
Article posted: Friday, November 18, 2016
Review of a 959 Track bike at Barber Motorsports Park
The rider/writer of this article is a weekend warrior, winning 6-10
track day events a year and has done so for the past 4-5 years.
This is only his(my) second time at Barber and still has much to
learn about the track and riding in general. He has not raced as
of this writing and is not sponsored by any other entity beyond
the goodwill of a very understanding wife. He (I) am also an
avid street rider enjoying over 10,000 miles this past year on a
Multi-Strada and StreetFighter and has more to learn about
touring too. Having said all that, put me on two wheels and I
am in my element - experiencing total peace and clarity. Prior
to the 959 I have had an 848 and a SF1098 as my track
weapon of choice.
The Track - Barber
Barber is one of those special gifts in America that showcase all
that is good and right in the world. I liken the facility to being
the Pinehurst or Augusta National of Motorsports. Everything is
so well cared for and the people are amongst the most
welcoming you will find. Also sidebar - the friendships you
develop over the years at track days and within the
motorcycling community are some of the tightest bonds you will
have outside of family - enjoy them and take the time to have
them.
Barber’s 15-turn, 2.38 mile track does not disappoint. You enter
the track and after the blend line immediately go into a long
sweeping right hand turn 2 that initially climbs a hill and
descends toward the apex (turn 3) where it bottoms out and
immediately starts a hill climb toward a kink labeled turn 4. This
elevation shift at lean does to your stomach what mortals
experience on a roller coaster. As you follow riders up the hill
toward turn 4 kink - they begin to disappear in the distance
before you too - crest the hill in a right hand lean to make the
kink and head down the next straight before grabbing a whole
lot of brake for the slowest corner. Turn 5a,b and c is known as
Charlotte’s Web and can be seen as the turn that is watched
over by a giant steel spider sculpture. Roll on the gas and stay
middle track through turn 6 kink heading to turns 7-8 known as
the Museum Turn. (The first time I was told it was named
Museum turn I asked why. The coach stared at me and said,
“didn’t you see the big, giant museum on your left going through
that section housing a collection of over 1,500 motorcycles and
Lotus race cars?” Admittedly I did not…) Anyway, go through
it, give it the beans, upshift, upshift go through the Chicane that
is turns 9 and 10 - gas the back straight, more rollercoaster
experience ahead for turns 11, 12, 13, 14 while flicking it hard
left through 15 opening up the gas for the 1595’ front straight.
Don’t brake too early into 1, it’s faster than you think and do it
all over again!!
The Bike - 959 Panigale
First off - hello quick shifter!! Where have you been my whole
life? More about that later but dang. The 959 is an incredible
balance of flickable steering and Ducati twin power! The first
thing I had to retrain my brain for was how easy and quick it
dove into a turn. I did not need to muscle this bike at all which
meant I could brake later than ever before and the bike would
hold the line I put it on without a fight. This came in handy as I
screamed down the front straight almost running over a liter
bike who broke early and hard. In this instance, I had to take
turn 1 from the middle of the track. (something I had not done
before) and the Panigale dove in and held the line faster and
with more stability than I ever experienced before. In fact it did
not push me to the exit rumble strips which means I can give it
more gas next year - it was awesome!!
The turn in and the power worked in tandem with me which
translated to a power delivery system where we hit the power
band coming out of 15 and was able to motor past guys on the
front straight and still out braking them into turn 1.
The GP Shift Quick Shifter also allowed me some freedom I
have not experienced before. The electronics that keep the
bike stable, allowing me to pop up gears with extreme
smoothness meant I could go up through the gears right before
I crested the hill at kink 4 and I did not run out of acceleration
from Museum turn going from 2nd to 3rd to fourth gear heading
into the chicane of 9 and 10 keeping the throttle open heading
down the 1251’ back straight.
Also, speaking of electronics, the traction control set at level 4
did it’s job and prevented what could have been a high side for
me at the bottom of turn 2 and 3 as I got on the gas a little too
aggressively. The TC is not overbearing and other than that
instance where the back wheel broke very loose, I did not notice
it watching over me.
All in all - I am very happy with how this bike turned out and I
can’t wait for the 2017 track season to begin!! Thanks to Bill,
Matt, Tracy and the team at Indy Ducati for helping me put
together the weapon for the track I always wanted.
Spending extra time and effort on mounting the armor bodies
paid off. Very solid body work and the bored out front scoops
look a lot meaner than standard!!!
Greg McDaniel