Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128227
arber Motorsports Park to the edge of the track, and we're still on our knee," he said. "And it's already ripply out there probably from the cars. It's going to be a place where you could possibly lose the front. "The other spot that I see is when you go over the tunnel, you're going up over a rise. And there's an Armco and the catch fence is awfully close. I mean I see that as a real potential place for people to be highsiding there. All of us are getting kind of crazy out of there, and when they bring privateers who've been riding all day on the same set of tires, it'll be worse." Mladin and Buckmaster both thought the first turn, a high-speed downhjJJ left, could use more run-off. "Mat (Mladin) probably made a pretty good point. Turn one was a bit of an issue, the run-off," Buckmaster said. The track is on its second surface with a third planned for October. The first time the track was paved, three pavers ran simultaneously, leaving a seam-free surface. But there were problems, including ripples in turn two and a dip where the paving machines settled. Instead of repairing those two sections, track owner George Barber ordered a complete repave at a significant cost to himself, but it backfired. The second time only one paving machine was used, and the seams are everywhere and easily damaged, especially by Superbikes which put down their power in a contact patch relatively small com- Tommy Hayden (22) spent the majority of the Barber Test aboard his factory Kawasaki 636 U.S. Superstock machine, while brother Roger Lee Hayden (95) tested both his Supersport and Formula Xtreme bikes. pared to that of a car tire, which spreads out the power over more, and wider, tires. Though the seams have been patched, the riders still saw them as a potential liability. The asphalt used for the second paving was a different standard from the first, leading to more problems. "I heard this surface was real nice, but essentially every corner's got all these new patches, so I'm not sure what's going on there," Mladin said. "I just expected a little bit different when it comes to the surface." Erion Honda's Alex Gobert said the seams "seem pretty grippy, but definitely as time goes on they're Superbike: 1. Mat Mladin (Suz) 1:25.054 2. Aaron Yates (Suz) 1:25.749 3. Ben Bostrom (Hon) 1:25.942 4. Giovanni Busse; (Duc) 1:26.913 5. Kurtis Roberts (Hon) 1:26.948 6. Mi9uel DuHamel (Hon) 1:27.862 Supersport: 1. Jamie Hacking (Yam) 1:28.450 2. Damon Buckmaster (Yam) 1:28.535 3. Jason DiSalvo (Yam) 1:28.931 4. Alex Gobert (Hon) 1:29.748 5. Aaron Gobert (Yam) 1:29.839 6. Tommy Hayden (Kaw) 1:29.860 7. Tony Meiring (Kaw) 1:29.914 8. Jake Zemke (Hon) J :30.269 9. Ben Spies (Suz) 1:30.771 10. Roger Lee Hayden (Hon) 1:30.807 11. Miguel DuHamel (Hon) 1:30.857 Formula Xtreme: 1. Ben Spies (Suz) 1:26.008 2. Damon Buckmaster (Yam) 1:26.192 3. Jake Zemke (Hon) 1:26.774 4. Jamie Hacking (Yam) 1:26.885 5. Roger Lee Hayden (Han) 1:27.540 6. Aaron Gobert (Yam) 1:29.250 Superstock: 1. Tommy Hayden (Kaw) 1:28.360