Come show me how it’s done!
I was an early turn in person too, at first. I still fight it. I wish I had some wisdom for you on this.
I guess what I can say is that the chassis of a go kart can take a ton of load, much more than you think. Keep plugging. Worst case you spin at turn in.
That, or just put some markers or cones on the track during a practice day, and marginally practice making your turn-ins deeper on select corners.
I don’t know why we keep going back to ‘winging it during races’ as a valid practice method. There are practice days, you know. lol
In truth, I don’t practice anymore. Outside of sim. When I kart it’s to race. These are rental races so it might as well be a practice session, tho.
But yeah.
Another way: Kerbing. You can use it to exaggerate slip on turn in, under braking.
Last race at NTK I had so much grip in the T7 hairpin, I found myself climbing the inside curb at apex even on throttle. I was definitely under the rubber. One lap I was pulling so many G’s the kart bicycled on me it the same spot in the same corner. Sort of caught me off guard. First time for me to get a kart up on two wheels. Had a little puckering of my backside. I was rolling into the throttle when I felt it lift, my first reaction was to back off the throttle, but instead I just stopped adding more throttle and continued to slowly unwind the wheel. Felt like it set down pretty gently and I was flying at exit. What a Rush! Next heat I bumped the rear track out a few MM. Not sure if that was the right move or should I have just adjusted my line instead?
That sounds like what Tj describes as feeling like you reach out and grab a pole that’s inside the apex and sorta swing around it. It’s a neat feeling for sure.
I was having some fun yesterday getting the same feeling by finding some really good grip on the inside of a turn. Totes dirty (Offtrack
Callan X1).
Dunno about the chassis adjustment. Was it a bad thing in terms of speed or just felt the kart was too unpredictable? Could be avoided with a less loaded up approach, rounder line?
They put a sealer on the asphalt recently and it is super grippy. The line is somewhat limited as the track is fairly narrow through that turn and if you get too far to the outside on entry, you end up in the marbles. Was using the hard axle, which is supposed to remove grip and running a slightly narrower rear track that adds some back. I haven’t been able to practice at NTK since swapping axles, so I was guessing as to setup. Widening the rear takes some grip out. Unfortunately after my clutch cracked, I was not able to make it out for the final and see what difference it made.
When I was learning to race in SCCA my instructor showed me where to turn in for a couple of corners that were very important to good lap times. They seemed impossibly late. I was convinced if I drove where he told me to I’d go sailing off the track. It took awhile to build up the courage to turn in that late at speed but it made a dramatic difference in lap times. Part of what made it easier was when another driver explained tying the late turn in to linking turns together - a scary late apex at one turn leads to much better entry into the next.