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Digging thr Airwing decal on your lid . . . 
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Thatās a good idea. I did do few races with him but not much. Up until now we managed with rental kart with local stuff but to go to the next level weāll need all professional gear like racing Helmet,shoes,suit, obviously Kart itself. I would need some advice from you folks on the shopping list.
My worry is that he shouldnāt give up mid way while weāre deep into Karting(heavy investments, practice etc.) . You donāt know with kids, they start with pomp and show & then the enthusiasm dies down. I hope the enthusiasm graph goes up, at the moment he is super excited and looks forward to his Karting Classes.
How was it in your case? Was your kidās excitement up & up? How did you manage to keep him motivated?
Oof. In my case, I am the karting nut. My son is the calm, casual easygoing racer. He never aspired to F1.
I started karting on a whim with him, in that he liked driving the golf kart when we went out. He had navigated a rather complex turn and it occurred to me that he should try karting.
We ended up finding a place in California that we could go spend 3-4 days at where they provided karts and coaching, all day. It was awesome.
Anyways, one thing led to another, and we started racing 125 TAG here in the F-series. We did that for a couple seasons, together, he racing Junior X30 and me, Masters X30. We had an incredible time.
After a while, things got complicated as we decided to give boarding school a try. Two-stroke racing is not cheap, so we had to give it up.
Instead, we dove into the local rental racing opportunities. With Nickās more complicated school demands, planning for racing became hard. Rental leagues were a cheap and easy solution. We also got into doing rental endurance racing, which we travel for. Itās kind of replaced going to California together.
Nick, as a teen, enjoys racing, But, he enjoys other things, too, more. I think he races to be with me now, and because it is fun. He keeps getting better as he gets older (with no practice). With maturity he became less impulsive/intuitive and more thoughtful/rational. Determined, but easygoing.
I never pushed him, at all. So he just kinda made decisions in his own little head about what he wanted to do. He overcame his fears on his own terms, quietly. He never meant to be a racer but gave it a go, and got pretty good, too. I think he is very proud of that. I sure am.
Itās been a great thing for both of us and continues to be so. With some luck, Iāll get to go racing with my grandkids!
I am not sure how the karting scene looks in India, but here, good equipment can always be resold. But, the intital investment ( and ongoing expenses) are not trivial. Its so subjective. But, if money isnāt a huge deal, Iād run him till he drops, personally. If he sayās itās enough, listen. The lessons he learns in racing really tie in nicely with real-life situations and the kids seem to mature nicely. I have yet to meet any twerps in racing. If you can, be a part of a team.
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Thanks Warren. Hope this attitude matures with age. At the moment itās more like a āCat-Mouseā overtake where he plans little and gets involved in a messy fight which goes on & on for many laps!
And then picks the next guy and does the same. Itās never a clean,planned overtake with little drama.
Dom,
Your YouTube channel ( I subscribed) has some amazing videos of you two. Your son has matured so well in Karting (Iām sure in personal life too). I agree with you when you say youāre the more aggressive/competitive one! 
Itās so nice to see such a good āFather-sonā relationship on & off the track! Such things help make the bond stronger.
He has a good smile by the way.
Yes schooling & sports will be hard to balance. Maybe after a point one has make a hard choice to go all out professional or semi-professional with other interests.
Karting scene in India is just decent to say the least. Wouldnāt say itās top class when you compare to the competition level in Europe.
Except tires, nothing is manufactured in the country. Everything has to be imported from Italy/Europe and the cost goes 2x at the minimum due to high taxes/duties. 2 stroke is particularly expensive than the regular 4 stroke ones. Then there are other big issues- not enough quality tracks, few races and hard-to-find good race mechanics. Indian Karters barely manage to enter top 20-25 in the world championships. Europe is the hub for professional Karting, they have some really good tracks and races to compete.
Yes, Iāve enrolled him in a local karting team albeit a new one. They have made grand promises to do this and that. Letās see. They have a tie-up with Kart-Republic (Dino Chiesa) as sole supplier of KR kart in India. Everything is new-new.
I saw you posted some KartKart sim videos on your YouTube channel. How is Kart sim w.r.t real world racing? Is it helpful? Sorry for so many questions but Iāve to think 2 steps ahead in this ultra-Competitive & Ultra-Expensive sport.
PS: I work for a San-Diego based company, I visit California once in 2 years or so, will checkout the local karting circuit the next time Iām there.
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This is something you learn about when you start racing. Battling for position slows you and the person you are battling with down, and brings the pack to you.
One of the hardest things to do is to learn how to not stick your nose in unless the pass is 95%.
The ātaskā: For me, I started to understand this when @tjkoyen would point out in my videos reviews what was going on. He told me about his āno window shoppingā rule. If you go into the store, buy something and get out. No window shopping, no browsing.
The task is maintaining your momentum, losing as little time as possible, to be like water and find path of least resistance. Sometimes this means holding pace, carefully, holding back for the logical moment to pass. Learning when to push and when to maintain/observe/bide your time takes many race starts (and frustrated laps).
Cool! Our team was fun and the kids enjoyed racing under the tent together. Hopefully itās a collaborative group and the kids work on line and technique together.
I think so. But, bear in mind that sim and real life arenāt exactly alike. Sim follows the same physics and behaviors, itās just a bit different. Technique is subtly different.
I think itās very useful but someone who learned on sim isnāt going to be immediately fast. They would need to adjust to the differences of irl grip etc.
I find it really useful for staying sharp and trying new things.
Ultimately, one major factor regarding how well someone can use there experience to improve performance, is how well they understand the ātaskā. You say Reyansh plans little, and this may be the case. However, itās also possible that he does plan, but he does not really understand the objective, so his plan is not optimal.
On the surface, for all racers, being in front of someone is better than being behind themā¦ thatās racer DNA 101. However, when you realize you are in a war (to defeat EVERYONE in the race), instead of just a bunch of individual battles (against the specific driver in front of you - or the driver trying to get by you), then you can start thinking of the battles as strategic stepping stones to win the war, instead of do or die individuals confrontations.
That said, some times drivers do end up in a battle, with a relatively equal competitor, that can take several laps to win. However, it sounds like maybe you are saying that Reyansh may be trying to win battles by throwing Banzai moves, ruining his momentum, and getting passed back?
Anyway, Reyansh is too young to understand the stuff above, but since he is a Lewis Hamilton fan, maybe he would understand something like:
āSome drivers try to pass by throwing aggressive move after aggressive move; like a python trying to strangle itās prey. Lewis, studies he prey, and when the time is right, he strikes quickly and decisively.ā
Another way to help him understand the task of overtaking is to watch good examples. Below is a video of a top level driver who had a 1st lap problem at the 2021 KA-100 Supernats final in Las Vegas. He dropped to the end of the field, and worked his way back to the front, displaying example after example of excellent overtakes; although ultimately it didnāt end well for him.
If you have Reyansh watch it, give him a book or plate to use as a steering wheel, and tell him to drive along (gas, steering, and brakes)ā¦ imagine what it feels likeā¦ imagine how it feels when the rear tires are chirping, etc. If he enjoys that, then have him watch some of the best passes in slow motion (slow the video down with the YouTube settings).
Good luck!
Thankyou Warren. Your new word āBanzaiā aptly describes his driving style at the moment. He somehow manages to overtake the next in line and then they both play cat-n-mouse at each otherās tail before dragging a third one into a messy fight. This goes on and on till they get to the race leader. Not only itās risky as they are bumper to bumper but also very slow for every racer involved in this messy fight. They all loose precious lap time which at times hurt them when a smart driver goes from the side and finishes 1st.
War Vs Battle analogy is a very good way to approach racing. You have given some very good pointers to me to pass on. Iām very eager to install a Video cam to record his practice sessions to show him his mistakes.
That supernat series race video is awesome! So many amazing overtakes that guy made. Will surely make him watch and tell his response.
By the way, Little Hamilton says Thankyou to you for such valueable tips
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Thankyou Dom for describing THE ātaskā in such an amazing way. Such simple words go a long way in explaining things to a 7 year old. I canāt use big words or complex analogy to explain him his mistakes, actionable inputs for a 7year old keeps things simple.
His overtakes drags everyone into the mess, from a distance is looks like a train with compartments get added in front and back. Super risky moves makes the whole thing look unsustainable as there is always a risk of colliding and loosing everything!
Unplanned/non-technical overtakes costs precious lap time and becomes a hit-or-miss thing.
I got some very good inputs from you and Warren. I also read some of your other updates in many useful threads. I love the openness of this amazing community.
Big thankyou from both of us. Will keep you posted on his progress vis-a-vis your inputs.
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You are welcome. A camera to record is very helpful. I find that seeing stuff after the fact helps better understand what went down. Feel free to post footage for critique/help.
Iām always taken back by the mental fortitude it takes recover from an accident like that, just to battle back and move through the field. Feels like it would be easy to get frustrated and throw your hands up.
When it happens, you have to channel that frustration like a Sith Lord.
Young kids often have problems being ātoo niceā out there, so a setback might piss them off enough to drive with a little fire and intensity. Sometimes itās channeled and controlled mental strength to put in a recovery drive, sometimes itās pure blind red mist aggression.
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I kind of dig it, sometimes. Preferably not the finals of a big race, but getting sent to the back turns on āGodzilla Modeā.
I am coming through, GTFO.
Hi, new to the forum and karting! @E13 I took that shot of @highSRT on the Pixel (Pro 6). It has a āmotion modeā that allows you to pan and the phone will work some magic. While not as clean as a DSLR (another hobby of mine), it does the job.
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Funny you mention that, my son has a reputation as being the āsweet little guyā and was pretty mild mannered on track. Until he was spun out from 3rd place, had a back marker absolutely slam into him and take off his nose cone, I expected him to climb out of the kart, but instead he slammed his fists on the steering wheel, took off, caught and passed 2 kids without his nose cone, had a great race day haha.
Another time they were on the warm up lap, and this kid somehow went right over the back of him, tore off his spark plug and air cleaner, the kidās rear wheel landed on my sonās wrist so hard it bent the steering wheel. Again, I expected him to want to pack it in, instead he asked me to fix his kart, tape his wrist so he could punch that kid out, and get back on track haha. We went home that day, iced his wrist, I fixed his kart and we went back for the second round of a double header the next day and he drove like a mad man, still fuming.
So long story short, thereās a fire breathing dragon in there, just needs to be woken up.
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Thatās truly incredible. Panning shots on a dslr are really tough. (But more fun to take)
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I saw the same kind of thing in my daughter when she was racing quarter midgets. She was running well when another driver made a very bad pass attempt that put her into the wall. That was all it took to awaken @tjkoyenā s Sith Lord. She found the āred mistā and got noticeably quicker and more aggressive from there. Sheās in college now but is eyeballing the karts my son and I have.
Thatās awesome. For the winter, I put my son in boxing lessons, mainly for overall fitness and hand speed, reaction time etc, but also to hopefully help him learn how to find that fire breathing dragon and turn it on at will.
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