Steer Roids For Driving

Last year I won 85% of the races I entered. Yes I feel I have the best equipment and one of the best set-up men, but many people I know have the same and still do not perform. I'm not bragging, I've been beat by people who drove junk because their driving skills surpassed mine. Driving is like a football game. Both teams can be the best at what they do, but strategy and making key plays are what wins the game.

Preparation: In my opinion, some preparation must take place to give you ample time to concentrate. One of the things I do before going on the track is to make sure my equipment is ready. Such as faceshield cleaned, tire pressures checked and having an extra spark plug in case one fouls, etc. Nothing can break your concentration and fatigue you worst than when the motor won't crank!!! You must have confidence in your equipment to feel confident that you can drive it. Some of these things may sound simple, but can slow you down if not given careful attention . Next, take care of your body. I try to drink plenty of water on those hot days (at least every thirty minutes). You want your body to be as sharp and alert as possible. Sometimes a caffeine rush from a coke is o.k. for alertness, but not good for drinking all day for hydration.

Concentration: Now that your preparation is done, its time to concentrate. I have used earplugs at times to help me concentrate. It makes sense that your body can focus better with less distraction. Have you ever been driving down the road in your car and turned the radio down at a point when you were concentrating on where to go? It's your body's normal reaction to tune out as much distraction as possible to focus better.

By now you should know where your class is lined up and be the first one to the grid. As you sit in your kart, you should be thinking of track conditions, changes to the kart and even who is lined up next to you. If you know the person next to you is characteristically fast or slow, you can already plot a strategy to make a move. Confidence is a good motivator to win at anything. I can be lined up in the back but I still know I am capable of winning. One of my favorite sayings is "It ain't over 'til it's over". I concentrate on what it takes to win. Now, the gate just opened and we are pacing around the track. My eye is on the corner man but mostly on the outside pole sitter if I'm on the pole. My only concern is not to be caught sleeping on the start. The green flag drops and you should already know what your kart is going to do before you get to the first corner.

Restarts: O.K. you've been one lap into the race and let's say you started on the outside of the second row. You should have learned by now who was the fastest between the guy in front of you or the guy on the left of you. Why is this important? Naturally you want to follow the faster kart unless the outside groove gives you a better chance to pass, then you may get a better drive off the corner than the inside second row and make a pass down the back straight. These are just scenarios, only you can make that decision according to the conditions. The important thing is to learn from the previous start. Also take note to the handling of other karts, you may be able to capitalize on mistakes or poor setup of your opponent.

Maneuvers: To pass effectively and "legally", you must travel a different line than the person you are approaching and maintain your current speed. Sounds like common sense, but not as easy as it sounds. If your entrance in the corner is directly behind your opponent and you try to force a pass on the inside, you may scrub too much momentum from the kart and not be able to complete the pass. Just a bit higher corner entry than the kart ahead of you should allow you the same or better drive off the corner as your opponent. On most tracks a high corner entry and driving low in the middle of the turns is the fast line, taking into consideration the groove on the track. I have driven tracks that are hooked and fast only on the bottom of the turns in and out. Occasionally you will find a two groove track, but not common where I'm from.

Now let's say your in front and someone comes on the inside of you down the straight and into the corner. If the track has one groove, it's senseless to think you can stay on the outside of a kart through the turn. The correct response would be to soften your corner entry and actually allow him to pass. This may sound crazy to allow him to pass, but he is still at a disadvantage being on the inside going into the corner. Your objective is to wait for your opponent to cross your frontend (hoping he will overshoot the corner or push up the track) then go for the bottom of the corner on the exit. He should not be able to get a better drive off corner exit unless he is really hooked up. Your opponent's best response would be to stay as close to the bottom of the turn as possible even through corner exit. Some refer to this move as a brake check because it involves much more braking to keep from pushing up the turn and allowing someone to pass on the inside.

Patience: 10 laps @ 12 seconds is only 120 seconds of actual racetime, but alot can happen in this time. A common mistake drivers make is a lack of patience. If you know you are running faster than someone else, take the time to make a clean pass. Patience is hard to come by when your objective is to go faster. I've heard it put this way, the definition of patience is waiting in a hurry! This would definitely apply to racing. A good attitude goes along way to successful finishes. Many times I've seen short tempers cause a driver to lose focus, lose heart and lose races.

The Line: Many times impaitient drivers make the mistake of weaving back and forth down the straight looking to pass without ample time. This creates loss of momentum and does not enable the impatient driver to pass. The correct response would be to run your line even looking beyond the kart in front of you.

Inexperienced drivers have a tendency to follow other karts and not look far enough ahead. When not looking ahead properly it is difficult to judge the the line that frees the kart up most. If the driver in front of you is driving incorrectly, then the fast line is in front of him. Looking too far ahead and vice versa makes it difficult for a driver to be smooth. A good driver trains his eyes to scan the track far and near to stay smooth and on the best line possible. This also promotes safer driving.

Overdriving: A kart will only go as fast as it is hooked up! Overdriving may sometimes feel faster, but the stop watch never lies! The objective of good corner speed is to carry that speed throughout the whole turn. Corner speed will make you run faster down the straights and allow you to run less gear on the rear. Many have won races using brakes while others were flatfooting the corners. Smooth is always faster! A go-kart is not a sprint car. It doesn't have the same horsepower, so it can't be driven like one.

Note: In my opinion it's easier to correct a kart if the driver sets up too soon for the corner verses overshooting the corner.(Especially on a slick track.) It is easier to speed the kart up and keep it on the groove verses overshooting the corner and trying to slow it down.

Practicing: Nothing beats experience. But where do you practice driving other than the track? Video games have come a long way. There are dirt car and nascar games that are pretty realistic for the computer and Playstation 2. Although it's hard to get the feeling of driving by the seat of your pants on video, they are realistic enough to teach the basics of driving. I love 'em. I play 'em for hours.

Learning While Driving: I think it's safe to say that we all have missed that perfect set-up and wish we could change it while on the track. Unfortunately, that is not possible, but what is possible is to learn to adjust your driving to the set-up. Each lap has four turns. A good driver begins to learn immediately what the kart will and will not do. At all times, the driver should remember what took place the previous laps. Acting as a computer and adjusting accordingly.

Many times being out front is the slowest position on the track. Why? Because you are on defense instead of offense. Second place has the option to run different lines and try different things if he himself has pulled away from third place. Sometimes two drivers will slow each other down and allow someone from behind to catch up. But a driver must learn if somethings not working, to try something different.

Problem Scenarios: "Pushing" is when the front end of the kart wants to go straight instead of turning properly. A kart that pushes generally can be run harder into the turns, but hard to get through the corner at the apex or exit. A kart can be driven fast with a push, but the driver must anticipate the push before it happens and correct it. How? If the push is not bad the driver can slow the kart with brakes until he feels the front start to grip. He may even have to "jab'' the brake to make the rear of the kart come around and then use the throttle to keep the rear coming around and stop the "push" from coming back. Sometimes it doesn't look pretty, but we have won races doing it!

"Loose" is when the backend of the kart wants to come around and has no grip. With this condition try to transfer the weight in the kart as slow as possible. What does that mean? Well if my kart is loose I don't want to make the condition worse by oversteering, but how do I do this if this is my problem? First off don't slow down for the corner with the steering wheel, use the brakes. This will keep the kart from getting real sideways on entry. Then you must use throttle control to get through the corner smoothly. Remember, a kart is always faster moving forward than it is moving sideways. If your kart is extremely loose you may not be able to obtain full throttle until your almost down the straightaway. I know that sounds crazy, but you are literally just spinning your wheels if you can't get your horsepower to grip the track. We have won many races by throttle control when there was no grip to be found. Also try and use as much of the track as possible according to the groove. This will allow for the kart to turn less, and less likely to become loose.

Missed Gearing: Much like set-up sometimes we miss that gear that is so crucial. If the track gets faster and we don't drop teeth on the back of the kart natrually the kart will gain RPM's and not run as fast at the end of the straight. If your kart is running out of gear there is no need to run as much track as usual. This mistake can still be used to your advantage on a one groove track because your kart should pull stronger out of the corner and still make it difficult for someone to pass. I wouldn't suggest running a real high corner entry since the person behind you may be running faster at the end of the straight. If you stay in the middle of the groove going in the corner you will force him to pass on exit. And since you have a lower gear this should make it difficult for him to pass here also. Sometimes the fastest kart on the track doesn't win ! Strategy wins races !

Bad Track Conditions: I know that most of the time the track owners do what they can to prepare the track, but there are those nights when you wonder if running through a cornfield may be a little smoother than the track. It's o.k.....everyone has to run the same track. You have to learn how to overcome the track. Usually when a hole develops in the track, it's right where the fastest line is. But if you remember the strategy of how to pass people, this can be used in this situation too. To pass someone we have to run a different line than your opponet, but maintain the same speed you were running to catch him. The same holds true for finding the smooth line. You must run a different line on the track and not lose momentum. Sometimes the rough stuff is just unaviodable. But, we can hit the rough stuff at a better angle to keep the kart from hopping or bobbling by changing the apex of the corner.

Timing/Rhythm: You may have heard the term that refers to someone as being a "Rhythm" driver. Rhythm is a regular reoccurance of things happening. If your lap times are not close to the same each lap, your not reaching your maximum potential consistently. Lap times can change because of conditions, but should stay consistently faster or slower.

To be more consistent you can use landmarks to help you find places to judge the corners better. Such as rocks, holes, ripples in the track, etc. or anything that stands out to you on or off the track. I remember at certain motorcycle races we use to go to, they would draw white lines around the inside and outside of the track. I don't know whether they did this for cosmetic reasons or not, but it always helped me to judge the corners much better (especially on the flat surfaces).

A definite outline of the track to me would be the equivalent of seeing the track from an arial view. I believe corner entry could be better with a good view of the "whole" corner. Take note to what is on the inside of the corners in formula one racing. Landmarks in my opinion can help a driver to be more consistent.