Essentials for rain day?

Looks like I may get a really rainy weekend race so if that’s the case, any tips and tricks on setup, driving, what to bring, etc would be great. Thanks!

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multi pairs of socks! nothing worth than having wet feet all day.

as far as set up goes that depends a bit on chassis and the tyre you are using

This probably goes without saying but good, newer rain tires are a must. I tried running a several season old set of rain tires in the wet and they were about as useless as slicks.

Your visor will fog up especially if you are breathing heavy. I haven’t found a good solution for this but be prepared for difficult visibility. Rain-X might help too.

I know your track doesn’t have much rubber build up but generally your racing line will change to stay out of the main groove in the turns.

General consensus is to widen the front and narrow the rear. The idea is for the front tires to clear a patch on the pavement for the rears. Also increasing caster with help with the outside rear biting into the track. Another suggestion is to raise your COG. You can raise the seat or just sit on some padding. It should help with weight transfer. Smooth throttle application will help with higher horsepower/torque engines. I recall you running Animal and this might make a difference compared to LO206.

Widen the front, narrow the rear, max caster, add toe out, positive camber, raise center of gravity.

Front bar either full stiff or out depending on your chassis. Some karts like to flex and some like the bar in to jack weight in the rain. Axle will be dependent on chassis too. Some karts like super soft, some like super stiff.

The main thing in the rain is driving. Can easily be worth seconds. Charge the corner, crank the wheel to force the kart to jack and help use the front tires to slow down, drive off the rubber/racing line, don’t spin out.

Most people drive way too conservatively in the rain. You need to attack corner entry and then finesse the kart off the exit, modulating throttle and steering to keep from spinning up the rear tires.

Bring spare socks and rubber gloves to wear under your racing gloves. And a spare pair of racing gloves if you have them. Sucks to drive with wet gloves in the event it dries out at some point in the day.

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Rain shield for air box.

Be sure to also drill a hole in the bottom of your seat to let the water drain, otherwise it’ll accumulate and you’ll find yourself sitting in a puddle.

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Bring a sense of humor. It will be exciting and you will spin a lot. :joy:

Also, rain suit or garbage bags. I did a race without rain suit and every puddle ends up in your lap. I was soaked from head to toe and thoroughly miserable (but happy to race). Bring a change of clothing, too.

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To help control visor fogging in the rain, I have a clear rain visor that has about a half dozen small holes drilled in the front of it to vent my breath.

You’ll find a pronounced difference between braking and cornering grip. Modern wet tires have oodles of grip, you’ll be surprised how much speed you can carry through a turn.

Also, if time permits, don’t be afraid to try a session or two on slicks.

I’ll slap on my clear visor. That was the biggest mistake I made on my first rain race. I also cracked it open just slightly

So try to use the front wheels as a plow kind of? In this case would that make turn in earlier than usual? Also I have a practice day, so I’ll be able to look at data after that day and put it towards the next. What should I look for in data when it comes to rain? I’ll bring a bunch of socks. Didn’t think of that

Already preparing for the worst😂 it’s going to be sketchy AF, as there are blind and off camber turns that are flat out usually.
Shifters are going to have to properly send it, they hit 105mph normally on this track and average like 80

I was amazed when I first drove on wets. Got 3rd as well that race.
This one will be different, as the rain looks like it could be very intense, or miss us completely. It’s also a car track and 1.4 miles long

Also, it’s good to have a dry spare air filter; otherwise, make sure it’s dry after each session.

My teams trailer has a box of em, I’ll make sure to take advantage of that

You’ll probably be turning earlier because the kart isn’t going to respond right away, but you’re mostly going to be super-late apexing most corners to stay off the rubber on entry.

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here are some track surface images. does it look rubbered in? Im not quite sure what to look for. only rain race I did it seemed normal-ish lines were faster than avoiding rubber, but that was a different track

Pretty impossible to tell. But you’ll feel if there’s rubber or not the first lap.

what exactly is the technique for using the front tires to slow down? ie throttle application, brake application, steering application? I would think the kart would turn fairly quickly or spin if I tried to plow the front wheels. but ive only driven in light/medium rain