I HATE BARBER BETWEEN TURNS 2 AND 3

In 3 of the last 5 years I've crashed between turns 2 and 3 at Barber. Not at the WERA GNFs. Only at AHRMA races. Could be that AHRMA is bad juju. I haven't crashed anywhere else there. Had some moments but never down anywhere else since the track opened. And I've gone there every year; sometimes twice a year.
Fucking 2-3. I know it's downhillish. Slightly off camber. But WTF? 3 times in 5 years totally sucks. Is there no end to the School of Hard Knocks? So here it is:
Crash #1. Lap #1. Racing my Super Single Yamaha 450. Singles 2 class. Same wave as the Battle of the Twins 3 class. Right behind them. Slot through turn 1 and I find myself ripping by a bunch of slow twins. I'm on the outside through 2. I'm thinking I just found the fast escalator as I'm moving right by a bunch of bikes. But I'm too far out and in the marbles - dirty track. Lose the front end and go tumbling. I dislocated 3 fingers on my left hand and I'm left handed. So I rip off the glove and yank 2 fingers back in place. But the middle finger won't go back in. I couldn't find anyone to do it at the track so I had to drive all the way back to Michigan to get a hand specialist to do it right. By the way, while at a WERA event at Nelson Ledges, my crewman and I were approached by a racer who dislocated his shoulder. He said that the ambulance people wouldn't help reset it so he asked if we would help. On his instructions, we laid him on his back and I held his shoulder tight while my burly mate heaved on the shoulder. After about 3 or 4 tries it popped back in. Which was fine because I was cringing from his waling and about to call it quits. Anyway, fuck that 2-3 turn.
Crash #2. I was racing my Seeley 7R in the 350 GP class. And had a good go of it on Saturday. And was in the hunt the whole race for a podium but ended up 4th. So that night I adjusted the valves and tidied up the bike in anticipation of a good race. Sunday morning, the 2nd race of the day maybe, and I'm very pumped up to get in the thick of it. So, ON THE OUT LAP, I roll out past a couple of slower riders and between 2 and 3 suddenly feel both ends go. Lowside. Both the bike and I slide off the track and spend a very long and miserable time watching the race. Okay, already, I got it. Cold track, cold tires, early morning dew perhaps, overly enthusiastic rider. But after 30 some years of racing how could I drop the bike on the out fucking lap?
Crash #3. Super Single Class 2. Same chassis but a KTM 450 SX-F motor. I botch the start badly. Last off the line. Settle in for a slog back to the front boys. Work my way up to 3rd with the leaders within my grasp. Midway through the race. Turn 2. All good. Heading to turn 3. Everything feeling fine. On my game. The front end starts washing out. I tried to push it back up with one knee but it was fucking over.
All of this comes to mind as I"m trying to make up for a winter of neglect by repairing the crash damage with less than 2 weeks before my first race at Roebling. I work better when I'm bitter and full of hate. Thinking about how I never learn. None the less, hope springs eternal..........

 

Question about crash #3
"Same chassis but with a KTM 450 motor"
You have a Seeley 7r chassis with a KTM 450 motor?
Pics?

 

Had the same thing happen at last year's GNF. Tried to go around the outside and lowsided. A wiser and much older racer suggested my crash was due to straying too far off the line and getting into dust, dirt and marbles. I can't come up with another explanation.

 

Grady,. Go to bed earlier. You're on the innerwebs way too late.
And bj, you're on way too early.
Grady, 2 different bikes. A Seeley 7R and a Framecrafters 450; first with a Yami then with a KTM. The meaning? I can crash anything anytime.
Bj, yes to those marbles offline. They got me in crash #1 too.

 

I was no where near you when those crashes happened.

 

Your Honor, please note for the record that the defendant is in full denial as to the facts and his long standing record of full involvement and culpability with the above stated incidents. I move that his comments be stricken from the record and that he be arrested immediately with the highly treasonous offense of perjury in the first degree (and 2nd and 3rd degree too).

 

When in Crash #2 above I rounded the corner to see you sitting in the gravel, my first thought was, Stu it's only the warm-up lap, what the hell are you doing. My second thought was, I can use this for years

 

Like an arsonist returning to the scene of the crime, Robin172 admits to being at turn 2-3 at the time of my crash. This provides new possible insights into the inexplicable reasons for my crash.

 

Well.. He is English and they put some wild devices on James Bond cars to make people crash around him, maybe Sir Robin has the same technology on his Ducati...

 

when you say between two and three are you talking about the bottom of the dip before you start heading up to 3?

I can see how you could crash at the top of hill but having a hard time visualizing it at the dip....

 

Exactly. And with respect to his English heritage and his penchant for on track incidents, I've knighted Robin172 as Sir Bumpalot.

 

Doug and Hate are "warm-up-lap-crash-buddies".

 

Love that section of the track. WFO out of T2 all the way over the crest.

 

Yup... But mine happen in a hail storm at the ice bowl ....

 

Stu, I think you were already on the deck before I left the pit lane.

 

Sir Bumpalot, don't let the truth get in the way of a good accusation

 

You're a better man than me. Off camber. Downhill.

 

Obviously, he managed to stay on.

 

Ouch.
You do 8000 laps around Barber and one little crash and next thing you know you'll always be called a crasher.
And you know, you can be the greatest motorcycle racer in the world, but suck one cock and you know what they call you for the rest of your life........

 

At least I prevented you from crashing again on the Seeley by blowing it up on the starter. Whatever I can do to help.......