Radical Kart Setups, Radical Results: How Unconventional Thinking Transforms Your Racing

Defy Conventional Karting Wisdom and Forge Your Own Path to Victory

Back in the day I just checked the bolts were tight and used the set-up we were told - God only knows what that chassis could have done!

You're constantly hounding anyone and everyone for the "perfect" kart setup. Your chassis supplier, your mechanic, that fast driver you know - you're convinced that if you could nick their setup secrets, you'll be faster.

By relying on others to dictate your setup, you're not just shooting yourself in the foot, you're kneecapping your own development as a driver. You're skipping the crucial step of truly understanding and dialing in your own kart..

Contrast that with the helplessness we feel when we go around begging for free advice, or worse when we pay for the advice and feel subordinate to the might of those in the know - nothing demotivates drivers more than being a passenger!

Karting has a Massive advantage over other Motor Racing - Use it

I can’t help but crowbar Blade into these!

One of the greatest advantages of karting, compared to other forms of motorsport, is the far superior amount of track time available for open testing and therefore experimentation. We can spend entire days at the track, putting in lap after lap, trying out different setups and configurations, and really getting to grips with how our karts behave and respond. It's an incredible chance to deepen our understanding and hone our skills - something you just can’t do without spending thousands on track fees in the car world.

Beware the “Testing” Trap

Yet all too often, we fall into what I call the "testing” trap. We arrive at the track with a specific lap time target in mind, and we immediately set about trying to achieve it using all the conventional wisdom and tried-and-tested setup changes.

We might ask around the paddock for the "ideal" tyre pressures for the conditions, the "perfect" gearing for the day, or the "standard" baseline settings for our particular chassis. Then we spend the day making incremental tweaks, chasing tenths and hundredths, hoping to edge closer to that magic number.

If we hit our target, we congratulate ourselves on a job well done and head home satisfied. If we don't, we scratch our heads, and wonder what we missed. But in either case, have we really maximised our learning and development? Have we truly expanded our understanding of our karts and how to extract the most from them? No. We've simply learned how to be quick-ish on that specific day, in those specific conditions, with a setup that someone else has deemed "correct."

For me that is a giant ‘So what?!’. You were already a fast driver, and you already knew all those set-ups so what was the point other than a chance to go through tyres and fuel?

You Need to Totally Change Your Priorities and Targets for Testing