Episodes
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You’ve had an accident, but now you need to work out whether your kart is bent. Kart manufacturers design their chassis’ a lot softer these days. That's to try and counter the softer tires racers use. A softer chassis absorbs a lot of that flex when drivers are cornering. Now we're seeing a lot of karts having accidents because drivers are going at higher speeds which is sometimes too fast for kids.
So now suddenly, some of these seven to 10-year-old kids are driving as fast around the turns as what X30 is doing. The nature of the tire is so sticky, the kids are almost flat out around a lot of the corners. Now when it comes to having an accident, how do we know whether our chassis is bent or not?
The first way to try and assess whether your kart is bent is by putting it onto a kart jig. That's not always possible because there might not be anyone at the track that has a jig. But if there is someone there, whether it's a team or a shop, that's the best way to test it. It requires the front and rear wheels to be removed & possibly the rear hubs to come off the kart. Then place the kart into a jig, which is a level stationary platform, and then they check all the measurements. So, whether that's the rear rails, the c-sections, or just naturally whether it's up or down on one side of the kart. But it's a lot truer and easier way to assess the side to side whether everything's straight.
Need more information now on kart setup, then we have a dedicated setup program there for you.To learn more about what Home – Kart Class has to offer be sure to visit our site.
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With more than 30 drivers on a race track that is less than one kilometer long, no matter how much we prepare there will always be a tussle or two in the opening corners. Sadly it may be the end of your race if you are directly caught up in this.
It’s super important to be looking as far ahead as you can to see what is happening. If you’re starting in the mid-pack, look towards the front row. If there’s a skirmish there, it gives you time to take evasive action. Are karts starting to spin or lose control? Anticipate in which direction these karts are going and drive the opposite way.
Too many drivers focus on the front of their kart, not 2-3 rows in front. So when an accident occurs in front of them, they don’t have enough time to process where to go, and they drive straight into the incident.
Despite looking easy after it has been broken down for you in this article, the conditions on track are far different. There you will find only a few seconds to make such a crucial decision. These reflexes are what makes drivers almost superhuman and is something that can be trained and practiced.
To learn more about what Home – Kart Class has to offer be sure to visit our site.
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Episodes manquant?
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Today I'm looking at how to check your chain tension. Now, when it comes to chains, I find they're wearing out a lot faster than what they previously were. That could be down to the quality of the chains, or it could be that we're now driving faster engines.
With drivers being on the track for more practicing, a lot of these factors are wearing out chains a lot faster. If mechanics are not on top of the chain tension, we're going to find too much slack in the chain, and we might have more mechanical failures or just the performance of our kart is not the same.
Low performance categories, such as four stroke karts & cadets’ karts can have a little bit slacker in that chain because there's less power to flick that chain off. As a rule, when it comes to, Mini Rok cadet engines, once it's all fitted, you can move your fingers up and down to see how tight the chain is. We aim for it to just touch the front chain guard that goes onto the engine, not the rear chain guard.
Need more information now on kart setup, then we have a dedicated setup program there for you.To learn more about what Home – Kart Class has to offer be sure to visit our site.
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Over the last 12-18 months Kart Class has been working on a new feature to answer peoples questions (immediately!).
Now if you're unsure of what setup adjustment to make at the race track, don't know what tyre pressure to use, or a certain sprocket for over 30 circuits, Kart Classes latest invention APEX will help!
Simply type in your question & receive feedback in seconds on what to do.
APEX has a waiting list with early subscribers gaining access next week.
So don't miss out on the latest invention to join the Kart Class team & sign up here: APEX (kartclass.com)To learn more about what Home – Kart Class has to offer be sure to visit our site.
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Winning races comes down to being fast, but also being consistent.
That might mean stringing 10 laps in a row within 1 tenth of a second. What this does is, by making less mistakes, chasing drivers will find it harder to overtake and beat you.
Consistency means finding the same markings around the track and aiming to hit these points lap after lap.
Drivers should be looking out for landmarks around the circuit and not using a shadow as this will change from lap-to-lap and session to session.To learn more about what Home – Kart Class has to offer be sure to visit our site.
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Motor Racing is all about driving fast and trying to beat your competition.
But sometimes that means we need to overtake our competitors to get in-front and win the race.
Nerves, confidence and choosing the right corners are all important when it comes to learning how to overtake other drivers.
Setting up a pass so that the driver doesn't get you back the following turn or switch you back on the exit.
We try providing tips and techniques to listeners to make efficient overtakes and stay ahead of the pack.To learn more about what Home – Kart Class has to offer be sure to visit our site.
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Today we're discussing go-kart rear axles. When it comes to motor racing, cars have suspension. So karting is different because the rear axle acts like a suspension. It might flex a little bit here and there depending on the stiffness of the axle, but realistically it doesn't spring like suspension does.
So, it's important to use it as a tuning tool depending on the conditions that you are driving in. You might find if it's 15 degrees or it's 35 degrees, you might have to use a different axle, or depending on the tire compound or the changing grip levels across a race weekend.
Drivers & mechanics can also change the length of the axle. The different stiffnesses change how much the kart flexes in the rear. There are different size axles for cadet karts compared to a senior kart. It's important to know that most kart manufacturers send karts out with a neutral medium axle. Now, the reason why karts are designed around that neutral setup, is it gives you a bigger window to fine tune your setup of the kart. You're very limited with the changes you can make when you're at one end of the spectrum. That’s why kart manufacturers design karts around a neutral setup, and at least that way you can fine tune the chassis it if it's not quite right. You’re able to try a softer axle or to a different length axle.
If you need to learn more information about how to setup your go kart, we have a dedicated Kart Setup Guide, to help you make informed decisions across a race weekend. Check it out here: Go Kart Setup Program (kartclass.com)To learn more about what Home – Kart Class has to offer be sure to visit our site.
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Today we're going to be discussing how to go-kart in the rain. Now, for most of us, we tend to want to drive as it’s easier. When you drive in the rain, things are going to wear out quicker; engines, tires, cleaning the kart, that takes more time. The chances of spinning out are more evident with the wet weather, but let's face it, motor racing is driven in all conditions. So, we need to learn how to drive in all conditions so that we can be prepared for all weather conditions.
When it comes to driving in the wet, we want to choose the right tires and kart set up for the conditions. What we find sometimes is that if it's only a little bit wet, the fastest tire is still a slick tire. It's still a dry tire but you might have to adjust your driving style or your kart setup because there's just not enough water for the treaded wet tires to have enough grip. If there's not enough water on the track, they're going to wear out quickly, so we've got to make sure that we're choosing the right tires for the right conditions. As a rule, I would say that if you're on slick tires and the track is 10 seconds or more off, then usa a wet weather tire. Anything under 10 seconds, then it's probably going to still be a slick tire in the slippery conditions.
Some of the quicker adjustments you can make on the grid or at the last moment, can be to widen the front track by spacing your front wheels out. That increases your front steer which helps in the slippery wet conditions. The other thing is to increase your tire pressures. It might mean if you're normally using 15 PSI, and there's a little bit of drizzle, you might run 20 PSI, so an extra 5 PSI, that might be sufficient to get temperature in the tire. With extra heat, hopefully you can get more grip. Another thing you might want to do is put an air box cover on so that your engine doesn't suck in too much water. If that's the case, then you might find that you have a mechanical.To learn more about what Home – Kart Class has to offer be sure to visit our site.
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Today we're going to be discussing how to find the last one second in kart racing. Now, it can be quite frustrating as you're starting out in karting and you're picking off one to two seconds at a time because you're just starting out and it all seems a little bit too easy. You're like, oh, how good's this going? My times are dropping. Then it comes down to that last second, and it's extremely hard to put it all together to get onto that front pack.
Now, it can be tricky, but we want to look at three key areas as to where drivers are potentially lacking. From my experience of coaching, probably over 1000 or 1500 kids in the last 10 years, these seem to be the three main areas where drivers who are more than one second off seem to be struggling with.
The first point we want to look at is not using the whole racetrack. It might seem simple, but even just giving up 30 centimetres of racetrack on every corner, which some tracks have 12 or more corners, is just slowing you down. So by not using all the track, drivers are either turning the steering wheel a lot more, which slows them down. Or they might be lifting on corners where other drivers are flat out.
To learn more about what Home – Kart Class has to offer be sure to visit our site.
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Let’s look at why it’s so important to not just drive at the one circuit. For some people, they don't have the luxury of having a circuit close to them. So, they might have to travel one or two hours away and be forced to just drive at the one circuit. If you are fortunate enough to have a couple of circuits within a reasonable drive, we want to look at the key advantages of experiencing new circuits.
The first advantage is you can get stuck in a rut by just being at the one circuit. Now it feels comfortable, you hit your certain lap times, but after quite a few thousand at the one track, it's hard to then just push yourself out of that comfort zone.
Then suddenly you go to a new circuit, you might be experiencing tighter hairpins or some curbs that you can use, where at your local track, you might not be able to use. They might be a lot more aggressive or rougher. The drop-off in the circuit might be a lot more aggressive, where you're a bit nervous to get to the edge of the track. It could be different camber. It's always very important to learn a positive cambered corner, which is for our readers, like a NASCAR circuit where it's banked.
To learn more about what Home – Kart Class has to offer be sure to visit our site.
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Let’s look at when to use positive or negative camber in kart racing.
Now the first thing is what is camber? That's changing the angle of the tire. As you are looking at it from a top-down point of view, if you've got the tires pointing towards the inside of the kart, that's going to be negative camber.
If they're pointing towards the outside of the kart, it's going to be positive camber.
What we see with racing cars is, they've got suspension, so you're going to notice their tires are pointing towards the inside, towards the chassis or the frame of the car. That's negative camber.
Stay on top of your karts setup to maximise on-track performance.To learn more about what Home – Kart Class has to offer be sure to visit our site.
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Let's be honest. It's all good qualifying up the front, but if you aren't good at the race starts, then it's all a waste of time.
There's different techniques drivers can use to get a better launch, this then gives the driver an opportunity to pass a few drivers.
Then working out whether the inside, or outside (more risky) line is going to be best depending on your position and risk factor.
Let's dive into this episode of how to get a good race start.To learn more about what Home – Kart Class has to offer be sure to visit our site.
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Let’s discuss how some drivers can dominate on a practice day, but then can't translate that onto a race day. We see in practice sometimes, kids setting the fastest laps they've ever set. Two days later, or a couple of weeks later, get to race day and suddenly, they're 0.4, maybe even up to one second off the pace they were driving the weekend before.
How's that possible and what changes sometimes from a practice day to a race day? The first thing we're going to be discussing is pressure. On a practice day, generally there might be other karts on track, but there's possibly you just racing your lap time. You might be doing a 46-second lap time and really, you're just racing yourself. You're trying to brake later than you normally do. You might be trying a slightly different line. You might be trying to take a little bit more curb than you're used to or you're trying to accelerate earlier. But realistically, you're just racing the clock on a practice day.
And so, if you do make a mistake, that's totally fine because most karts have a clutch these days. If you do spin off or you run wide, it doesn't matter because you can just get back into it on the following lap. When it comes to a race day, you might be a little bit more tentative because if you do run wide or spin out, that could jeopardize your race result. Straightaway, you might be only driving at 90 or 95% of your full potential, and that could be a reason why you are half a second off the pace of what you're doing during the week.
To learn more about what Home – Kart Class has to offer be sure to visit our site.
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In motor racing, driving in the wet conditions can be more difficult than driving in the dry conditions.
Wheel spin, limited grip, understeer, are all factors that are exaggerated in the rain. For drivers though, they need to learn how to adapt to all conditions so that on race day, they are ready for whatever challenge is thrown at them.
In this episode, we try explaining three basic tips that can give your driver more confidence in the rain, to improve their lap times, and move up a few positions.
If you've enjoyed this episode, be sure to send it to a friend of yours who could benefit in these conditions.To learn more about what Home – Kart Class has to offer be sure to visit our site.
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We pay a lot of money for our race tires, and we pay a lot of money to get a good engine. We buy brand new go-karts, and we still find ourselves finishing in the middle of the pack. We're now wondering to ourselves, "Well, we've got all the equipment, we are getting coaching, and we still can't move up the pack. What can it be?"
Well, a lot of it comes down to the mindset, how we are thinking, what we're stressing about, what we're confident in, and the drivers that we might be nervous when we're driving on the track with. Now, all these things, that inside noise, as a driver, you put your helmet on and it's only you now. You start your engine, and you are the one in control.
All that coaching most likely has gone out the door because when there's 20 other people in your race and they're trying to carve you up on the first couple of laps, it's very hard to try and remember what that coach was saying to you. You've got to do a lot of your homework before you get to the track. You want to have that positive, winning mindset as we like to call it before you put that helmet on.To learn more about what Home – Kart Class has to offer be sure to visit our site.
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We discuss the pros and cons of data analysis in this podcast. Now, technologies improved a lot over the last five, 10 years, and when I was winning all my races in the 2005, 2015 era, we didn't really look a lot into data analysis. It just wasn't something that technology was up to scratch with.
So nowadays when you're looking at, whether it's a Mychron unit, or Starline, Alfano, Motech for racing cars, the amount of knowledge that that computer system can gain from your driving is incredible.
Whether that's where you're accelerating, where you're braking, how much brake pressure, you can GPS your racing lines, your RPM to make sure when you change the sprocket, whether it's any good or it's bad, engine temperatures. All of these things can be quite confusing and quite daunting as well, if you're new to karting. It's like, "What do I actually need to look at for me to try and establish how to go faster?"
A lot of drivers don't utilise data analysis and still win races. So don't think if you're not doing it, you can't be competitive.
If you're looking to improve your kart racing, we offer driving programs & kart setup programs to help the mechanics.
Be sure to visit our site to see how we can help you out!To learn more about what Home – Kart Class has to offer be sure to visit our site.
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Tire management is something drivers don’t always think about, but it plays a big role in the results. Now a lot is determined by how hard or how soft the compound of tire that you're driving on. It also has a lot to do with the track surface itself, so whether it's abrasive or it's a smooth surface and the temperature of the day does have a bit to play with how tires are going to wear.
The first thing we're going to try and look at with tire management is that drivers need to understand they can't push a hundred percent on soft compound tires throughout the whole race meeting. Sometimes you might be doing qualifying, four heats, and a final, it might add up to 60 to 75 laps of racing and when you've got a soft compound tire and you start to overdrive it, they overheat.
That's when you start to see tires starting to grain. Now it's very hard for a tire to grain and then, all of a sudden, start to look clean again. So, it's at that point where you want to almost push hard in qualifying to get your ultimate lap time in, and then if you've got the opportunity to in the heat races, maybe bring it back like 10% of your driving so you don't drive qualifying laps in all your heat races. Then in the final, you've got a little bit up your sleeve because you've got more tread than your other competitors do.
We focus on tire management and driving consistent laps in our Champions Program that is targeted to drivers looking to win state and national level events.
Be sure to check out our social channels to learn new tips and techniques on Instagram.To learn more about what Home – Kart Class has to offer be sure to visit our site.
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When we’re starting out in karting, it’s daunting!
We’ve got no idea what’s going on, what do we buy, what pressures do we use and how and where do we drive on the racetrack?
I’ve covered the 3 biggest mistakes that beginners make when they enter karting.
Time and time again, drivers don't realise they are making mistakes, so with bad repetition, these mistakes become habits and are hard to shake!
Hopefully this advice enables you to learn quicker and make good progress.
If you're making these mistakes our Beginner Program is best suited to rectify these, and you can check it out here.Let us know what was your biggest hurdle when getting into karting!
To learn more about what Home – Kart Class has to offer be sure to visit our site.
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The second round of the Australian Kart Championships took place at the Tiger Kart Club in Wanneroo, Western Australia this past weekend.
It was the first time a Western Australian circuit has held a round of the AKC since it moved to a five-round championship, and the first at Tiger Kart Club since 2005.
For a lot of competitors, the 6,000km + road trip was a new experience across the Nullabor, and thankfully from all reports all teams came out unscathed.
We look at the event, how it was run, the layout, how the local drivers fared and how tyre management played a key part across the weekend.
The next round of the Australian Kart Championship takes place in Newcastle, NSW on June 4-6.To learn more about what Home – Kart Class has to offer be sure to visit our site.
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The next circuit we’re looking at in our USA Track review is Atlanta Motor Sports Park in Dawson, Georgia. So the track itself is a private club and it shares the facility with a car racing track. So, it's not something that you can just rock up with your car in the back of a truck or a van and just go and drive the facility. You must be a member, which I think costs around $2,000 - 3,000 for the year. A little bit more expensive than most of the facilities that we'll be discussing on our as American kart tracks, but once you experience the facility you can see the value for money!
Once you get inside this facility, you sort of see what you're paying for. The track itself is like Spa-Francorshamps in Belgium for the F1 circuit or for our Australian readers it's like Bathurst. You can see only parts of the track because it's so undulating being on the side of a mountain and you're looking around going, holy crap, I'm not going to be racing on that part of the track.
Being situated on the side of a mountain, it's incredible to think that a kart can race on that much undulation. I've never seen a circuit like it. I don't think that just from listening to this podcast, the I can do it justice as to how impressive the layout is.
If you're competing at Atlanta Motorsports Park and need some more help, then be sure to check out our Track Guide here that gives you the inside knowledge you need to be fast!To learn more about what Home – Kart Class has to offer be sure to visit our site.
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You can join us at Instagram here to see the latest tips. - Montre plus
