How to Get Out of and Through a Karting Sh*t-fight

When you start getting quick, you are going to get stuck when having to deal with multiple super-aggressive drivers who slow each other down. Learn how to get through them fast!

Mid-pack scrapping can get dicey! Learn how to get through. Photo courtesy of StuStretton

A shit-fight in karting is when you've got a bunch of drivers mid-pack, usually, who are all going all-in on every move. They're taking each other out, going three-wide into every corner, losing two seconds a lap, and not giving a toss.

None of them want to make rapid progress. They just want revenge on each other, or they're willing to die for 15th position.

If you have front-running pace, a pack of 5 or 6 of these drivers can screw your race entirely unless you know how to fly through them.

The typical scenario is you've had a bad day, or you've qualified lower than you should have, and you've got to get through these nutters.

The basics of being able to get through a pack of drivers who simply do not care about being fast:

• You have to be super decisive. You have to make moves immediately. As soon as you arrive there, you have to take them out. You have to go for your move straight away. You can't hesitate in that sort of pack. Any hesitation means you're getting passed.

• So there's no "Oh, I'll size this driver up." You have to go in immediately. If you miss an opportunity, you're not just losing the chance to overtake. You're going backwards because one of them will be in on you.

• When you make moves, they have to be excellent. If you go in too hot to make a move and slide wide, you're immediately back in trouble. You're becoming part of the chaos, the shitfight.

• When you make a move, you have to cover it off immediately. That means you have to make sure the driver behind knows you're not just going to let them come back. So you either have to defend the next corner or make it very clear that you're not just going to let them counter.

Let’s Appreciate the Shit-fight as the Ultimate Driving Experience

If you can learn to love it, which is very easy because it’s an extreme racing experience, then you are setting yourself up for learning how to fly through it. So lets get into that first

Getting through a shit-fight is the most complete driving you can do.

It's the most all-consuming, ultimate racing and driving experience you can have. Every part of your driving skill - physical, mental - it's all running at 100%.

• You're using different lines, your spatial awareness is having to calculate where everyone is.

• You have to feel drivers around you. You have to understand what they're doing.

• You have to see into the future. You have to see where a gap's going to emerge. You can see drivers putting moves on each other, so you've got to be able to predict where the gap's going to be and get in it.

• You have to be able to take a hit and control it without losing time.

So while you're planning to get into a gap, and you're seeing the future, and your brain's working overtime on that, someone clips the rear of your kart. You have to control that and still get in these gaps.

You'll be in situations where someone's pushed you wide, you've got a wheel on the grass. You have to improvise your way out. So you're plotting ahead while your body is instinctively controlling the kart in novel situations. Everything's on maximum capacity.

It's like being in a flow state, but on Steroids

It’s not like qualifying laps where everything's serene. It's a flow state on steroids, where things are kicking off around you, but you can see it all happening. That's where you do get these slow-motion moments where things do slow down. That's how you see gaps. That's how you find yourself in a gap, and it's mega. It's just a great experience to be in, especially if you survive it.

How to Get Through the Shit-fight