Reading The Track

Reading The Track

Have you ever visited a race track and observed one of the top kart drivers walking around the track, stopping at various corners and analysing those corners intensely.

He will drop to his knees like praying at most corners. The driver is actually concentrating on the best method to negotiate that particular corner at the same height he will be in his kart.

This approach can give this driver a tremendous advantage over the remainder of the field. He is recoqnising what he will be seeing from the position sitting in his kart at the vantage point of the corners. Before you race, think about the track. Drive around it in your mind. Pay particular attention to the corners, the best entry and the best exit points.

Have you ever tried to think how you should negotiate a corner? The important thing to remember is, there are "three key section" to the kart- track corner. The entry, the middle and the exit.

In principle the entry is where you should have done your braking and start to turn toward the middle. You should already have your eyes and mind fixed upon where you want to be position at the following phase of the turn.

The middle of the corner (Apex) is the spot you should have your inside front wheel as closed as possible to the edge of the track (Riding on the Apex). Obviously, this can change from turn to turn because of various factors, particularly the layout of the track.

The apex will always remain however, the point where the driver should have his mind on the process of accelerating into the exit area.

Keep in mind the important geometric principle, the shortest distance between two point is a straight line, so the idea of reading the track is to straighten every corner as much as possible.

On most kart track there are few corners that are alike. Many factors relating to this condition will influence your final decision on how the turn should be made. The degree of the turn, its angle and what is coming next are the factors you must consider.

Although all corners constitute three parts, you must see them as one and negotiate them in one fluid motion.

On many occasions you will see a karter passing everyone in the straight section, yet he is running in the middle of the field. Why? Because he is going through the corners too slow. Kart tracks have turns and corners build into them. It is how well the turns and corners are driven or tackled that will result on how fast you are able to travel along the straight part of the track.

As we know, kart engines and weight classes are built to make everyone equal. So, in theory, there is nothing on the kart or in the kart that can compensate for indifferent driving. It is simple logic that he who drives through the turns quickest can get the power going sooner and get along the straight part first.

Compiled by Rosedi