Did I need another track day after Buttonwillow the week before? Probably not. But, I had never been to Willow Springs (in Rosamond - near Palmdale/Lancaster), and I had been told by some very accopmlished racers that it was an extremely fast track and lots of fun. Plus, in about a month, SCCA wa going to be running a "Major" race there, and I didn't want to try to do a Major without having ever run the track.
Yep. I went.
And, when he heard I was going, Chris would not be left behind. It seems, he had always dreaned of running WS.
My intelligence was right. It is a VERY fast track. When you enter the back straight, you put the pedal to the floor. When you hit Turn 8, you are doing about 100mph (in a Miata), but you don't slow down for the turn. You keep the pedal on the floor all the way around the turn, and exit at about 107-108mph. Yeee HAAAA!! But, then you have to be careful of T9, which is a fishhook - that is... it tightens as you get deeper into it. Still need to work on that one. T2 is also interesting. It's a reverse fishhook - that is, it is tightest at the entry and gradually "unwinds", in addition to going uphill. So, find your best speed for entry, and then it's pedal to the floor until the exit.
Some forum I read said that a respectable time was 1:50 and a "good" time was 1:47 (in a Miata). By the end of the day, I was able to get down to 1:46-1:47 fairly consistently, with my best time a 1:44.
I'm going back!!