Excel at Kart Racing

Kart Racing is a fun activity to enjoy whether you race competitively or with family and friends. If you're looking to win, your driving skills are the most important factor to being able to have fast lap-times. Sure, a souped-up kart helps, but developing an eye for the track and honing your driving skills have to come first!

Steps

Surveying the Track

1. Familiarize yourself with the course. You'll first want to look over the track so that nothing will surprise you. You don't want to be unaware of a blind hairpin turn after a straightaway! Make a plan. By familiarizing yourself with the basic layout of the track you'll save yourself from nasty surprises and eliminate mistakes.
2. Plan your driving lines. By looking over the track, you'll have an idea of its layout and start to develop a plan of attack. In general, your first approach to the track should be one that you are confident you can pull off with ease.
   • You can become more aggressive once you have experience handling the track and have a better sense of you vehicle's limits.
3. Take your initial track notes. Write down your impressions on the course and your plans for handling its challenges in a log book. Not only will writing it down help you remember your plan during the stress of racing, but you'll be able to compare track notes before and after your run in order to help aid your learning.

Honing Your Skills

1. Sit correctly in your cart. Your seating position and center of gravity make a huge difference in how the kart handles. Sit back in the seat and try to relax your body. Don't lean forward or bounce the kart by fidgeting or jumping in the seat.
   • Leaning forward pushes weight towards the front of the kart, slowing it.
   • Bouncing the cart shifts weight and can cause the wheels to lose contact with the ground. No contact, no power!
2. Maintain a consistent hold on the steering wheel. You should hold the steering wheel near where 9 and 3 appear on a clock face. Some prefer higher or lower (as high as 10 and 2 or as low as 8 and 4). Make sure your hands are symmetrically placed on the kart steering wheel.
   • Don't grip the wheel too tight. Firm and steady is the way to go to keep your wrists flexible and quick.
   • Try to consistently use the same hand placement. Familiar positioning will help yourself react instinctively and stay in the zone.
3. Use controlled acceleration. Once you receive the signal to go it may be tempting to mash down on the accelerator, but this isn't always best. Jamming the accelerator from a standstill can cause the wheels to spin rather than effectively grip the surface. You'll need to get the feel for your kart.
   • If your kart wheels spin when you jam the accelerator, ease back and try to learn the sweet spot of maximum acceleration.
   • Weather, track, and tire conditions have a major effect too. Be sure to adjust.
   • If your kart can tolerate jamming the accelerator without losing traction, go for it!
4. Steer as little as possible. It almost sounds counter intuitive to steer less, but any deviation from a straight line compromises acceleration. Try to plot your driving and turning to involve as little steering and braking as possible. The straighter your overall course and the smoother your turns are, the faster you'll go!
5. Brake before corners. Ideally you want to brake as little as possible, and want to be accelerating out of turns. As such, brake before you approach a corner. Apply the minimum amount of brake pressure to stay on course through your curve. Then as you coast through the curve and come out of it you are ready to accelerate again.
   • It's not how fast you get into a corner, but rather how fast you exit it.
6. Experiment with different lines. While you'll have a general idea of the lines you want to take from evaluating the course prior to racing, sometimes you need to switch things up. As you get used to a course and the limits of your kart you'll find places where you can push the limits and go even faster.
   • If turns are too easy - and slow - try braking and turning later and later. See how far you can push the speed envelope while still making a turn.
7. Take track notes. After your race, take notes on the course, your kart, and what you felt went both well and poorly. This may seem boring, but is one of the most important things you can do to improve in the future. Just ask any pro and they'll tell you the same thing.
   • Even if you just had your best-ever run, you can always improve!

Video

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Tips

• Practice as often as you can if you want to get good, especially on the same track.
• Don't be afraid to push the kart to the limits. Karts have a low center of gravity and almost certainly won't flip.
• You may go slower at first, this is normal but as you hone your skills you will start to fly!

Warnings

• Put on your safety gear. You'll almost always be required to wear safety gear, and you always should. This will always include a helmet and can include gloves, a suit, rib protection, and arm or knee pads.
• Karting can be a very dangerous, even deadly sport. Race at a supervised track and always wear your safety gear.

Related Articles

• Drive a Kart in Wet Weather
• Use Your Brakes in a Race Kart

Sources and Citations

See also

• Win Go Kart Races Easily
• Build a Kart Racing Engine
• Make a Go Kart Rear End for a Huffy Slider (No Welding)
• Avoid a Go Kart Accident
• Balance a Racing Go Kart Tire
• Start a Go Kart
• Go‐Kart Safely
• Use Mychron4 With GPS to Improve Your Lap Times
• Get the Most from Your Karting Data Logger
• Choose the Right ATV or Go Kart

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