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 meetings in the UK until 2010, after which races were run with Hottrax Motorsport.

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 only. The control tyre, which has changed to a Dunlop Sportsmax Qualifier for the 2011 season, is used in all weather conditions.

There are currently three capacity classes within the championship;

1. Class A - 618cc fuel injection based machines
2. Class B - 583cc carburettor based machines
3. Class C - max 997cc based machines

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

History

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

In 2006 the series moved to two machine classes (Class A and B) and almost 50 riders. The circuit line-up was also 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 riding on one of the nicest built bikes on the grid, for Charles Dudley's OD2 team, was crowned 620cc Champion after winning on 8 occasions. The two riders went head-to-head in a much anticipated season finale at the Cadwell Park circuit in Lincolnshire. Huntley, impressed on his 620cc debut, qualifying on Pole Position. Cann eventually won both races and went on to score 26 consecutive podium finishes over 3 seasons.

2007 Class A champion was Kyle Hinton, who smashed virtually all records during his title winning season 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.

The 2008 season saw the Desmodue series given a large stamp of approval by the participation of multiple 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 having won 9 races and taken 12 podiums. The ex BSB rider didn’t have things all his own way though and was offered stern resistance on more than one occasion 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 appallingly wet conditions at Brands Hatch. Mike almost ran Ian Cobby to the wire except for some bad luck and a bike blow up. He eventually came 2nd in the championship. 2007 B class champion, Andy Sheppard also won his first A class race at the Cadwell Park finale, giving an indication of his intentions for the next season. 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 in the process. 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 started where it had left off, with Andy Sheppard winning first time out at Donington Park. Tim Pritchard, starting 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 throughout the year. Pritchard suffered a slight dip in form at the midpoint of the season, 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 being of such ferocity that 80% of the crowd fainted. Nevertheless, 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 operation to rectify it as soon as possible. Andy bravely/stupidly 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. Due to the fact that he was then medically prohibited from entering anymore races, his number 65 was retired from the series as a mark of respect for this great double champion. Andy and Tim were the only riders to win races in 2009, taking 11 and 7 wins 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 the feisty Harriet Ridley sneak the championship win. Fortunately for Sam though, his misfortune often came in none championship races and he ended the season as champion with 10 wins. Harriet took runner up spot with 5 wins and held the consolation prize of “finest booty ever to grace a DD bike”

2010 was the fifth year of the series, and Tim Pritchard was aiming to go one better than 2009 and win the championship. Unfortunately, he didn’t reckon on the “Alien” talents of 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 having crashed in qualifying and set a new lap record, beating Geoff Spencer’s seemingly unbeatable 2005 time. Tim won the next 2 races at Silverstone but couldn’t match Lister’s pace at Mallory Park where he won both races easily. It was ominously looking like a repeat of Mallory at Snetterton, but Tim Pritchard was injured in a nasty start line smash during the second none championship race at Snetterton, allowing Mark an easy yet inevitable cruise to the title as Tim missed the next 3 rounds. Nobody was under any illusions, however, that the series hadn’t seen such raw pace since Ian Cobby entered the series in 2008 and that Mark would have been nigh on impossible to beat. Tim regained some pride at the end of the season though, winning his first race back from injury against the onslaught of the rapidly improving Neil Appleby whose awesome progress over the season deservedly netted him the runner up spot in the championship. The 583 title was a hugely entertaining scrap between several riders. The ones that mattered in the end though, were the self styled Matt “Awesome” Lawson, and Matt Larrett. Larrett took the title in a nail biting and foul weathered showdown at Cadwell Park. They took 3 and 5 wins each, respectively.

For 2011 the 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 in the series history. A tight-run finale at Oulton Park saw Class B rider Philip Wilcock take two wins and the championship by just four points from Ron Jolley, who fell from a 20 second lead in the final race. Class A was won by Neil Appleby with a comfortable lead of 36 points over veteran Andy Challis.

The 2012 championship sees the introductions of a new Class C category, which aims to be a step-up for those wanting to move on to racing larger capacity bikes. The ethos remains that bikes should be Ducati with rules to keep costs within reason, but maintain a level playing field. The motorcycle must be based on 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 used are allowed limited modifications, only allowed for safety reasons or to allow older generations of the Desmo family of motorcycles 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

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:

1: Dominic Clegg 12 Wins. 30 Podiums

2: Sam West 10 Wins. 14 Podiums

3: Phil Huntley 9 Wins. 12 Podiums

4: Andy Sheppard 8 Wins. 15 Podiums

5 Matt Traynar 8 Wins. 12 Podiums

6: Ron Jolley 6 Wins. 13 Podiums

7: Harriet Ridley 5 Wins. 21 Podiums

620 Championship:

1: Neil Appleby 13 Wins. 22 Podiums

2: Andy Sheppard 12 Wins. 20 Podiums

3: Geoff Spencer 12 Wins. 19 Podiums

4: Kyle Hinton 11 Wins. 19 Podiums

5: Tim Pritchard 9 Wins. 22 Podiums

6: Ian Cobby 9 Wins. 12 Podiums

7: Dominic Cann 8 Wins. 32 Podiums

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	Mark Lister	0:55.357	2010
675	Lap Record	Andy Roberts	0.57.95	2005
583	Lap Record	Dominic Clegg	0:57.87	2008
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:12 Laps	Mark Lister	11:20.976	2010
583	Race Record:12 Laps	Matt Lawson	12:03.491	2010
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	Kevin Ellis	8:11.01	2005

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

Donnington 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
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	-	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
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

External links

• Ducati Sporting Club
• DesmoDue Championship Tables
• Hottrax Motorsport Racing
• New Era Motorcycle Club
• Ducati UK
• Ducati Sporting Club DesmoDue Forum
• Ducatisti DesmoDue Forum