Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

After testing at the recently-repaved Birmingham, Alabama racetrack in late-April, three AMA factory teams are reporting that the latest racing surface at Barber Motorsports Park is very similar to the old surface.

“We heard about the new pavement and wanted to get on it, but there’s no major differences from last year,” said Yoshimura Suzuki Team Manager Don Sakakura, of the newest surface at Barber. “The lap times were a little slower than last year, but they were pretty close.”

“It’s not much different than last year. It’s a little harder on the front, but that’s just the nature of the track and it being new pavement. Our lap times were about the same as last year,” said Mat Mladin’s Crew Chief Peter Doyle.

“It’s really sharp pavement right now, the corners are really long and the front tires get worked. It’s the same for everyone,” said Ben Spies’ Crew Chief Tom Houseworth.

“We had some (front tire) abrasion issues,” said Miguel Duhamel’s Crew Chief Al Ludington. “But Miguel did his fastest lap on a (front) tire that had 21 laps on it, and the race distance is only 17. It’s fine as long as you don’t mind your tire looking a little fuzzy on the right side.”

“We tested there to see the new pavement, because we heard some horror stories, lap times one-to-two seconds off last year’s times, but the times weren’t that much different,” said Yamaha Team Manager Tom Halverson. “Jason (DiSalvo) went quicker than Damon’s (Buckmaster) 600cc (Supersport) pole time from last year.”

Halverson said his team also tested new Dunlop rear slicks designed to perform more like Dunlop’s D208 DOT-labeled tire under acceleration out of corners.

While DiSalvo bettered last year’s Supersport times, most of the Superbike men were slightly off last year’s pace but with amazingly-equal lap times.

Unofficially, Mladin and Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke led the way with high-1:25s. Duhamel, Ben Bostrom and Aaron Yates were only a few tenths of a second slower.

The biggest news from the test was that Yates walked away from a high-speed crash that totaled a Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike.

“There wasn’t much left that was salvageable,” said Sakakura. “Fortunately, he didn’t hurt himself. He just lost the front in a third- or fourth-gear corner. I think it was turn nine.”

Yates said he regretted the crash because the bike he dropped ” was feeling really good.”