Corner Speed Is Everything

Why the fastest karters obsess over their apex speed, and why you should too

This week's episode is about corner speed, apex speed or minimum speed through a corner, because the greatest contributor to a fast lap is how fast you go through a corner and how well you hold speed through a corner.

The key indicator for how quickly or how much speed you carry through a corner is your apex speed, which is the lowest speed you take through a corner. The way to frame it is how little you slow a kart down to make the corner - how much speed you keep.

To help you nail your apex speed, I’ll take you through the three main things to focus on:

1. How to feel speed through a corner and how it feels when it's right.

2. Two techniques drivers use to achieve superior corner speed, even though these techniques fundamentally disagree with each other.

3. How to measure and target higher corner speed using your data.

How to feel speed through a corner and how it feels when it's right.

How can you feel the speed through a corner? I mean, it's possible to watch your speed through a corner if you're really hawkeyed using a Mychron or Alfano etc. You can see your lowest RPM or your lowest speed for a corner, and you can practice that on a simulator, which I strongly recommend you do.

But in a kart, you're probably doing it all on feel.

The Raw Feel of Forces

When you go around a corner in a kart, you feel it through the centripetal forces that your body experiences. The faster you go, the more force there is. It's about holding force in the kart and your own body. This is the core of feeling speed through a corner - it's all in how your body interprets these forces.

Steering Grip Techniques

There are two main ways drivers feel and control these forces:

High Steering Grip: You hold the steering wheel high, with your arms acting like struts from your shoulders to the wheel. Your body is the highest point on the kart, and the arm on the outside of the turn supports you against the forces. This method makes it easier to feel the force through your arms and hold the kart steady.

Low Steering Grip: Many drivers, especially those coming from cadet karting, prefer a lower grip on the steering wheel, sometimes below the 9-15 position. With this technique, you'll feel your body being pulled outward more, and you'll rely on your core muscles and the seat to feel the force.

The Drive for More Force

Here's where it gets interesting: good drivers develop a desire to feel more and more sustained force driving through a corner. It's like an addiction - the more force you can handle, the faster you're going. The goal is to hold that cornering load stable, which enables you to reach and maintain a higher peak load.

This desire to increase the force you experience is the key to wanting more speed and pursuing perfect stability. When you get it right, you're building load all the way into the corner. As you're going through the apex, you feel the force through your body, arms, and ribs, but it's a sustained, constant force.

When you nail it, it's like your whole body is screaming "Yes!" You feel total grip through the corner, no loss of traction. The kart is happy, and it springs out of the corner with the engine pulling smoothly.

The Flip Side: Hating the Drop

While mastering corner speed is about craving more force, it's equally about despising its loss. Top drivers develop an aversion to any sudden drop in cornering force. This isn't just disappointment – it's a gut-wrenching feeling that drives improvement.

When you feel the kart slide or the force diminish, it should sting. That sensation of the kart sitting down, going wide, or losing centripetal force becomes your enemy. It's a clear signal that you've compromised your corner speed.

This hatred for force loss pushes you to maintain perfect stability throughout the corner and, indeed, the entire lap. It's about creating a mindset where your body instinctively works to maximize force continuously, treating any drop as a failure to be analysed and corrected.

By balancing the desire for maximum force with an aversion to its loss, you create a powerful mental framework for consistently fast cornering.

The Fitness Factor

Here's a crucial point: without fitness, your body naturally wants less load. It's fighting against what you're trying to achieve. That's why top kart drivers are in peak physical condition. They've trained their bodies not just to tolerate these forces, but to crave them.

The fitter you are, the more load you can handle, and the faster you can push through corners. It's a physical battle as much as a driving skill. You're literally training your body to withstand forces that it naturally wants to avoid.

Techniques for Hitting Maximum Corner Speed