists

2005 Marc Potter Motorcycle News Donington Park Race 1: 2nd Race 2: 2nd
2005 Michael Neeves Motorcycle News Donington Park Race 1: 3rd Race 2: 7th
2005 Rob Hoyles Motorcycle Racer Magazine Brands Hatch Race 1: 6th Race 2: 6th
2006 Mal Wheeler Mortons Media Cadwell Park A Race 1: 11th A Race 2: 11th
2006 Dale Lomas Performance Bikes Magazine Assen TT Circuit A Race: 11th
2006 Jamie Wilkins Fast Bikes Magazine Oulton Park A Race 1: 7th A Race 2: 7th
2007 Ian Cobby Freelance Journo Oulton Park B Race 1: 1st B Race 2: 1st

Lap & Race Records

Anglesey (Coastal)
620 Lap Record Neil Appleby 1:18.339 2011
583 Lap Record Ron Jolley 1:21.734 2011
         
620 Race Record:12 Laps Neil Appleby 15:57.059 2011
583 Race Record:12 Laps Ron Jolley 16:38.572 2011
620 Race Record:8 Laps Tim Pritchard 10:52.33 2009
583 Race Record:8 Laps Sam West 11:10.00 2009
620 Race Record:6 Laps Andy Sheppard 8:20.21 2009
583 Race Record:6 Laps Sam West 8:25.73 2009
Assen
620 Lap Record Dominic Cann 2:01.965 2007
583 Lap Record Dominic Clegg 2:09.777 2007
         
620 Race Record:4 Laps Kyle Hinton 8:15.774 2007
583 Race Record:4 Laps Dominic Clegg 8:49.658 2007
Brands Hatch (Indy)
620 Lap Record Matt Lawson 0:54.497 2012
675 Lap Record Andy Roberts 0.57.95 2005
583 Lap Record Chris Clarke 0:55.999 2012
         
620 Race Record:18 Laps Neil Appleby 17:02.608 2011
583 Race Record:18 Laps Ron Jolley 17:55.225 2011
         
620 Race Record:15 Laps Matt Lawson 13:56.043 2012
583 Race Record:15 Laps Chris Clarke 14:20.438 2012
         
620 Race Record:12 Laps Mark Lister 11:20.976 2010
583 Race Record:12 Laps Matt Lawson 12:03.491 2010
         
620 Race Record:11 Laps M Lawson 11:20.360 2012
583 Race Record:11 Laps Chris Clarke 10:40.470 2012
         
620 Race Record:10 Laps Kyle Hinton 9:28.57 2007
583 Race Record:10 Laps Dominic Clegg 10.00.95 2008
         
620 Race Record:8 Laps Geoff Spencer 7:34.01 2005
675 Race Record:8 Laps Andy Roberts 8:00.76 2005
583 Race Record:8 Laps D Jenkins 7:57.967 2012
Cadwell Park (Full)
620 Lap Record Neil Appleby 1:44.321 2011
675 Lap Record Phil Huntley 1:52.28 2005
583 Lap Record Dominic Clegg 1:49.71 2009
         
620 Race Record:12 Laps Neil Appleby 21:14.240 2011
583 Race Record:12 Laps Paul Bradbury 22:25.766 2011
         
620 Race Record:8 Laps Tim Pritchard 14:27.68 2009
583 Race Record:8 Laps Andy Griffiths 15:23.20 2005
         
620 Race Record:6 Laps Neil Appleby 10:41.703 2011
675 Race Record:6 Laps Phil Huntley 11:31.39 2005
583 Race Record:6 Laps Paul Bradbury 11:18.862 2011
         
583 Race Record:5 Laps Andy Challis 9:30.74 2007
Cadwell Park (Woodlands)
620 Lap Record Geoff Spencer 0:47.81 2005
675 Lap Record Dominic Cann 0:50.88 2005
583 Lap Record Andy Johnson 0.50.20 2005
         
620 Race Record:12 Laps Geoff Spencer 9:58.27 2005
675 Race Record:12 Laps Phil Huntley 10:35.25 2005
583 Race Record:12 Laps Andy Johnson 10:16.93 2005
Castle Combe
620 Lap Record Kyle Hinton 1:21.67 2007
675 Lap Record Mark Hill 1:25.63 2005
583 Lap Record Harriet Ridley 1:25.40 2009
         
620 Race Record:10 Laps Matt Lawson 13:52:032 2011
583 Race Record:10 Laps Ron Jolley 14:39.991 2011
         
620 Race Record:8 Laps Neil Appleby 11:20:62 2010
675 Race Record:8 Laps Phil Huntley 11:41.70 2005
583 Race Record:8 Laps Phil Huntley 11:53.05 2006
         
620 Race Record:7 Laps Kyle Hinton 9:40.20 2007
583 Race Record:7 Laps Andy Sheppard 10:21.76 2007
Donington Park (GP)
620 Lap Record Tim Pritchard 1:54.10 2009
583 Lap Record Sam West 1:58.77 2009
         
620 Race Record:10 Laps Tim Pritchard 19:22.10 2009
583 Race Record:10 Laps Dominic Clegg 20:10.66 2009
620 Race Record:8 Laps Andy Sheppard 15:55.05 2009
583 Race Record:8 Laps Harriet Ridley 16:17.34 2009
Donington Park (National)
620 Lap Record Kyle Hinton 1:23.01 2007
675 Lap Record Ali Bisson 1:43.59 2005
583 Lap Record Tony Perrin 1:26.71 2008
         
620 Race Record:19 Laps Ian Cobby 26:56.98 2008
583 Race Record:17 Laps Tony Perrin 28:32.97 2008
         
620 Race Record:12 Laps Kyle Hinton 16:48.39 2007
583 Race Record:12 Laps Andy Sheppard 17:44.56 2007
         
620 Race Record:6 Laps Geoff Spencer 10:19.61 2005
675 Race Record:6 Laps Ali Bisson 10:38.80 2005
583 Race Record:6 Laps Kevin Ellis 11:20.03 2005
Mallory Park
620 Lap Record Neil Appleby 59.369 2011
583 Lap Record Sam West 1:02.67 2009
         
620 Race Record:15 Laps Neil Appleby 15:08.113 2011
583 Race Record:15 Laps Phil Wilcock 15:59.661 2011
         
620 Race Record:10 Laps Kyle Hinton 10:09.95 2007
583 Race Record:10 Laps Andy Sheppard 10:48.15 2007
         
620 Race Record:8 Laps Ian Cobby 8:20.83 2007
583 Race Record:8 Laps Matt Traynar 8:36.98 2008
583 Race Record:6 Laps Dominic Clegg 6:27.76 2008
Oulton Park
620 Lap Record Ian Cobby 1:57.84 2008
583 Lap Record Sam West 2:02.44 2009
583 Lap Record by a Guest Ian Cobby 2:02.99 2007
         
620 Race Record:7 Laps Kyle Hinton 14:00.01 2007
583 Race Record:7 Laps Dominic Clegg 12:43.98 2007
         
620 Race Record:6 Laps Ian Cobby 11:56.24 2008
583 Race Record:6 Laps Matt Traynar 12:36.73 2008
         
583 Race Record:4 Laps Dominic Clegg 8:35.87 2007
Pembrey
620 Lap Record Andy Challis 1:06.06 2011
583 Lap Record Hugh Simpson 1:08.91 2011
         
620 Race Record:15 Laps Neil Applepy 16:49.38 2011
583 Race Record:15 Laps Hugh Simpson 17:39.54 2011
 
620 Race Record:10 Laps Mark Lister 11:30.54 2010
583 Race Record:10 Laps Neal Catling 12:04.56 2010
 
620 Race Record:8 Laps Mike Dawson 9:02.87 2008
583 Race Record:8 Laps Matt Traynar 9:31.85 2008
         
620 Race Record:7 Laps Mark Lister 8:02.52 2010
583 Race Record:7 Laps Neil Catling 8:27.32 2010
Silverstone (National)
620 Lap Record Tom Parkes 1:08.94 2010
583 Lap Record Matt Lawson 1:12.27 2010
         
620 Race Record:10 Laps Tim Pritchard 11:44.61 2010
583 Race Record:10 Laps Matt Larrett 12:19.04 2010
         
620 Race Record:8 Laps Tim Pritchard 9:22.15 2010
583 Race Record:8 Laps Dean Russell 9:51.26 2010
Snetterton
620 Lap Record Ian Cobby 1:19.42 2008
675 Lap Record Ali Bisson 1:24.63 2005
675 Lap Record Paul Payne 1:24.63 2005
583 Lap Record Matt Traynar 1:23.44 2008
         
620 Race Record:10 Laps Mark Lister 13:42.16 2010
583 Race Record:10 Laps M Lawson 14:33.36 2010
Snetterton 300
620 Lap Record Andy Challis 2:16.882 2011
583 Lap Record Neal Catling 2:22.526 2011
         
620 Race Record:5 Laps Andy Challis 11:33.611 2011
583 Race Record:5 Laps Paul Bradbury 12:09.662 2011

Champions

2011 Neil Appleby 620cc
2011 Phil Wilcock 583cc
2010 Mark Lister 620cc
2010 Matt Larrett 583cc
2009 Andy Sheppard 620cc
2009 Sam West 583cc
2008 Ian Cobby 620cc
2008 Matt Traynar 583cc
2007 Kyle Hinton 620cc
2007 Andy Sheppard 583cc
2006 Dominic Cann 620cc
2006 Phil Huntley 583cc
2005 Geoff Spencer 620cc

Wins in a season - All Classes

11 Kyle Hinton (620cc) 2007
11 Andy Sheppard (620cc) 2009
10 Sam West (583cc) 2009
9 Phil Huntley (583cc) 2006
9 Ian Cobby (620cc) 2008
9 Neil Appleby (620cc) 2011
8 Geoff Spencer (620cc) 2005
8 Dominic Cann (620cc) 2006
5 Matt Traynar (583cc) 2008
8 Mark Lister (620cc) 2010
7 Tim Pritchard (620cc) 2009
6 Andy Sheppard (583cc) 2007
5 Dominic Clegg (583cc) 2007
5 Harriet Ridley (583cc) 2009
5 Matt Lawson (583cc) 2010
4 Dominic Clegg (583cc) 2008
4 Neil Appleby (620cc) 2010
4 Matt Lawson (620cc) 2011
4 Phil Wilcock (583cc) 2011
4 Ron Jolley (583cc) 2011
3 Clinton de Tarnowsky (620cc) 2005
3 Dominic Clegg (583cc) 2009
3 Matt Larrett (583cc) 2010
3 Andy Challis (620cc) 2011
3 Paul Bradbury (583cc) 2011
3 James Stevenson (583cc) 2012
2 Andrew Johnson (620cc) 2006
2 Geoff Spencer (620cc) 2006
2 Geoff Spencer (620cc) 2007
2 Mike Dawson (620cc) 2008
2 Tim Pritchard (620cc) 2010
2 Neal Catling (583cc) 2010
2 Ron Jolley (583cc) 2010
2 Hugh Simpson (583cc) 2011
1 Chris Wood (583cc) 2006
1 Paul Payne (583cc) 2006
1 Andy Challis (583cc) 2007
1 Tony Perrin (583cc) 2008
1 Richard Fogg (620cc) 2008
1 Andy Sheppard (620cc) 2008
1 Dean Russell (583cc) 2010
1 Steven Klee (583cc) 2010
1 Alan Parkes (583cc) 2011
1 Dave Jenkins (583cc) 2011
1 Kevin Palmer (583cc) 2011
1 Neal Catling (583cc) 2011

Wins in a row

7 Kyle Hinton (620) 2007
6 Andy Sheppard (620) 2009
6 Sam West (583) 2009
6 Mark Lister (620) 2010
5 Phil Huntley (583) 2006
4 Dominic Cann (620) 2006
4 Kyle Hinton (620) 2007
4 Ian Cobby (620) 2008
4 Tim Pritchard (620) 2009
4 Neil Appleby (620) 2010
4 Matt Lawson (620) 2011
3 Geoff Spencer (620) 2005
3 Dominic Cann (620) 2006
3 Neil Appleby (620) 2011
3 Andy Sheppard (583) 2007
3 Matt Traynar (583) 2008
3 Harriet Ridley (583) 2009
3 James Stevenson (583) 2012
2 Clinton de Tarnowsky (620) 2005
2 Geoff Spencer (620) 2006
2 Andrew Johnson (620) 2006
2 Tim Pritchard (620) 2010
2 Andy Challis (620) 2011
2 Matt Lawson (583) 2010
2 Neal Catling (583) 2010
2 Ron Jolley (583) 2010
2 Phil Wilcock (583) 2011

References

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