For the second time in a month, the IZOD IndyCar Series is visiting a new track and as such, everybody’s trying to learn it.
This week brings Barber Motorsports Park, a natural terrain road course on the outskirts of Birmingham, Alabama. Known as a home for motorcycle and sports car racing, the winding track is set in a green, hilly environment and features plenty of elevation changes and a few blind corners. As a result, Sunday’s Indy Grand Prix of Alabama (3 p.m. ET, Versus) will definitely have a different flavor than the two street races in Brazil and St. Petersburg, Florida that opened the 2010 championship. Whether or not it’ll be a good flavor, we don’t know yet.
I’ve been looking through Versus’ virtual lap of Barber for a bit now and the first thing that popped into my head was how much “flow” the course has. While it still has its technical sections, the faster turns definitely stick out. I wonder, however, if there’s too much “flow” to it and not enough slower turns like the hairpin at Turns 5-6. A lot of the rhythm sections seem to go by relatively quickly, at least in the simulation. Hopefully, the hairpin won’t be the only main passing zone during the race.
In any case, you can watch the video below and get a feel for the IZOD IndyCar Series’ newest road course. Feel free to give your observations as well. Like I said, everybody’s trying to learn Barber — and that includes me, too!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=
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