Get on the Power Earlier!
This weeks free article is in response to a great question from
after lasts weeks article on becoming sublime on kart entry. Answering his question makes this part two of being sublime, but now with exits.Learn how to be slow in and fast out.
Then refuse to be slow in and become fast in, fast out
Then go fast in, stupid fast out!
Frankly, if you can ask a question with as much understanding built in as that, then just figure out the key to each corner yourself, you are clearly smart enough!!
But I’ll have a crack at answering, typically not giving an exact set of ‘guaranteed to work’ answers!
I have examples that deny golden rules that I like to apply myself. Here’s one straight off the bat.
Flat out through a corner isn’t always faster, until it is!
I have two contrasting experiences here to tell you about, one says don’t always take a flat corner flat, and the other says take it flat!!
What you can learn isn’t about whether or not to take a corner flat, but in how very fast drivers do things and find out ways to go faster - always.
When lifting was faster through an easy flat right hander
At Whilton Mill there is an easy flat right hander called Inkermans. Easy flat is nice because it means you don’t have to think about it, just keep it pinned and you know you are quick, right?
Sadly no!
When I ran a ton of data on a kart with a hyper-sensitive driver (Will Dendy) he found that if he lifted slightly that he felt quicker. We had throttle position, GPS and wheel-speed rigged up, and indeed, he was quicker with a lift.
His feedback was that lifting took load out of the left rear tyre which was being over-loaded, and with a slight lift the kart felt sweeter through the corner and faster. It was.
Now, even if you aren’t faster, but a lift can get you through just as fast and you can take a bit of strain out of the rear tyre doing all the work there, then you can be saving tyre life for the final race.
So even if it isn’t faster, it might be smarter to lift where you don’t really need to.
When flat out was faster on a corner that wasn’t really flat out
Here’s the flipside to that coin
When a Formula 1 boss says a corner is flat, even though it isn’t, maybe it is!!
In this case, going through a drawn out process, over days, proved that you can through continuous tiny improvements, make a nearly flat corner flat, and then take flat being slower, to flat being equal, to flat being faster.
Get on the throttle earlier - Always!
I think we all realise that getting on the power early isn’t a universal truth for being quick, especially in karts. They bog down, slide, drop the inside rear wheel and slow down.
But the same F1 force of nature from the previous example was hardcore about getting on the power earlier. Earlier is different than early, or too early.
Alex was always adamant that a driver will leave a bit of margin when getting on the power, so he always pressured drivers to get on the gas earlier. He wanted to see it on the data. Drivers hated it, because they had a totally valid argument that the kart doesn’t like it.
However Alex would persist, ‘get on the power earlier, just a split second- you will make it work’.
And the problem was, when they did get on the power a touch earlier they eventually would make it work and go faster.
The pressure was immense, and it worked. We won races and national titles with that attitude.
The lesson here: If you have a theory on kart physics that says not to get on the power too early, don’t let that stop you getting on the power a tiny bit earlier and keep the pressure on yourself to find the tiny advantage that comes with it.
When you upset a kart by getting on the power earlier, don’t surrender and say it won’t do it, persist and you will refine the controls beyond what you thought was possible and you’ll go faster.
So far….
Flat out on fast corners isn’t necessarily fastest because the way karts and tyres work is a bit weird. But at the same time keep the pressure on yourself to lift less, then less, then less. That constant seeking for earlier power application can find even more time.
Getting on the power after hard braking with a tight corner
If you are loosing a bit of time on the exits of tight corners, its usually because you are slightly late on the power, or on the power at the right time but the kart is in no condition to take it.
And it only takes a tiny little error around the apex to make the kart ‘unready’ to take your throttle application and fly with it.
The meters around the apex are the most precious metres
What makes your kart unready for power.
In a kart you only have to be carrying a bit too much speed, or a bit too much steering lock around the apex to blow the corner. Kart engines have no power or torque at low rpm, which is where the engine is through a tight corner. It is super vulnerable to any extra drag or resistance from the kart.
So if you are gunning for the apex and attacking the corner really hard it’s very easy to be sliding through the apex a little too much. If you are sensitive you will know that when you are sliding you just can’t get back on the power because the kart will bog down, aka die. You’ll lose a ton of time, so instead you have to wait a bit - then get back on the power.
That ‘wait a bit’ for the kart to recover is still going to be a big penalty.
If you are skilful you may be able to make a good job of it, but not an excellent job. You are losing time.
All this time you can feel like you are just on the limit, but karts ahead are dropping you. It’s too easy to translate that into ‘my engine is crap’.
If you are sliding past your apex for just one extra metre, which is absolutely nothing in distance, the cost in terms of exit speed from delayed throttle application is significant. (I don’t mean missing your apex by one metre, you may hit the apex but still be decelerating in a slide for 1 metre too far).
Get the kart happy at the apex, then roll on the power
When you get on the power through a tight bend, you need the kart to be ready. This means not really sliding at all.
You want the kart pointing where you want, with the rears gripping nicely and not needing any steering correction, and for the fronts to be steering very little and not sliding.
If you are Rotax you will need to roll onto the throttle feeling for a crisp response. If you are on a diaphragm carb, you might be able to open the throttle fully, just feeling for the amount of power the kart can handle.
Either way, the kart has to be ready.
And its about how well you manage the kart during braking and entry as to how ready the kart is. That was last weeks article
Get earlier on the power
‘Wait for the kart to be ready before you get on the power’ sounds all cool and patient.
BUT
Once you have it figured out and have felt that crisp response from a happy kart - back comes the command:
“Get on the power earlier!”
That means the kart only has to be ready for a micro-second, it doesn’t have to stay ready. You have to get on the power without excess delay.
And then you have to understand that there is always a lag in response from when you get your foot onto the power, to when you get a response. So now you can anticipate when to get on the power.
You can get on the power an instant before the kart confirms to you that it is ready. you know that it will be, so get ahead of it.
Now we are getting into the realms of finding time in transitions.
Can you get on the power before the kart tells you its ready because you are confident that it will be in just a moment. And the time it takes for the kart to respond is exactly how long from now that moment will be.
Can you sneakily add a bit of throttle, maybe 5% just before the kart is ready, because almost ready is ready enough for a little bit of power?
If you are super skilful can you take a tiny bit of braking slide into the apex because you live so close to the limit without killing the kart, and then to keep the kart stable swap braking slide with an early bit of power and maintain that tiny slide, stealing a tiny bit more time?
One giant takeaway from this article and last weeks article on corner entry
You might need to back off a little from attacking corners hard, so that you can get really fast exits.
THEN
Re-apply the pressure to yourself to find time on the brakes and get earlier on the throttle. That’s the way to go from very good, to ridiculous fast.
Another way to put it:
Learn how to be slow in and fast out.
Then refuse to be slow in and become fast in, fast out
Then go fast in, stupid fast out!
Thanks for reading
Terence