TRACK DAZE
A Lap of Barber Motorsports Park
Author: Text and most photos, Jim Richardson - Action photos by http://www.us129photos.com/
A Theme Park for Motorcyclists
 Riders who have been to Barber Motorsports Park often describe it as Disney World for motorcyclists. Set into the rolling hills of northern Alabama, there is a distinct Theme Park quality to the place. For starters, consider Barber’s state-of-the-art pit, press and rider facilities that even include showers you can use without feeling as if you need to delouse afterward. There are also immaculately manicured landscaping, (the gravel pits in the runoff areas look more like sand traps at Pebble Beach than crash protection at a racetrack) flowers, topiary, sculpture and a small army of discretely uniformed staff on patrol, picking up trash and taking care to ensure the pristine condition of the grounds. The racetrack and facilities are so incredible that you hardly have time to notice or even care that the world’s most incredible motorcycle museum blends subtly into the mix.
 The heart of this motorcycle theme park is a deceptively wicked roller-coaster ride, featuring 2.3 miles of twisting track with 80 feet of elevation change and technical challenges which include blind corners and the infamous Museum Turn that bit Ben Spies in this year's AMA Superbike race. The spacious, 45-foot wide track surface is grippy from edge to edge. While there is an ideal race line, taking an alternate route while passing is possible almost anywhere on the circuit.
Barber isn't an exceptionally fast track, at least not according to your speedometer. Your brain, on the other hand, will be in velocity overload the entire time. Like any good roller coaster, Barber makes the most of its curves and elevation changes to keep you convinced that your demise lurks just around the next corner or over the next crest. The flat main straight is a little over 1500 feet. You’ll need to brake hard and relatively early for the downhill left that is Turn One or risk unloading the suspension and losing traction. This is where the roller coaster begins. Pushing hard on the bars, you dive left through Turn One, sticking to the middle of the track to set up for the right-hand banked bowl that is Turns Two and Three. These two are really one big, sweeping right hander that rises, then dips again. Stay tight on the inside, knee on the berm, until the curve opens up, then drift to the outside as you come face-to-face with a short uphill climb. But beware - at the crest is a right-hand bend, Turn Four. Take it easy the first few laps and find a good turn-in point for this blind, tricky curve. You'd best be leaned over before the top of the hill or you'll wind up going straight off onto that perfectly manicured grass.
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