From Trackpedia
Turn 1
Turn 1 is a fast, 90-degree left hand turn with mild camber and a partially blind exit. It's taken fast, braking down to about 85 mph and immediately getting back on the gas and trying to exit the turn at about 95 mph (my speed references are for an approximately 1:30 lap). The best point for the turn's apex is generally agreed to be where the row of reflectors begins on the inside of the turn. It's a turn that can benefit from slightly early turn in, although you should be careful with it. The exit can be a little scary, since it's not visible until late into the turn. Some drivers think that entering about a car's width in from track right is faster than being fully right, since the track surface offers slightly better grip, there.
Turn 2
Turn 2 is a slightly-more-than-180-degree right-hand sweeper that is taken at about 95 mph. With a light or low-hp car, there's no need to brake for the enterance to turn 2; you simply let up on the gas to settle the front and then turn in early, letting the entrance to the sweeper eat up any excess speed. From that point, people either treat it as a double-apex, with the first apex very early and the second very late. It doesn't make sense to drift up above the midway point of the track, since the surface gets marbly up there. If you fight to hold the car low in the second half of the turn, you'll have an ugly exit. It's better to use the throttle to steer, drifting up to about mid-track 2/3 of the way through the turn and then using the gas to push back in to hit the very late apex, which can be identified by an orange circle on the track that's also in the middle of a piece of replacement pavement. The earlier you are on the throttle coming out of two, the better you'll do as you drift right toward the braking zone for turn 3.
Turn 3
When you're just learning Willow Springs, turn 3 can be particularly dangerous. It's a 90-degree left with the hardest braking zone of any turn at the track. You drop to about 65-70 mph, downshifting one gear, and turning in very late. The exit is tricky, since the turn goes up hill and the somewhat-favorable camber suddenly shifts and makes the car very light on the uphill exit. You want to minimize your drift to the right once the car gets settled back down.
It doesn't pay to try and be heroic with turn 3, since the lap time dividend for taking it at the limit is pretty negligible. It's better to sacrifice some of 3 in order to better navigate turn 4. The dangerous part of turn 3 is that there is a wall to the left and a ditch to the right as you exit. You want to avoid going off track here, since you're likely to damage your car exiting on either side.
Turn 4
Turn 4 is a right hand sweeper that's tighter and slower than any other part of the track. There are a lot of different opinions on how to take this turn. Depending on your exit from 3, you might be coming into turn 4 all the way to the right, or mid track. I like to head straight up toward the "B" in the word "Baclony." I go all the way to the top (left edge) of the track, and rotate the car so that I'm parallel to the track at the first of the two large spray-paint marks on the left edge, there. At the second spray-paint mark, I turn in so that I can hit the apex right by the corner worker's station to the right. Your speed should be in the 65-70 neighborhood through most of the turn, possibly dropping down closer to 55-60 as you do a kind of snap rotation at the top of the hill. I like to on full throttle from the exit of the rotation, as far before the apex as possible. Taken correctly, your car should be thrown all the way to the left side of the track as you exit, and you should deliberately linger for a beat before making your turn in in for turn 5. The downhill straight between the exit of turn 4 and the entrance to 5 is a good place to cut your laptimes if you set it up right.
Turn 5
Turn 5 is a left hand turn with a dowhnill entrance and an uphill exit. You'll brake down to about 65 mph, without downshifting. It's important to wait long enough before turning in to the right from your exit from turn 4. If you do it right, you'll be roughly parallel to the rumble strip on your right. You want to do your braking early, parallel (and pretty much beginning and ending) with the candy stripe, and turn in early. There's a lot of very slippery track to the right, and the temptation is to come in too hot and waste a lot of time fighting for control of the car as it slides out of turn 5. It's better to brake hard and early, and then be full on the throttle by the late side apex or earlier, if possible. You want to exit 8 at about 80 mph, flat on the gas, positioning to mid-track to set yourself up for turn 6.
Turn 5 is probably the most important turn at Willow Springs, since the speed you get out of it will determine how quickly you can get to the braking zone for turn 9. In most cars, you can be flat on the throttle until the braking point for turn 9.
Turn 6
Turn 6 is a slight right-hand turn that is up-hill on the entrance, and finishes as the hill crests and the road drops away underneath you. It is a 90-95 mph turn. You want to apex on the right, since the exit will throw you to the left, and the drop-off will limit your ability to control the car as you do so. The key is to not try to change direction until the car has re-settled from its drop.
Turn 7
Turn 7 is a slight kink. You upshift to your top gear as you go through it, positioning the car to the left for the entrance to turn 8.
Turn 8
Turn 8 is a very fast right sweeper. You might need to breathe up on the gas as you enter it, depending on your horsepower. Most cars will take it flat, entering late on the left and throwing the car to the right in as smooth a fashion as possible. You want to ride the right inside edge all the way to the late apex, which is right before the straight between turns 8 and 9. You should exit turn 8 at 130-135 mph. It's a lot of fun.
Turn 9
Turn 9 is a very fast turn, and it's one that becomes more dangerous as you get comfortable with Willow Springs. It's a decreasing-radius right. You enter it with moderate braking and (usually) a downshift. Some people brake early for it; some left-foot brake later. You enter 9 from about mid-track, unless you carried enough speed through 8 to throw you all the way to the left edge of the track. It's dangerous to try and ride the left edge, since it's hard to see the corner's outside edge as you drive through it, and it's easy to put wheels off the left side. It's important to turn in late for 9. There is a white water tower in the distance that you can use as a landmark. You find the water tower after your downshift, and head towards it for about a full second longer than seems natural. Then, when you can see the inside apex (it's almost always got a cone), you turn in and get as close to the apex point as possible. If you do it right, there's a dip in the pavement that kind of sucks you in, allowing you to carry more speed through the corner. Once you're comfortable with turn 9, you can drive it at 95-100 mph. If you do it right, you'll be thrown out almost all the way to the left edge of the track (you'll have to turn right to avoid the pit entrance).
External links
