tips on how to win indoor kart races

tips on how to win indoor kart races

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brotherharry

Original Poster:

260 posts

290 months

Tuesday 5th March 2002
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Off karting with the company tonight at Daytone, Silverstone. Anyone got any tips / technique for a kart-virgin?

Umar B

1,484 posts

274 months

Tuesday 5th March 2002
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Hello Mate

I posted a similer thread a while back, have a look at some of the advise i got!!

www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=5736&f=23&h=0

ultra violent

2,827 posts

276 months

Tuesday 5th March 2002
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Never, ever, ever, take your foot of the accelerator. Yes, they will tell you not to accelerate and break simultaneously but that’s only because they own the clutch you'll be shagging. Especially at the start, foot down on both peddles and just lift your right one when the lights go green.

The clutch takes a while to bite (hence above), so try to carry as much speed as possible. Most first timers will fly in to corners too fast and have to break too hard. They'll either spin, or spend a day or two building speed back up.

Oh, and a couple of pints before hand

CarZee

13,382 posts

274 months

Tuesday 5th March 2002
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quote:
just lift your right one when the lights go green.

GreenV8S

30,475 posts

291 months

Tuesday 5th March 2002
quotequote all
quote:
Off karting with the company tonight at Daytone, Silverstone. Anyone got any tips / technique for a kart-virgin?


If it's an endurance race, don't bother too much about finding the last tenth of a second on every corner, just make sure you don't fall off. One spin can easily cost you far more than you gained in the last dozen laps.

The most significant gains are to be had on the last corner before the long straights. A small extra bit of speed out of the corner will give you an advantage right down the straight. So each time you find yourself on a long straight, think back and see if you could have carried slightly more speed through the corner by changing your line on the way in to it. In the dry, there is enough grip to take that long sweeping corner past the pits flat out, if you are brave. This gives you a chance to 'bounce' the wimps who lifted off, on the following straight.

Cheers,
Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)

ultra violent

2,827 posts

276 months

Tuesday 5th March 2002
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...left one. Dyslexic you see

brotherharry

Original Poster:

260 posts

290 months

Tuesday 5th March 2002
quotequote all
Thanks chaps. to sum up:
Smooth driving, no tail out antics
Never brake, use engine braking instead?
Use weight transfer.

how easy is it so spin these things? is it worth trying to catch it?


JonVickers

121 posts

291 months

Tuesday 5th March 2002
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How easy to spin? Well, they're not set up for understeer! Expect to be able to probe the limits, opposite lock is often required but even a virgin such as yourself (sorry, that should have read "karting virgin"), will find it absolutely intuitive.

In short: keep it smooth, find the limits and stay close to them. Oh yes and your trusted friend who drives a Metro and breeds fish will become a fire-breathing monster. Trust no1, be aggressive, ENJOY!

Jon

Cotty

40,283 posts

291 months

Wednesday 6th March 2002
quotequote all
quote:

Thanks chaps. to sum up:
Smooth driving, no tail out antics
Never brake, use engine braking instead?
Use weight transfer.

how easy is it so spin these things? is it worth trying to catch it?




Just try to be smooth and use all of the track, think racing line. If its anendurance race just try to be consistent, you dont need to be the quickest guy out there because setting the fastest lap then stuffing into a tyrewall wont help.

Watch out for the yellow flags some tracks are really hot on this as they are trying to protect their karts.

Daytona also run a sin bin, basically if you pick up a penalty you get sent off the track for a 10sec stop/go penalty, listen to the breifing and keep your eyes open on the track.

as for tail out antics, they spin but easy to catch with a bit of opposite lock, remember all the time your going sideways your not going forward

Paul

DIGGA

41,246 posts

290 months

Wednesday 6th March 2002
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Unless the karts are particularly powerful (the asthmatic, single cyclinder jobs rarely are), it's a lot to do with the weight of the driver.

Since you've little time to lose weight before this evening with conventional dieting methods, you'll need to resort to more drastic measures. As already mentioned here, there's no need to brake, so amputating your left leg seems an expedient way of gaining vital power to weight advantage.

Roadrunner

2,690 posts

274 months

Thursday 7th March 2002
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Drink less beer than your mates!

anonymous-user

61 months

Thursday 7th March 2002
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perform the "haka" each time you are about to get into the kart. point the kart at the racing line if you start on the outside of the track ala f1 style.
bounce in the seat coming out of the slower corners as this helps aid grip at the back and be very smooth as the karts will probably have a terrible pick up and much time can be wasted if you are always getting the revs bogged, but perhaps most importantly have fun.

ohidunno

506 posts

279 months

Thursday 7th March 2002
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quote:
Off karting with the company tonight at Daytone, Silverstone. Anyone got any tips / technique for a kart-virgin?



So how did you get on?

brotherharry

Original Poster:

260 posts

290 months

Monday 11th March 2002
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posted third fastest lap of the night at 21.14. fastest was 20.76.
we had a 'grand prix' style event. 17 heats, two semis and one final.
Discovered that unless you're out in front the racing line is pretty meaningless as all the other numpties just go up the inside. Without significant acceleration it's too easy to lose places bumping your way back through.
Wider track at the rear caught me out a few times, clipping the apex after I thought I'd gone through. So frustrating being spun into the apex and just sitting there while the 'marshall' pulls you out.
Smooth is definitely best, and lifting off rather than braking was equally effective as braking in all but the most terminal high speed corners.
Consistency let me down too many times meaning I spun whilst holding 1st or 2nd in a couple of heats which lost me grid position in the semis. Respect to those F1 boys. Bloke in the Times last week quoted Schumacher as never deviating more than a few centimetres from his line over the whole race (unless overtaking or shunting people off). Do have to be totally in the zone and committed otherwise it's just playing.
Amusing to see the carefully built team bonds being ripped apart as the MD and directors went for all out war, more dirty tactics than the boardroom...
Thanks for all the advice guys.