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Barber Update: We attended another track weekend at Barber on October 2nd and 3rd with Sportbike Tracktime. What a great time! Our good friends Mike and Jamie went with us and we knew quite a few other people there as well. The weather was absolutely wonderful all weekend and the track riding was equally as good. We all improved on our lap times from the previous visit and just generally had a lot of fun. Lesley and Jamie even managed to squeeze in some shopping (was there ever any doubt?). We are already planning a return visit for next year, and this time we hope to include a very large group of friends from Tennessee and North Carlonia. We can't wait!
We had been eagerly anticipating our first trip to Barber Motorsports Park for several weeks. Much has been made about this new racetrack and facility in the motorcycle press in the last two years, and we couldn't wait to get a first hand look at it. We traveled down with our friend James in his spacious truck and towed our bikes inside of his brand new enclosed trailer. It was really nice not to have to drive for a change and to have the bikes and gear safely locked inside of the trailer. Our plans had been to arrive in Birmingham early on Friday evening, check into our hotel, and then go out to the track to drop off the trailer and claim a spot in the paddock. Right about the time we rolled into Birmingham, a very heavy thunderstorm was rolling in as well, so we decided to wait until Saturday morning before going to the track.
The weather for the whole weekend was iffy, but at least when we arrived on Saturday rain didn't appear imminent.We quickly set up our pit area, checked in at registration, and had our bikes inspected in the tech area by NESBA. After that it was off to the riders meeting where they go over the rules of the track, as well as NESBA's own rules governing their trackdays. Shortly after 9:00 am we had our first sessions on the track.
I have to say that the track wasn't exactly what I was expecting. I'm not sure what Lesley was anticipating, but I think James had somewhat prepared her with his stories on the drive down of how difficult it was. I knew it was going to be technical, but I was expecting a much faster track after all of the talk of a potential U.S. Moto GP happening there. In reality it is a lot turns (sixteen in fact) connected by short to medium-length straights, all packed into a 2.3 mile course, with several of the turns occuring right after rises or drops in elevation of the track, effectively making them blind turns. It is hugely fun, but in my opinion at least, not nearly fast enough for the 200 mph plus Moto GP bikes. The track surface, which I had been expecting to be very smooth, was bumpy in spots, giving me the sensation of having a wheel out of balance. These nit-picks aside, I give the track a 10 on the fun scale.
We were fortunate with the weather all weekend as it never did rain and the temperatures stayed mostly in the lower eighties at their warmest; not what I was expecting for August in Alabama. In fact, I think the weather was the major factor in the medium-sized turnout of riders for the weekend. I estimate that we had maybe 50 to 60 riders on Saturday, and 60 to 70 on Sunday. When you split those riders into three groups, it made for a sparsley populated track day which worked out great for us, but maybe not so well for NESBA.
We spent Saturday learning the track with John posting a best lap of 1:46 and Lesley with a 2:26. On Sunday we both improved on our riding and dropped our times to a 1:44 and a 2:12 respectively. After Lesley left a bit early to hit the Mall (those of you who know her aren't surprised) James took Lesley's lap timer out and turned in a 1:44 as well. I think we were all pleased with our times, but we fully realize this isn't very fast compared to some of the NESBA controll riders who were turning 1:33's.
Anyway, we had a great time. NESBA but on a great event as usual, and nobody in our group crashed, although there were a lot of red flag causing crashes by others.
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