I qualified 8th. Didn’t get a great feeling of the kart, coming from two completely wet practice heats. This meant that I would start 8th in the first heat, and on pole for the second heat (because top 8 is running a reverse grid format).
I was on fire at the start, and quickly made my way to the inside, thus making up about 4 places after avoiding some carnage. I was though too aggressive and picked the wrong fights, running me wide and outside the clean line. All the marbles on my tires were now sending me further down the order, as I was punted around by everyone. This meant finishing 12th in the first heat.
Second heat I started poke, aced the start and didn’t have to block all that much in the first corner. I had a great feeling and was very confident. I was not the quickest guy on track, and around lap 5 i got overtaken by two faster drivers. I hooked onto them and tried my best to learn and analyse how to get quicker around the track, but I pushed too hard for one corner and fell outside their slipstream. One guy behind me was catching up and got in my slipstream, and in the third to last corner of the last lap I felt he was too close for comfort and I slammed the door in the braking zone. He punted me straight off and sent me onto the grass.
Finished 10th. Such a shame, as everything was going to plan perfectly.
Final I started 7th and held my place all the way throughout, but penalties for a driver in front promoted me to 6th.
I wasn’t satisfied with the final as I felt the speed was lacking towards the end. My kart was a bit hard to drive, maybe because the rear could be gripping up as the tires went hotter.
A lot learned. A lot to learn. Looking forward to giving it my all next weekend again 😎
I’m not used to driving under grippy conditions, so whenever we are 100+ karts on track with grippy tires on a sunny day, I tend to loose a bit of pace as the track grips up. I’ve only ever raced once internationally, at Le Mans IWF22. I found it difficult to adapt to driving under the grippy(er) conditions, so I believe that I need to look inward to find the missing tenths. Problem is, that I only get the chance to practise in those grippy conditions at sunny races with many competitors.
Looking to drive one of the Iame Benelux races in Genk in July, where I hopefully can improve my driving and experiment amongst the toughest drivers.
My best bet would be entry to the corners. I'm having difficulty adjusting the speed I carry into the corners, because I always feel that the kart is nervous or hopping on turn in. This makes it difficult to drive smoothly, and I always get the feel that the kart is bogging down mid corner, and I loose a ton on exit. I usually solve this by trail braking a lot, as this helps the kart "stay beneath me" and not dance around, making it easier to get smoothly on the gas and drive a correct trajectory. It all happens really briefly, it's like balance walking like a line dancer. My dad and i decided to "buy" one of the mechanics, from the team I have been a part of since start 2023, for this race. He has about 30 years of racing experience, on his own and with his son and other members of previous teams he as been a part of (he also owns the team I race with). His son raced for the EGP race team, and later drove KZ for the Tony Kart manefacturer team, so i trust in them to know what to do setup-wise. He made all the changes to my kart this weekend. I therefore blame my own driving rather than the kart and setup. Sadly I did not get the chance to speak with him about the problems I had with the grippy conditions of the final, as he had to head home in the middle of the final. I'm going to speak with him on friday when preparing for this next weekend's race, but until then I ping-pong my thoughts around in my head and study the data.
As of right now, I'm finishing up one of my school assignments which is due tonight, but I'm planning to hopefully read your book over again to reflect on my problems
Ok, have you thought about roll time, which is a period of time mid corner without power or brake. Some drivers say it's essential, some think it's complete nonsense.
When I drive under the usual dull and slippery conditions (the tracks of Denmark mostly are) I focus on having a split second of roll time when coming comepletely off the brake before applying throttle. This helps the kart rotate just the last bit.
In the grippy conditions however, I feel that when I roll the same amount of time, the kart begins to get unstable (mabye because it isn't constantly loaded by either braking or accelerating). To fix this I either get on the gas while trailbraking (brake and gas at the same time) or roll for longer till the kart settles. The problem with rolling for so long is that it gets very hard to gently introduce the gas. It is as if the kart just sits down and plants itself so hard that sometimes it steps sideways. When I mix the brake and throttle, and comepletely forget the rolling, I feel it's harder to get the entry speed right and know when to let go of the brake (thus resulting in a bad exit, as I'm holding back the kart by braking)
I sense that I'm sometimes contradicting myself when reflecting on this, which just creates confusion for me. I wish for an answer and a concrete thing I can go practise and improve on.
Exactly. When I don't know what to focus on I feel like I'm blindly fumbling around with different driving styles that completely contradict what I previously have learned.
How did it go?
I qualified 8th. Didn’t get a great feeling of the kart, coming from two completely wet practice heats. This meant that I would start 8th in the first heat, and on pole for the second heat (because top 8 is running a reverse grid format).
I was on fire at the start, and quickly made my way to the inside, thus making up about 4 places after avoiding some carnage. I was though too aggressive and picked the wrong fights, running me wide and outside the clean line. All the marbles on my tires were now sending me further down the order, as I was punted around by everyone. This meant finishing 12th in the first heat.
Second heat I started poke, aced the start and didn’t have to block all that much in the first corner. I had a great feeling and was very confident. I was not the quickest guy on track, and around lap 5 i got overtaken by two faster drivers. I hooked onto them and tried my best to learn and analyse how to get quicker around the track, but I pushed too hard for one corner and fell outside their slipstream. One guy behind me was catching up and got in my slipstream, and in the third to last corner of the last lap I felt he was too close for comfort and I slammed the door in the braking zone. He punted me straight off and sent me onto the grass.
Finished 10th. Such a shame, as everything was going to plan perfectly.
Final I started 7th and held my place all the way throughout, but penalties for a driver in front promoted me to 6th.
I wasn’t satisfied with the final as I felt the speed was lacking towards the end. My kart was a bit hard to drive, maybe because the rear could be gripping up as the tires went hotter.
A lot learned. A lot to learn. Looking forward to giving it my all next weekend again 😎
Yeah, plenty learned there! If the kart isn't right again, do you think you can get the best result the kart can deliver?
I’m not used to driving under grippy conditions, so whenever we are 100+ karts on track with grippy tires on a sunny day, I tend to loose a bit of pace as the track grips up. I’ve only ever raced once internationally, at Le Mans IWF22. I found it difficult to adapt to driving under the grippy(er) conditions, so I believe that I need to look inward to find the missing tenths. Problem is, that I only get the chance to practise in those grippy conditions at sunny races with many competitors.
Looking to drive one of the Iame Benelux races in Genk in July, where I hopefully can improve my driving and experiment amongst the toughest drivers.
Do you have an idea what you aren't getting correct in high grip conditions?
My best bet would be entry to the corners. I'm having difficulty adjusting the speed I carry into the corners, because I always feel that the kart is nervous or hopping on turn in. This makes it difficult to drive smoothly, and I always get the feel that the kart is bogging down mid corner, and I loose a ton on exit. I usually solve this by trail braking a lot, as this helps the kart "stay beneath me" and not dance around, making it easier to get smoothly on the gas and drive a correct trajectory. It all happens really briefly, it's like balance walking like a line dancer. My dad and i decided to "buy" one of the mechanics, from the team I have been a part of since start 2023, for this race. He has about 30 years of racing experience, on his own and with his son and other members of previous teams he as been a part of (he also owns the team I race with). His son raced for the EGP race team, and later drove KZ for the Tony Kart manefacturer team, so i trust in them to know what to do setup-wise. He made all the changes to my kart this weekend. I therefore blame my own driving rather than the kart and setup. Sadly I did not get the chance to speak with him about the problems I had with the grippy conditions of the final, as he had to head home in the middle of the final. I'm going to speak with him on friday when preparing for this next weekend's race, but until then I ping-pong my thoughts around in my head and study the data.
As of right now, I'm finishing up one of my school assignments which is due tonight, but I'm planning to hopefully read your book over again to reflect on my problems
Ok, have you thought about roll time, which is a period of time mid corner without power or brake. Some drivers say it's essential, some think it's complete nonsense.
When I drive under the usual dull and slippery conditions (the tracks of Denmark mostly are) I focus on having a split second of roll time when coming comepletely off the brake before applying throttle. This helps the kart rotate just the last bit.
In the grippy conditions however, I feel that when I roll the same amount of time, the kart begins to get unstable (mabye because it isn't constantly loaded by either braking or accelerating). To fix this I either get on the gas while trailbraking (brake and gas at the same time) or roll for longer till the kart settles. The problem with rolling for so long is that it gets very hard to gently introduce the gas. It is as if the kart just sits down and plants itself so hard that sometimes it steps sideways. When I mix the brake and throttle, and comepletely forget the rolling, I feel it's harder to get the entry speed right and know when to let go of the brake (thus resulting in a bad exit, as I'm holding back the kart by braking)
I sense that I'm sometimes contradicting myself when reflecting on this, which just creates confusion for me. I wish for an answer and a concrete thing I can go practise and improve on.
Right, so when you are confused you will need a really clear theory to work on that you are prepared to put time into.
Exactly. When I don't know what to focus on I feel like I'm blindly fumbling around with different driving styles that completely contradict what I previously have learned.