Hi. I’ve just started going to a karting school, and my coach taught me the basic cornering technique:
Lift off the throttle.
Brake in a straight line.
Gently get back on the throttle.
Then start turning.
But when I watch a lot of onboard videos, I see drivers braking while turning—kind of like trail braking—and then getting on the throttle at the apex.
I know every corner is different, but what’s considered the standard technique?
I always thought trail braking was the key to hitting the apex before accelerating out.
What you’ve described is a pretty basic technique, so would make sense to start out trying to perfect that. Once you are comfortable with the limit of the brakes, then you can start to push that braking zone deeper into the corner and try to introduce some trailbraking if you’d like. Braking is one of the toughest aspects of driving to master, so usually beginners start out working on straight-line braking so they aren’t trying to combine too many inputs at once, making everything a bit more complicated.
Most of the fastest guys are doing some level of trailbraking for many corners. However, they started out mastering a feel for the brake pedal like you’re doing, before they started diving into the corner and rolling some brake into the turn-in phase.
There isn’t really a “standard” technique. Everyone has a little different style. The best drivers have all different kinds of styles mastered, to apply to different corners when it suits.
I have been karting for almost 15 years and am just now beginning to understand (nowhere near master) this piece of driving. I spent the first 10-12 just trying to get good at the basic technique you described in your first post. Definitely start there and you will get competitive fast. Then once you are competitive with your basic technique, you can start working on the advanced.
In general, you want to be back to throttle before you get to the apex, or at the apex at the latest. You want to be on throttle as early as possible without upsetting the kart. If you watch on-boards of any of the fastest guys, you will see them almost all getting to throttle before the apex.
The problem with stomping the throttle AT apex is you introduce a bunch of lateral load and torsion into the frame right when the kart is already at it’s most laterally loaded point of the corner. Adding more force at this point can very easily upset the kart and cause snap oversteer or handling issues. Getting to throttle before the apex allows you to drive through the corner without shocking the kart with aggressive input.
Yes but this makes it seem like these are discrete steps and sequential. In practice, this becomes a fluid motion which is either very quick or sometimes not. For me, the key is to be either on gas or on brake and I’d like to be on brakes as little and as short as possible, and into throttle as early as possible. Sometimes that’s waaaaay before the apex and sometimes it’s at the apex.
I’d offer to think of the two pedals as being more analogous to a planes rudder control where one input forces the others output. But they aren’t necessarily moving at the same rate… the throttle may need to come in slow or might be a rapid stomp, depending upon the turn. Same with brake… sometimes it’s a very short thing, sometimes it’s a trail.
But I think in general, that’s the right idea, as shown above in your text. It’s just that there’s a feel element that comes over time and a confidence and understanding of how the kart rotates (or not) from your inputs. In time you aren’t doing steps like presented as it all merges together. I would say that 3 and 4 are generally more simultaneous rather than 3 then 4. Maybe one way to think of it is trying to never be coasting, to always have some input going to the kart. The timing of those inputs relative to the braking, turn in, and run out vary.
Struggling a bit to express what I’m trying to communicate. What I don’t want you to think is that these phases are steps with blank spots between them. It’s one continuous thing that varies a lot in its execution depending upon the turn. But yeah, don’t overdrive the corner… brake to get back in gas as early as you can… and try not to let the kart go slack. The balance of the kart dictates what you can do pedal wise, and it’s a feel thing. But, you have to do a lot of corners to get that feel. But that above description is a pretty good start.
That’s my bag too. Low hp is all about learning to squeeze all of the efficiency out of the turn and maintaining as much momentum as possible. It will serve you very well to learn how to drive fast on low power. Also, big heavy rentals are rather unforgiving of sloppiness and you will eventually get very good at not bleeding speed/revs off.
Along with what everyone has said. Lift, brake, accelerate, and then turn is the easiest to be consistent. Braking while turning is easy to get out of shape and delaying the return to throttle. Adding throttle mid turn changes the handling some also possibly upsetting the kart if you do not adjust accordingly. First goal is consistent laps. Then starting looking for more and more and possibly braking further into the corner
What you will see on onboard videos is going to look different then what your being told. no one is going to brake down to a speed then speed up again to start a turn.your instructor is just trying to give you safe steps to follow to get you around the track and start to feel turns prioritizing exit speed . hes getting you down to something comfortable speed wise well before any turning action is needed. more steps will follow that will build up skills to get you closer to the point where you can start to put the pieces all together . if he told you to brake at the absolute latest spot, go right up to the point of locking the wheels , then back off in harmony with your turn in till the kart rotates while transferring to neutral steering , feather the throttle as much as you can w/o going over the slip angle , use every inch of entry hit apex and every inch of exit it probably wont work. there are many more factors that people will subconsciously do w.o thinking shaping the lines as needed per corner working with the weight transfer of the kart etc etc .
All good advice here. Training yourself on braking points, finding maximum braking, and being able to do this lap after lap is the goal. As an added challenge, this can vary based on the class you run too. If you have your own kart you may find the brakes are different than the rental too. You will see racers bleed brakes on a regular basis just so the pedal is as consistent as possible. As pads wear you may notice the feel changes which can make maximum braking tricky too. All part of the learning process. Enjoy the journey!
Oh hey, here’s something to consider and mess about with. Putting power down makes the kart want to go straight (harder to turn). Lifting off power makes the kart turn easy. Braking makes the kart want to spin, ultimately (it’s baked into how a kart turns sorta).
Also bear in mind that pedal inputs aren’t binary on/off. Sometimes you are using a tiny bit of throttle to balance the kart, sometimes a tiny bit of brake to imbalance the kart.
If you haven’t seen this, it may help as you go along.
This is exactly what we teach new students, you gotta walk before you can run. Get used to doing this then advance on to lock up braking and trail braking.
@Terence_Dove ‘s book Master the art of kart driving is a great resource especially the chapter on braking - order it and inwardly digest. I regularly use his braking exercises on my students
