Track Overview #1: Barber Motorsports Park

Let's go through a complete overview of the elevation changes at Barber Motorsports Park in the US. This analysis is based on one of the fastest laps in a Radical SP1 during practice at the Radico Championship. This presents a great opportunity to examine elevation changes in detail and compare how they look from the cockpit view, with a camera positioned at eye level to capture the small details of elevation changes and the adjustments made according to available grip.

After going through two or three race tracks, you'll begin to see patterns emerge. Once you understand these patterns, you'll never unsee elevation changes—they become imprinted in your brain.

Understanding Visibility and Grip Relationship

A fundamental principle to understand: If you cannot see the track, you are going on a crest. When the car is going down and the track is going down, before you go down you see the hill, and that blocks your view of what's happening after. Every time you notice you can't really see anything, that moment is where you're probably going to have the least grip.

Turn One: Aggressive Crest on Entry

The first corner features a braking zone on a very aggressive crest. Because of this elevation change:

• You cannot brake as hard as you normally would

• You cannot turn as hard either

• The whole turn-in phase occurs on a long crest

• Requires extremely light hands

• Requires much less braking than you would expect

• You must accept that you'll have probably half the grip you would have if the track was flat

From the approach, you can already see that the track goes downhill. As soon as you reach the brake markers, the track goes downhill, downhill, downhill, and then gets super steep. This creates a very aggressive crest, and many people spin because of it.

Mid-Corner Transition: From Crest to Compression

An interesting shift occurs mid-corner. Initially, you cannot see anything and the car is falling, falling, falling. Then you see a dramatic change: the track goes down and then up. Because the track is going up, you know that at that moment—when you can see a lot of the track—you're going to have much more grip.

The grip distribution through this corner:

• Turn-in phase: No grip, no grip, no grip (still going downhill)

• Compression zone (toward apex): Much more grip due to compression

• At compression: The car has a lot more rotation and load than expected

At the compression point, you can get back on power quite aggressively and really use the available grip. You can actually turn the steering wheel a little bit more to benefit from that extra grip. Notice the steering inputs: less steering and more caution during the low-grip phase (while still braking), then more aggressive steering when getting back on power in the high-grip compression zone.

Second Corner: Another Crest Pattern

As you approach the next corner, you're going up and can see well initially, but then the track disappears again. If the track disappears, you're probably going on a crest and will have less grip than expected.

Then you start turning in and can see a lot of the track—it's really going down, down, down, down. This means less grip in this area, and the car slides much more than expected.

Camber Adds Grip

Then something significant happens: you can see the track tilting to the direction of the corner. This is banking, also called camber. The second half of the corner will have much more grip, allowing early throttle application. The car will grip, grip, grip, grip because of both camber (track tilted favorably) and compression (track going up again).

There's a very subtle detail on the exit: the track falls a tiny bit again. It's very normal to lose grip in this area because in that very late phase of the corner, the car falls slightly to the left due to slight off-camber.

Pattern Summary for Opening Corners

In these two corners, we see:

• Downhill crest: no grip

• Apex: lots of grip due to compression going up

• Turn-in: falling, not necessarily aggressive downhill but becoming downhill

• A crest is the transition from uphill to downhill, or even from downhill to more downhill

• The change is what matters for grip

• Camber and compression zones: lots of grip

• Exit transition from banking to flat: less grip (transition from camber to non-camber feels like de-banking or a crest)

Note: Cars in NASCAR slide so much on that transition when they exit the corner because they fall into the flat part of the oval track.

Next Section: Compression Followed by Aggressive Crest

When you can't see anything ahead, there's a compression where the track goes up, up, up, up, but right after that you're going to fall—a very aggressive crest. The solution is to turn well before and then go a little bit straighter toward the exit, especially if your car doesn't have a lot of grip.

In the Radical with so much downforce (though quite slow on the straight line), this corner didn't require much thought. However, if you have a GT car, this corner becomes more difficult. You must take into account that you're going to rotate most on the first part, then go straighter on the part when the car gets on the crest—very important.

Hairpin: Downhill Braking Zone

Approaching the hairpin, you can't see anything—there's no grip. The braking is downhill, becoming even more downhill. It's a crest, a decompression, and you must brake less than you could.

Braking pressure comparison:

• This corner: 40 bar

• Some corners with available grip: up to 60 bar

Because the track is falling during braking, you must pay attention and brake much less.

Mid-Corner Camber Analysis

You can see the track normally and notice a little bit more camber. Visual cue: if the track appears laterally thicker in one area, that indicates camber in that section. The turn-in is still falling a little bit, though there's extra camber. The whole process is still downhill, downhill, downhill, downhill, downhill, with a little bit off-camber initially, then a little bit more camber, but still overall not very grippy because of the elevation changes.

On the exit, there's slight compression going up, but again the track gets super thin in your view. This happens because the track is transitioning from camber to less camber, less camber, less camber, less camber. That transition from camber to off-camber gives you less grip on the exit. Corrections are needed because the car is falling, falling, falling. You can see on the camera how the car is tilting to the outside. If the car is tilting one way but the corner goes the other way, you're definitely off-camber with much less grip than expected.

Less grip, less grip, less grip until hitting the curb, then it improves.

Straight Section with Mid-Corner Compression

A little bit up, then down. You can see from a distance that there's going to be a compression on the straight (not particularly useful since it's a straight). The braking is pretty flat and regular, but as soon as you start turning in—even before turn-in—you can't see the corner itself, indicating downhill with less grip. You must pay attention and control the car more carefully.

The pattern continues: downhill, downhill, downhill, downhill, downhill, downhill, with another big drop where you can't really see anything yet. Then hit the curb, brake, and there's a big loss of grip. You can see the track transforming itself into camber on the second half of the corner.

Grip distribution:

• First part: less grip

• Second part: more grip (must turn in initially, then more aggressively)

• Cambered section: lots of grip when getting back on power

• You can still see a lot of track and the strong camber, indicating very good grip all the way to the exit

Following Corners: Subtle Elevation Changes

The next corner is pretty flat with a slight downhill mid-corner at the apex. The track falls ever so slightly—you must take this into account. It's a very slight crest in the right-hander; you don't have to worry too much, but it is there.

Fast Cambered Corner: Maximum Grip Zone

Approaching another section where you can't see much ahead—indicating a crest and downhill. You start turning but still can't even see the first apex because the track is falling significantly: no grip, no grip, no grip, no grip, no grip, no grip.

Then you see a transition: after the no-grip section, it becomes a compression (track going up) combined with camber (track tilting toward the corner direction). This creates a very fast corner with high g-forces—reaching approximately 2.7 to 2.8 g's in the Radical, which is intense.

The grip progression:

• Initial: downhill, no grip, no grip, no grip

• Compression zone: lots of grip, lots of grip

• Peak grip point: maximum grip due to downforce, compression going up, and camber combined

Critical Exit Crest

Then comes a huge crest where you can't see the exit, meaning the track rises then falls down on the exit. You must pay very close attention here. The right line is to rotate as much as you can before the crest, because as soon as you pass the apex curb and start falling, the car slides to the outside. Many people crash here because they don't take into account the huge crest on the exit of this corner.

Strategy:

• Compression and camber: lots of grip, lots of grip, lots of grip

• Crest: no grip, feel super light, sliding all the way to the outside

• Must rotate as much as possible before the crest

• During the crest: you're sliding out, rotating much less, but still at the limit because there's no grip on that hill

Right-Hander with Good Visibility

Going down a little more, you can see a lot of the track, indicating lots of grip all the way through this right-hander. It's pretty much flat, flat, flat, flat with lots of grip, lots of grip.

Final Corners: Recognizing the Pattern

Then you can't see the track again—if you can't see the track, you have zero grip. You should see the pattern by now. It's relatively simple, but you must train your brain to pay attention to this along with braking references, racing lines, and car balance.

All these elements start compounding. Over time, they happen naturally without active thinking. You won't consciously think "I can't see the track therefore there's no grip"—you'll just feel it and do it automatically.

Braking into Low-Grip Zone

Under braking: falling, falling, falling, falling, falling, falling, falling. You can see the car having less grip than expected, especially transitioning from Turn 11 where there's infinite grip into a corner with no grip. There's a tendency to push too hard, resulting in a correction.

Mid-corner, there's a little bit of camber providing more grip on the inside. Then you can't see ahead again, meaning less grip on turn-in for the last corner. You can see the car falling, falling, falling, falling, falling, then getting onto the camber again on the inside. Planning the line accordingly, there's much more grip mid-corner, much more grip mid-corner, and then a little bit of camber on the exit.

That completes the lap at Barber Motorsports Park.