How Could I Have Won More Races?

3 Gamechangers for Winning Kart Races

Yeah, I’d have a lot to say to the junior racer Terence! The black offset rims were mint though!

If I could sit my teenage self down for an hour, what would I tell him that I know would transform his driving the fastest and most impactful way?

Well, for a start I wouldn’t sit the ignorant little shit down and tell him anything directly at all, because I can guarantee that would be the first route to total failure. Because the young Terence would be motivated purely to prove me wrong, as are many of the drivers I encounter today!!

So, somehow I’d have to plant various easter eggs around for him to ‘discover’ all by himself, since the stubborn little bastard won’t accept a damn thing told to him, as is the case with him today.

The point is, I reckon these are the things that any driver learning the karting craft will benefit from the ‘fastest and the mostest’.

These are my gamechangers for any karter who wants to hit the front now. I reckon if I knew how to do these much earlier I’d have won a lot more, and when I had crap kit I would have still lost, but in far better style, and raised a few eyebrows!

Karting Gamechanger No1

Hard Braking and Lock-up Control.

This is always my go-to. That’s because if I had sussed braking early on I would have gone straight to the front, on my novice plates.

If I could spend a day with my teenage self right now, I would take him to a quiet track, and have him learn to lock the brake from flat-out top speed and learn how to release it and control the angle of the kart with his left foot until he became an absolute king of braking.

Whether or not that is the fastest way to brake for a corner is entirely irrelevant.

It is the fastest way for driver to gain absolute confidence and mastery of a kart at speed. After that everything else can fall into place very quickly indeed.

I was already very good at braking late, but I was not totally comfortable with the kart at the very limit so I always had to hold back a touch until things clicked very late in my kart driving days.

PLUS

Sticking a kart at an unnatural angle at 70mph in full control is so glorious a feeling, I wish he could have had a lot more of it.

I am certain that alone would have unlocked victories immediately.

I’m actually not certain the teenage stubborn sod would have rejected the training to get to that point because I know he really wanted to know.

The process would be

1. Mini lock ups at a medium speed. Learn how much ‘snap pressure’ is required to lock up and how quickly control is re-gained when you unlock the brakes.

2. Refine by letting go of the brakes in a controlled manner to learn how that control can be re-gained beautifully and gracefully.

3. Refine initial hit on brake pressure so you don’t overshoot required braking to get the rear moving immediately.

4. Take it all to maximum speed and perform repeated straight line lock-ups with full control and ENJOY fully.

5. Refine further and learn to introduce angle into the kart and enjoy controlling angled slides.

6. Take all that into angling the kart into a corner using the brake.

Once he’s totally at one with that, I’d let him develop his style for maximum speed.

Karting Gamechanger No2