Correct. That is what I see, but I mean, you drive the track every day, so I guess you would go wider if it would benefit you. I think you can give it a go, although I bet it is very tricky to control the kart with such specific layout, going up and down.
I will give it a shot. I have been actually heading left diagonally of late. I’ll try tonight.
Edit: Pavle, I think you are correct. It is obviously better from that side, even the rubber shows it. I think what must have happened is that after flying into the wall a bunch of times, I must have sorta trained myself to avoid the left.
What’s very cool about this observation of yours is that it now opens up the next on top of the hill bit so much more nicely. It’s easier to come over the top of the hill at it’s apex. It’s therefore easier to stay in the rubber.
The immediate offshoot of trying to be far left for the 2nd turn in is that I had a pretty incredible session just now. Very fast, a bunch of 45s and a new Optimal of 45.3.
Your little turn in change just changed a lot, it seems.
Here’s a lap. Is the entrance here more like what you were saying?
Better example maybe:
Yes, this is what I meant. It seems more logical but it looks like you have a latter acceleration or I did not see well. So this can cost you time if you don´t drive very precisely. I think with a bit of practice you can gain a lot of time here. By the way, something between 1st and 2nd video is the line I would choose. The first one is good, but I feel it can be just a bit wider and it will get you a better run.
I found something interesting. It is also related to this topics title. Look at this guys footage, it is from the Be Winner 7, final. Look at 0:52, 1:46, 2:43 and so on, at the hairpin.
Look at the footwork. He brakes, after braking he immediately accelerates, lifts, accelerates. What can this possibly do for him? Any explanation?
By the way, these were new karts, only a year old. Now they are over 4 years old.
Yeah I do it too. Well, I can’t actually see it well but I think it is similar. First I brake, then I accelerate but rental karts have the tendency to understeer. So I lift midcorner for a split second, just before the apex, and then throttle to upset the kart by inducing weight transfer from back to front and back again. I feel a small rotation because of the weight transfer, making it easier to accelerate without running wide.
I’m not saying this is a perfect technique but it works for me. I think a perfect trailbraking technique should be faster but in a rental kart you often have little feel in the brake pedal.
Fun race! Well, typically lifting allows for faster rotation. At a cost. But it can get you around real quick.
I am guessing that in the low HP karts it probably still works. You could theoretically lift right before 9 turn in to speed up rotation. It would also slow you down a hair.
Lap beginning at 3;27, I like what I see in the beginning through switchback. You could do that.
Actually, when I think about it, I did that in my last session, under 50s one. I did that in first 3 turns, actually before turn 2. I find this type of braking at the hairpin more interesting as I see he is going very fast and he doest´t understeer much. So a lift mid-corner is something that could help? I always thought the engine wouldn´t like a lift when it is not really necessary to do so…
The lift to rotate isn’t mid corner. It’s more like right before you turn in. In any case, you could, for fun, try lifting between 8 and 9 turn in. I say this because it will slow you down a bit while rotating you so maybe it’s faster. Doubtful but worth a try.
It’s not even necessarily a complete lift. Can be partial. You are just moving weight off the nose briefly right before you turn the wheel in. It’s very quick, normally. There’s no coasting.
I actually do that from time to time, in case I go in too hot so I need to correct my line. It does help, but I think it just slows me down too much. I feel that riding that curb at 9 is a good option, I have seen people doing that quite often (probably slows them down just a bit and sends them wide nicely, while shortening the distance through the corner), especially in races and the guy in that video did it, as well as people in front. I might do some twitches here and there but generally a tiny lift or curb riding should do the job. I think I will need to lift on 10 and 11 as well, tyres screaming too much there.
Not necessarily a full lift even. It could be a partial reduction in throttle somewhere between 9-10. Enough to allow you to then attack 10 up into 11.
At the Sacramento track in California, there’s a tight 180° turn leading to a short straightaway. I was only in my 2nd or 3rd year and I still had a lot to learn. Sometimes I would make that turn drifting out to the very edge of that short straight, sometimes I would drop a wheel, or looked like I was going to, and I would flap the throttle to prevent dropping the wheel. When you flap the throttle, the engine cools down, just a little, and it takes a bit, after you hit the throttle again, to get back up to full power. I soon found myself, quite by accident, not letting off the throttle but instead, touching the brakes just enough to stay on the track. I rationalized, not flapping the throttle would keep the engine up to temp, and with the engine up to temp, I knew I would be producing more horsepower.
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Interesting way to slow down, I really like the idea.
Just a question. I heard that throttling and braking at the same time can cause damage to the engine and the clutch. I assume these two overlap for a fraction of a second, so I guess it won´t cause any problems right?
That is the way people start races as well (throttle-brake, then release brake), so I guess it won´t harm the engine much.
Don’t misunderstand, you don’t want to abuses this technique. I never used the throttle and break, at the same time, at any other place on the track. I learned to break in as deep as possible, in a straight line, off the throttle, and at the proper moment, started my turn, getting back onto the throttle as soon as possible and powering of the turn. Funny how you remember these little things. I remember the exact corner in the race at which I learned this important driving technique. My 1st big win at the Coca-Cola championships in Herndon California at the River racetrack. The trophy was a desk lamp with a nameplate and distorted Coca-Cola can. That lamp stayed on my desk until about sometime in the early 2000’s. Something like 40 years.
@Stacker Terence Dove has a chapter in his book where he reluctantly discusses “power braking” (gas and brake simultaneously). I think his conclusion was it’s hard on your engine and generally not a good idea but in some circumstances can be helpful.
It’s no different from going up a steep hill. At 2 tracks that I know of, Laguna Seca and the big track at Willow Springs, they have steep hills. At both tracks, you pull up a very steep hill and the clutch is slipping, and at both tracks this condition last for maybe 2 to 4 seconds, so what’s the difference between that and touching the brakes for just a moment coming out of a turn?? I can’t see where the engine would be able to tell the difference in either situation.
A rough analogy would be going slow around real tight turns because it’s hard on the tires. lol.
All my previous racing experience has been track days in small cars that have no right to be on a racetrack 
. One of the techniques I relied on heavily to reduce understeer was left foot breaking or power breaking. I utilized this technique the first few times on track in a go kart. The faster I go, the less I use it. With seat time I might find a place for it that will speed me up.
P.s. pic of me racing a car that shouldn’t be raced
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I love it. I do like me some body roll so long as the tires dig in.
The body roll was partly by design to increase front end grip. Rear was about 50% stiffer to aide rear rotation. I had plans to increase the stiffness of the rear springs even more, but, have since sold the car. Fair bit of work was done to the suspension and lowering the center of gravity of that car and was able to lap around Queensland Raceway Sprint Track with the same lap times as a turbo charged version of the same car that was on semi slicks (I was on street tires).
Understood guys. I will be on a lookout for a place on track to test this, I have few corners in mind, I will give it a go next time I go out. I will be there more often, it is qualy time!