What’s so great about Barber? Indy drivers share why they love the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

You talk with IndyCar drivers even briefly and you soon spot a trend.

They love racing at Barber Motorsports Park.

The track is hosting the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama on April 24-26; it’s the fourth race of the Verizon IndyCar 2015 schedule, and drivers across the board say they’re excited to be back at the Alabama track.

Defending Indy 500 and Honda Indy Grand Prix champion Ryan Hunter-Reay counts Barber among his favorite tracks.

“There’s no track like Indianapolis, but I’d have to put Barber as another favorite,” Hunter-Reay said.

What makes the track so esteemed?

Hunter-Reay said that it’s a true driver’s track.

“It has a flow and rhythm to it,” he said. “There’s a lot of passing, changes. It’s what I like to a call a high risk-high reward track.”

Takuma Sato said the physicality of the track makes it one of the most difficult on the schedule, but that it’s also one of the most rewarding to race at.

“Barber is one of the toughest tracks physically in the calendar, simply because it’s a high-speed track, and has lots of long high-G corners compared to the other road courses.,” he said. “There are high-speed corners with good elevation changes. This is really a beautiful track and it’s dynamic so I enjoy going fast there.”

Jack Hawksworth describes Barber as “tricky.”

“It’s one of the trickiest circuits on the calendar for drivers and engineers,” Hawksworth said. ” Nailing the set-up is a big challenge, if you hit it right then there are not many more enjoyable circuits to drive, but if you are out to lunch, it’ll be a long afternoon.”

Two-time Barber winner Will Power agreed.

“It’s a high grip track with fast corners,” he said. “And with the new aero kits this season, it will go even faster.”

Indy racers test at Barber each year as the season approaches, and said that having a chance to “warm up” at Barber provides an advantage. With new aero kits (and accompanying changes in speed and physical demands on the driver) this year, those tests at Barber were more important than usual.

Charlie Kimball said that the opportunity to come to Barber early is increasingly important.

“Having the open test at Barber and having an understanding from those days, we have a better understanding of what we have to deal with,” Kimball said. “We had a really good open test this year, and we hope we can carry that into race weekend.”

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