Yeap, mostly you pay for your spot in the tent. You can however negotiate with the teams if for example you are able to bring your own mechanic, and make him/her available to pitch in with the whole team if required. Works well for me.
Dom summed up my personal process for my KORSASPORT remote coaching pretty well.
Since I worked with Dom, Iāve updated the format a little so that I have a real-time reaction and response video as Iām watching your GoPro. So you get a video file with picture-in-picture of me explaining stuff as Iām going through the video. Little more in-depth and helpful than just text-based notes.
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TJ if that was something I wanted to look at in a couple months once we get to the bulk of our racing season what is the best way to inquire/sign up for that?
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A little late to the thread here but you definitely donāt need to be on a team to do well at a national or regional. A lot of what they do is take the stress factor out of racing, though, and offer some coaching throughout the weekend. Itās an added value for sure if your budget allows it. Many of these teams try to do arrive-and-drive type options, where they prep a relatively new chassis and motor back at their shop, and you just fly in right before the race with a fully set up work station. Then when youāre done, you leave after the final on Sunday. No logistics, no hassle, and parts are 10 feet away in the trailer (instead of somewhere hopefully in the paddock).
That said, Iād say 1-to-1 coaching at your stage makes a lot more sense, especially if you do it on test days. Itāll come out cheaper, and youāll gain a ton in a single day. So much so, that youāll probably need a few days on your own to digest it all and practice what you learned. Then when you hit another plateau, do it again.
Thereās plenty of top tier guys who have shown up as a single kart operation and won or run well. The thing is once they do, they usually get an offer from a team, either a partial ride or a complete one including travel, to run with the team on their chassis brand. It makes the team look good, and it gives them a reference point to have the rest of the tent look at when you overlay data or watch video.
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When trying to compete at higher levels in a fast paced make or break weekend people often canāt keep up with kart setup and changes. At bigger events the track can get rubbered up too which is something you really only see at the biggest events. Without some guidance you could do 10 of these events and literally never figure out how to set the kart up. I find that running with a team can help take the kart and setup out of the equation. You can generally rest assured that the team will have the collective data and knowledge needed to get your setup inside the window very quickly. So with the kart out of the equation, this allows you (or a dad like me) to focus on the driver. A good team should also have driver coaching available. If you are going to a big event, and want to make the most of your time, do it with a team. Youāll be competitive faster and learn all kinds of new things as a driver.
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