Karting

[BrightLampShade]

Without getting off topic, I personally think negative rep should only be applied by super mods under specific rules.

Anyway - does anyone else have more Karting tips or info on tracks etc.....?

You tend to get shouted at but if the kart seems to be bogging down out of corners (early acceleration) then keep your foot on the throttle even if you're breaking

 

[Smithers]

You see this sometimes in high speed corners where you want to keep the engine revs high, full throttle and using the brake to balance the speed and car.

 

[Big Ern]

Driver Etic ate or lack of is a pet hate of mine, the lack of spacial awareness and track saftey is frightening sometimes. There is a tendancy in karts (especially in red blooded males or inexperienced kids) to not understand when a place is lost or gained and to over fight the position, which is often why you see a kart drop 3 or 4 places in the space of a corner or two. One of the best races I have ever seen (In karts) was when the top 3 drivers overtook each other several times a lap but still remained over a second quicker than the rest of the grid - simply down to the fact that they didnt fight each other and understood that the last lap was where it was all going to happen. In fact if I remember correctly in a 20 minute/20 lap race there was only 2 incidents of contact and that was on the final corner of the final lap!

This is another reason that I like going karting in the rain, after the first lap the type of driver that does ridiculous lunges and smashes into you are generally left far behind after the first lap or so, (although getting around the first hard braking corner in the wet on slicks in a 30 kart race unscathed is more a question of luck than judgment, just hope that after being hit from behind by an idiot leaves you pointing the right way rather than face first in to the tyres)

You tend to get shouted at but if the kart seems to be bogging down out of corners (early acceleration) then keep your foot of the throttle even if you're breaking

tsk, burning clutches, naughty naughty. If you can get away with it at the start, do it, I tend to give it 1/4 - 1/2 throttle as it doesn't show so much and the steward/marshalls don't notice. rolling starts in a direct drive kart works the same way, full throttle at the start using brakes to keep the slow speed.

and here is my favourite kart video, road racing in Isle of Man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSDBjDZVfcU

 

[Di Resta is faster than u]

I once went ice karting when I was 16 or 17 on a frozen lake in Finland and that was actually the first time I ever drive a vehicle that wasn't a boat. I was against 6 other people who were all in their late 20's early 30's.

I qualified 3rd and finished 2nd. It was such a fantastic experience.

I haven't been karting since but I am going for the first time since then in April on an outdoor English track. So I will be a rookie, any this for the rookie?

I remember on a previous thread Cosicave saying to allow your weight to go in the direction that its being thrown so that you have more weight on the outside wheels. Or the front/back wheels in the case of acceleration/deacceleration.

 

[Di Resta is faster than u]

c'mon guys, any advice for the rookie?

 

[Smithers]

I think its all in here mate. If you are just going for a practise session try and keep clean air rather than battling, you will get more laps and probably a quicker lap time at the endo of it.