Miller Motorsports Park
MILLER MOTORSPORTS PARK
WEST COURSE EXOTICS
Located near the southern shore of Utah’s Great Salt Lake, Miller Motorsports Park is one of America’s premier roadrace venues. MMP offers multiple course configurations ranging from a lengthy, 4.5-mile Full Course to a 3.08-mile Perimeter Course or, when spit in half, comprises two distinctly different 2.2-mile circuits, aptly named the East Course and West Course.
Our first test day utilized the 16-turn East Course as we focused entirely on the Workhorse group of bikes shod with a workhorse sport tire in the Dunlop Sportmax Q2. The quickest bike on Day One earned a slot among the Exotics tested on the 13-turn West Course the following day so we could find out how a less-expensive bike would stack up against premium sporting machines. Grippy Dunlop Sportmax D211 GP-A DOT race radiais ensured no expense was being spared with the high rollers, and we also spooned a set on the winner of the Workhorse derby to give it equal footing.
A Racelogic Video VBOX GPS data logger was lashed onto the tail of each bike with test jockey Eric Bostrom in the saddle. The comparative speed and timing information gathered goes well beyond a basic lap time. Each course was divided into three splits. The first and last split of the East Course encompasses the faster section of the lap, while the middle split represents the more technical section of the circuit. Split 1 of the West course is a fast, flowing section, and the remaining splits include technical elements such as hard acceleration and braking zones.
EAST COURSE WORKHORSES
Average speed was sampled between corner entry and exit point in three places on each course. To the East, we found Agony and Ecstasy to be a classic, double-apex complex, taxing a bike’s ability to hold its line, while the triplet chicane “Attitudes” put emphasis on agility. On the West side, grip and high-speed stability are rewarded through Workout bend, while Black Rock Hairpin begs for a hard-braking entry, then squaring the middle with a stand-and-squirt exit on the meat of the tire.
The first two Peak Speed points represent the fastest parts of both tracks, while the third speed measurement was chosen to illustrate grip and ability to drive while exiting a medium-speed corner. —Don Canet
WORKHORSES
BMW
S1000RR
$16,490
HONDA
CBR1000RR
$13,800
KAWASAKI
ZX-10R
$13,999
SUZUKI
GSX-R1000
$13,799
YAMAHA
YZF-R1
$14,190
EXOTICS
APRILIA RSV4
FACTORY APRC
$22,499
DUCATI 1199
PANIGALE S
$23,995
EBR
1190RS
$43,999
MV AGUSTA
F4 RR
$24,998
