Is karting actually hard to learn?
This is probably one of the most common question I get asked all the time, and yes, it is quite hard to learn, because there are so many different micro skills that you will need to be mixed in order for you to become a pro kart racing driver. It’s not just about kicking a ball or running 100 meter sprint. This is including all sorts of coordination, speed sensing, reaction times, skills that very few are going to be able to max out in their lives, and that’s why I believe it is one of the most fascinating sports, and it makes it fascinating to watch, and at the same time, it turns drivers into superheroes, and I have a massive respect for drivers because of that, and I feel privileged of being one of those. Now let’s answer some of the most common questions about this topic, and we’re going to break down some of the common myths.
What is the hardest skill at the start?
I believe the hardest skill is the speed sensation, so sensing the speed and understanding at what speed you’re going and the confidence that you need to build in the speed. So as I said, it’s something that we as human beings are not used to, that it’s not part of our DNA to drive at such a high speeds. We are manufactured and designed to just walk on the ground. We’re not designed to drive at our 150 kilometers per hour on a four wheel machine that weighs only 145 kilos in total. So you can probably understand that this speed sensing feeling is probably the most unnatural of all, but also the, the second hardest one, I would say, is the the feeling of being on the limit. So knowing where the limit of the tires as well as the limit of the kart as well as the limit of the track is, and knowing how far you need to push and drive each corner, how much speed to carry each corner, based on where the limit is, and adjusting, adapting to that limit, I think, is one of the other very, very important skills and one of the most difficult ones to create.
What’s the first thing that drivers must master?
I believe the first thing they need to master is the racing line. There’s no way you can be fast if your racing line is wrong. That’s why drivers spend so much time every time, even though they may be professionals, they may still have to tweak even just so slightly their racing lines, because the racing lines are the most responsible to lap time. If your racing lines are wrong, as a consequence, the rest of your technique, technique will be wrong, and it’s going to be so hard to make back with your braking technique, your throttle technique, your steering technique, etc. So if you get your lines wrong as a consequence, you’re going to lose lap time, and there’s nothing that you can do to compensate that mistake.
How long does it take to drive smoothly?
Well, I believe it takes a lot of time, because drivers normally overreact to the steering wheel. They do not realize that smooth is fast and that they are very used to driving a road car. Most adults, I mean, kids don’t have that feeling, and so I think kids are able to adapt a bit earlier compared to adults. Okay, they’re more plastic and they’re easier to adapt. But for sure, the fact that they don’t have an idea of what road driving a road car is, for sure helps them, because most adults drive road cars, and of course, that makes them feel like, oh, I should turn the wheel as much as I do on a road car. But the reality is, the opposite is the is true, because you know, when you drive on a go kart, the steering is very sensitive, therefore you will have to use very little steering inputs in order to be fast. So if you actually drive too aggressive. And you’re not smooth, of course, you’re going to hurt the performance. It takes time, it takes precision, it takes commitment, it takes focus. And I believe that after a bunch of focus and time and effort, you are going to eventually get good. At some point, you need to really imagine that the smoother you drive, the faster you are.
Why do some drivers learn faster than others?
Well, you know, it’s pretty much the same for other sports. You have the prodigies and you have the late learners. Now I believe that deep focus and deep practice plays a big role. The repetition also plays a big role. I believe that if you give all drivers the same amount of track time, they will all be very, very close at the end in terms of performance. But reality is that it’s almost impossible to track the real driving time that each of these drivers had. The reality is that each of these drivers have completely different track time under their belts, and so you need to assume that
it’s it’s quite
unfair to compare a driver to the other or their skills, because some drivers may have had 10,000 hours of driving in their lives, and others may have had only 1000 or 500 hours. So it makes a massive difference. And again, it makes it a bit unfair to compare. It doesn’t make it a very fair comparison. So yeah, at the end of the day, the most track time you get, the faster you pick up the skills. But equally, you need a lot of focus, a lot of practice, and high quality of practice, because and you can affect that the you can definitely affect the high, the quantity, quality of practice. So if you can affect that and make it higher by getting a proper coach, by spending time reading your data, watching your videos, you will then get a faster improvement. And you’re going to get faster and better a lot sooner.
Does sim racing help?
Well, this is a big controversial topic nowadays. Lots of people think yes. Other people say no. And I believe that if you talk about karting, sim racing, I disagree karting, sim racing is not there yet, and I believe it actually makes it worse to drive your real kart, because the The physics are so far away from the real the real track, And you actually learn how to drive in a bad way. It actually makes it worse for you to drive on the track, on the real track. So I definitely not recommend driving on a karting sim. What I recommend instead is to if you want, you can drive on a sim racing GD car or Formula car, that is good for reaction times, training your eyes and your consistency your focus, that’s good, but as again, I suggest to stay away from karting simulators. Why formula GT simulators both because they’re vastly different in techniques. And they kids, the drivers are going to be aware that that’s going to be a totally different thing, and they do not expect to be driving in the exact same way. So it’s going to be better for them, because they again, they will realize, okay, this is not the same. So I believe it’s useful to just practice direction times and the focus that comes from driving GDS and formula simulators rather than karting simulators.
What’s more difficult the mental or the physical side of karting?
I believe that they are both equally demanding. Probably the most demanding part is the mental. Side, because the physical side can always be acquired. But the mental including the psychomotoric responses from the reflexes, the coordination, all that sort of stuff, that’s the difficult thing that you need to build, that’s the kind of muscle memory you need to try to create. And yes, for sure, the physical side is also important, but the actual driving technique that is part of the mental you. The concentration, etc, is what really makes karting a unique sport. And I just honestly believe that there’s nothing quite like that, even though some people mistakenly think actually that karting is not a sport. But it couldn’t be further from the truth, it is a sport, and it is very challenging and hard, and I enjoy it so much, and I believe that it’s very, very tricky, and you need to be at the top of your game, at a peak performance state, in order to excel.
How to speed up the learning curve?
Well, to speed up the learning curve, you need to really double down on your quantity of track time as well as the quality of the track time. So you need to definitely get more laps, but at the higher quality. So you need to make sure you drive on the same tracks that you’re going to do the races on, you’re going to do laps on the same go kart that you’re going to do the race on. You’re going to drive in high grip conditions. If you race on high grip conditions, you need to also try to get the best kind of coaching you can so that you know where to work on, so that you know where you have to improve, as well as focusing yourself on analyzing your race videos, your onboards, so that you can, yeah, ideally improve, as well as watching your telemetry, analyzing all of that stuff, so that you can ideally improve and become a faster driver. You just need to double down on that, both the quality and the quantity, not just the quantity. It’s easy to do lots of laps, but if you do lots of laps and learn the bad habits, the bad stuff, the bad technique, is actually going to hurt you in longer so I hope this was a useful guide, and I was able to answer all your questions. Remember, karting takes time. It’s a very complicated sport, but fascinating one, and I feel that once you’re able to master it, after spending time and putting all the work and all those days, you’re gonna feel so rewarded, and you’re gonna be so fast, you’re gonna enjoy it so much. And yes, at the beginning you may, you may feel a bit traumatic and be like, Whoa, why am I slow? But then you will realize you will find lap time. You will make some gains here and there, and step by step, you’re gonna be fighting for race wins, which is ultimately what we’re here for. But equally, make sure you keep enjoying it and keep pushing. Remember, if you need any online coaching, sign up to my remote coaching program where I can analyze your onboard videos, as well as you can join the six months training program where you can transform your career completely until the next time, keep sending it.
