Many, many drivers can have no problem setting very fast lap times in practice or even qualifying. But races are won with racecraft, pure racecraft, and that is everything you want to master if you really want to win. It’s not just about being fast, being fast. I mean, it’s something that you also need to learn.

Of course, it’s a skill of its own. But racing, like the act of racing, is basically what racecraft is all about. So understanding when to defend, if you have to defend, and how to defend, when to overtake, if to overtake, and how to overtake. You know, dealing with race starts and the first lap, when all drivers are around you, you need to really be able to deal with all those race scenarios, which, of course, are always going to change.

They’re never going to be the same. And so you will need to have some sort of racing intelligence built in through experience that is going to tell you what’s the most likely scenario to succeed in any given situation, and so you will kind of be ending up driving, subconsciously, taking the right decisions all the time that is really the end goal.

So in this guide, I will reply to some of the most frequently asked questions about racecraft. I will shed a light on some of the myths behind it, and so let’s get into it.

So what exactly is racecraft?

Well, my very simple answer is that racecraft is basically the ability to race, so knowing how to race, which is entirely different from just being fast and is what really sets the grades apart. You know, I have been racing against very fast drivers in my life. Sometimes those drivers were quicker than me, because maybe, in that case, those scenarios, maybe it suited better for their driving styles or maybe for their body shapes.

For example, I erased Landon Norris in karting all the way through 2013 and 14. We raised 25 plus races together, and I remember that, you know, when it was very hot and grippy, because he was like 25 centimeters shorter than me or so. I mean, I was one year older than him, but he was a little bit too short for his age. But anyways, the thing is that when it was cold and slippery, I would be just some so much faster than him most of the races, especially in the winter cups or the first race of the season, I would win most of them, and he would be struggling quite a lot. But then when the hot grip conditions came, for example, at La Conca, where we had like, 10 centimeter rubber on the track back in the days with, you know, very soft tires, he would be very, very fast, and I would struggle to be within 1/10 to him in terms of pure pace. But the only way for me to fight was to get, like, p2 or p3 in QALY, whereas he would get p1 in those kind of races. And I had to try to get myself ahead of him in the first lap and try to, you know, win the race just by experience and by pure racecraft. Because I knew that in those kind of conditions, when the grip was crazy high, his center of gravity being super low compared to mine, would be so much at an advantage compared to mine, and it would have been just flying through the corners, whereas I was struggling, like almost going to wheels. So in that case, I was going and doing my best, but I knew that on pure pace, I would have not won the race unless I made this life difficult, which is what I did. And in many cases, I was still being able to beat him in those summer races, whereas, yeah, as I said, in the winter months, it was so much easier, but again, in the summer, it was a nightmare. But in that cases, I had to rely not just on my speed, which wasn’t even enough, because I said in the summer, I was just like impossible to compete, you know, with 25 centimeter of different center of gravity in those very high grip conditions where I would almost flip, but still, like I would, I would have to get myself to the front. So get a really good first lap, and then, just like, create a bit of a mess and try to just win by strategy, and sometimes being a little bit of

an aggressive bastard, which I was, and, and, yeah, it helped me to win some of the races where, where I didn’t have enough pace. So that goes to show you that, yes, you can win races if you have the speed and if you have good race craft, but it also allows you to win races if you have not so much speed, but amazing race craft. I have really seen it happening, especially because in the race, it’s a bit of like a rugby fight. You know, sometimes you just need to take the right decisions and find yourself at the right place, at the right time, and when you do all that, even though you may not have the perfect pace, you can still be able to win a race, as I have described to you, by just having an excellent race craft and being able to intelligently use your karts. For example, you know it’s something that may not feel like ethically Correct. But if you know, at eight laps till the end of the race, you feel like you have no pace for leading the race for some reason, because something happened at the beginning, and you find yourself at the front, but you know you have no pace because, for whatever reason, and the driver behind is closing up when you’re like, half a second a lap, you know the only thing you can do is either let him win, and just like, you know, stay behind him and and just hope to finish p2 but I think it’s a bit of a weak mentality, and then kind of giving up. I think when you are there, it’s like you’re a gladiator in the arena. You know, you can always try your best, and you can always try to make their life difficult to the others, even though they may have speed. So yeah, of course, because they’re going to do that also when, when it’s going to be the other way around, that you have more speed and they have not enough and they are going to start block. And so in that case, in a lap till the end of the race, driver is approaching, maybe he passes you, but you can overtake him back, for example, and put him a bit wide on the dirt so that you can pick up some distance. And ideally, it takes two, three laps to catch you back up, but maybe not to the end of the race. Maybe it’s not only a one against one, it’s like one against two, or I guess three, or I guess four. And so of course, it’s probably going to be more difficult for him to pass. And at the end, when you start fighting and we start defending, the pace does really matter, you know? So I’ve seen these kind of things happening many times, in my advantage, but also at my disadvantage. So I had to learn with it. And of course, it’s just part of racing. You know, you can say it’s not ethical, but at the end of the day, when you’re out there, everybody wants to win. So yeah, if you’re really amazing at racecraft, and you learn how to become really amazing at racecraft, oh my God, you are going to enjoy so many benefits, and you’re gonna get far better results than if you were just fast. Because again, I have seen drivers in the past that were just fast but didn’t win any single race, because being fast alone is not enough.

So why is racecraft more important than raw speed?

Now, of course, raw speed is important, don’t get me wrong. I mean, the pace is the first thing that you have to work on. I mean, PACE comes first. As I always say, you should find the pace to be at the top, and then, of course, occasionally you will not have the pace to be p1 but you will have to still work your way and muscle your way through and still try to keep elbows out and try to get that p1 even though you may not have the maximum pace, but still, PACE comes first. I always say that you need to double down on your pace. But still, when pace is not enough, you need to make sure you rely on your racecraft. And so why is racecraft actually more important than raw speed? Well, because of that, because when you are fighting, you know, in the first couple of laps of a race, and in, let’s say, the last couple of laps of a race, the pace doesn’t really matter in those moments. You know, if you’re going and doing a corner tight and picking up dirt and you know, because you’re overtaking or you’re defending, it doesn’t really matter whether your kart is 1/10 slower or 1/10 faster, whether your center of gravity is a little bit sub optimal or it’s just perfect for the conditions. You know, it doesn’t really matter if you’re just in that moment as too much grip or slides, if you have the racecraft skills, you can go from the back of the grid and go to the podium, even if you have a lot less pace than the drivers you’re overtaking. And so how can you explain that? Well, you have to explain yourself. That you know, when you are in the fights, you need to just manage to lose the least amount of time when you make an overtake. And then you also have to be clever and take the right decisions, you know, because you need to understand, okay, will I overtake? Yes. How do I overtake? Do I get very close? Do I lose a lot of time? Do I lose a little time? You know, should I defend the next corner? Should I stay open? So try to catch the guy in front. What do I do? You know, stuff like that and and so all this comes down to race craft, and it’s just racing intelligence, how, at the end of the day, it’s it’s a whole skill of its own. And so just driving and doing set like setting fastest laps is not enough. So you need to get yourself in races. So that’s why drivers that make like 35 races a year, which I’ve seen it happening. And for example, they do the whole WSK Championship, the all Italian Championship, the all CIA FIA. They’re all champions of the future. Like they do absolutely everything. And they do like 35 races here, those kind of drivers end up statistically performing better in terms of racecraft, and those ones who do not make as many, you know, but it’s just racecraft is a skill of his own, and if you are getting yourself to race more often, you’re just going to naturally become better. That’s no other way around it.

What makes a good overtaking move?

Well, it really depends, because if you are overtaking from far away, because you maybe have to, let’s say, defend from the driver behind and you’re a little bit in danger. So it’s like, okay, there’s two ways, imp too, right now, if I’m not gonna send it from the guy in front, even though I’m a little bit far, if I don’t attack, I’m going to get attacked. And so if I gonna defend, then I’m. Let the guy in front pull away. So the only option I have to hold on to the win is to overtake the driver in front, even if it’s a bit far. So in that case, you would have to send it and like, just throw the car in. And sometimes, yes, you’re going to end up in a crash, sometimes not. But yeah, that could be considered a very good move, a very good overtaking move, even though that may be a very far move, and you may lose so much time with that. But again, depends. There’s not such a thing as such a definition as a great overtaking move. It’s depending a lot on the situation. If the situation requires you to just make the move and lose the least amount of time because you want to catch the drivers in front, then you want to wait till you get quite close, so that you make a move and you lose like, less than 1/10 of a second. You’re able to get very close to the side pods lean in to open up the line and still get a really good exits. Instead, if you’re like fighting, for example, for the second last lap, and you’re trying to just make the move stick for the p1 and you don’t care if you lose 1/10 you don’t care if you lose one second. You just want just want to make the move done so that you don’t get passed back in the next corner or in a switchback. So in that case, you just forget about losing just 1/10 in that case, you just care about making a move and trying to make it final so that it cannot overtake you back. So it really depends. It really, really depends. But, yeah, it really depends on the situation. So there’s not one single rule that will make a overtaking move better or worse. Of course, if you overtake and lose a lot of time in an overtake, and there’s no need to, because you actually want to catch the drivers in front, then it’s a bit silly. And then vice versa, if you have made a move and you’re going for the lead and you get switchback in the next corner, like right away in the exit. Then, of course, that is a big mistake, and you should never let that happen. And again, that depends on how you have braked, how late you’ve braked, whether you got close to the driver or not. And again, that’s part of racecraft.

How do drivers defend their position legally?

Well, this is an important topic to discuss, because lots of drivers defend in an illegal way, which I mean, not only it’s illegal, so it should be penalizable, but it’s also dangerous, for example, like changing directions multiple times, for example, on the straights, that is very dangerous. But I mean, if you do it in a subtle weight, for example, like you’re defending all the way to the white line, leaving no space for the driver to go in, and then the driver behind kind of opens up to kind of switch back you, and you kind of following back through that theoretically, is not allowed, but kind of everybody does it. So at the end of the day, you know it’s you have to stay within the gray area. I mean, you because if you’re not opening up and you keep just one line, it’s going to be almost obvious that you’re going to get passed in the exit. You’re going to get switchback, for sure. So if you defend really, really well on the edge of the regulations, you can keep anyone behind you, unless they smash you off, of course, but then that case, they’re going to receive a penalty, right? So if you defend very well on the edge of regulation, you can still maintain the position. But of course, it could be a short term decision, because why would you defend that much early on into the race, unless it’s lap one or the last lap, for instance. But yeah, it would be a bit silly to defend too early on into the race, like lap three, lap four, because it’s a short term decision. But anyways, yeah, you always want to do it in a legal way. For example, if somebody is already alongside you, you cannot squeeze them onto the grass. I mean, that is not allowed. You will get a penalty. I’ve seen penalties being applied, and to be honest, that’s fair. I mean, it’s it’s supposed to be a penalty, because you cannot turn into somebody who is already alongside you and try to intimidate them to lift off the gas. That is not the way to race. And if you pick up this bad habit, then, if you get to Formula cars and you do that, then it’s going to be very, very dangerous, because if you flip at

80 kilometers an hour in a go kart, it’s not like flipping in 300 kilometers an hour in a Formula car. So you need to fix your driving standards. You need to, obviously, respect. If you want to defend, you need to do it in a legal way. You cannot go and defend when somebody is really alongside. You just need to try again in the next corner over taking them back.

Why is patience super important in racing?

Well, think about it, you have to really balance patience and aggression. You know, you need to, almost like, take the bets, as if you were going to a casino and try to take the bets only on the high probability occasions that you’re going to succeed. Because if you’re going to, you know, recklessly bet on everything, then you’re going to, for sure, come out of the casino with zero in your pockets. So in races a bit like that, you need to understand when to take your bets, when to make the overtake, when to make the defense, and not just randomly do it every time. Because if you’re trying to make an overtake from like 20 karts behind, because you feel like it, that’s just a reckless behavior, you need to be patient, close up the gap to the driver in front, and once you’ve closed up the gap, you’re going to pass him, of course. Course, in some moments you may have to be a little bit in a hurry. You need to be a little bit, you know, urgent, and try to make a move. Because maybe in that moment is the best thing to do. It will require a little bit of courage. Yes, there may be a chance of crashing in that case. If the bet is going to be worth it, because it’s going to give you potentially a win or a podium, then of course it will be worth it, but if you do that in a situation where it’s not needed and simply because you’re unpatient, well then you’re going to scrub your race so you need to be able to take your bets properly and understanding when to be patient versus when to be aggressive and not patient.

How can drivers anticipate opponents moves?

I mean, you have to rely on your eyes at the end of the day, your eyes and your reaction times, and as well as your racecraft, racing skills and your experience, you need to kind of anticipate what’s going to happen. And of course, it sounds simple, but it’s all a series of patterns that you have developed in your career, and so that now you can do some pattern recognition when you see, for example, a driver that is, you know, missing the apex and running a little bit wide in front of you, you know that is going to probably have a bad exit. So you can set up an overtake for the for the upcoming corner. Now, I see a lot of drivers, unfortunately that whenever they make a mistake, they’re going to look behind right away, which is going to signal the driver behind that, okay, the driver in front is under stress. He is just panicking, and he’s making lots of mistakes, so you’ll want to pass him right away. So that’s also one of the things you know, trying to understand the psychology inside the drivers around you in that specific moments, you need to try to understand how they feeling in terms of, okay, they are feeling fast, they are feeling slow, you know, whether they are shitting themselves in their pants, which you can probably see. If they’re like, frequently looking in the back, which I don’t want my drivers to do, because that’s basically the signal they’re sending to their opponents. You can also guess whether the driver is struggling. For example, the driver behind. You can see maybe you turn your self behind just like, every once in a while, like every, every three, four laps. But when you turn behind, maybe you notice that the driver is like, almost like tired or like, you can see that he’s struggling. And so you can almost kind of sense it. But again, you should not look in the back all the time and be like, oh, let’s just say that you can then feel like the driver behind you. Can try to understand how it’s just stupid to do that. But I’m just saying that from the body posture, you know, from the body language, you can get a lot of insights about your opponent’s moods in those moments, and whether they feel strong and ready to attack you, or they feel weak and they feel under threat from you.

What are some common mistakes beginners make when racing?

Well, one of the biggest mistakes, I would guess, that beginners make is just simply, for example, defending for no reasons. That’s one of the major mistakes, if you think about it like you want to defend only when you truly need it, because when you defend, you’re losing time from the driver in front so unless you’re leading the race, anytime you’re defending, you’re basically giving up on the driver in front of you, which is not great, I guess. I mean, it’s a loser mentality, right? So if you’re a winner in winner mentality, you want to reduce the defending as much as possible, which, unfortunately, few drivers understand this concept, and so you should only keep the defending for when it’s truly needed, perhaps maybe after you have made it overtaking you just have to make the next corner defense, or it’s for the last lap, or it’s for the first other common mistakes, for example, is when you know they are overtaking someone. They’re not stopping properly by the brakes, and they are, you know, overshooting the apex, and you know, they’re getting switchback, which is very common, or even in the last lap, you know, when they’re defending they’re not stopping properly by the apex, and they’re getting switchbacks. So I guess this is one of the most common thing I noticed, and it’s quite funny to see, but it’s very, very bad for your performance, but also for your reputation for who’s looking at you from the outside is like, Oh, what the hell that looked so stupid, and you lose a lot of points in terms of reputation from the other drivers.

How can drivers practice racecraft?

But to be honest, the only way for them to practice racecraft is to just race, to do more races, or even when they’re in free practice, they can, you know, try to do those overtakes. I’m not saying this you should defend in the practice, but I mean, sometimes you can schedule specific sessions just for pure racecraft, trying to not crash, but, you know, just basic racing intelligence sessions for, you know, improving that kind of aspect of their career. So yeah, I just think that that’s the only advice I have for them. And of course, watching onboard videos, as well as race videos from past races, is also very useful, because you can understand and like start to learn some patterns. And that pattern recognition, it’s going to stay in your brain, and you’re going to be able to remember those things when you’re driving and hopefully taking the right decision. So, as you can see, getting a strong race. Craft is going to massively impact the performance of your races. You’re going to win more often. You’re going to win more often, even if you have less space than than you could have imagined. And if you have in the other way around, less racecraft, and you’re not that experienced, or you just keep taking the wrong decisions. You need to work on that. You need to do more races, but you also need to try to get smarter and try to remember the mistakes you did and try to learn from those mistakes. Because it’s not just about, oh, I’m gonna need more races that, please get me 20 races more this season. No, because not every parent can afford that. You know, not everyone has the luxury of doing 4035, races a year. So the point being is that, for for all the others, I mean, it’s important to try to watch a lot of race videos, try to get that pattern recognition from watching those races. And try to really, you know, just learn as much as you possibly can. Also when you’re driving in free practice sessions, try to, you know, practice your overtaking techniques if you need to practice, also your defensing clinics. Try to not get switched back if you defend, try to not get switched back if you overtake. These kind of things. But then, of course, like, you know, for example, race starts, there’s not much you can do other than just, like, doing the races and doing the starts like that. Otherwise. I mean, you cannot, yeah, you can visualize them in your head. For sure, visualization helps a lot. I do a lot of that. I try to anticipate different scenarios in my head and try to kind of be prepared for many different scenarios. But of course, there’s going to be so many different scenarios possible that you cannot really anticipate all of them.

So I hope this guide was helpful. Let me know if you want to have some one on one race craft coaching lesson, if you said you want me to analyze your onboard videos, you can just sign up to my remote onboard video analysis service where you can simply send me your onboard video so that I can then send you a proper video review with a full analysis on what to do to go faster if instead you want to go all in and take on the six months training program where you can access 700 plus pre recorded lessons on anything related to karting, basically. And then we’re going to have also weekly meetups with all the drivers to discuss strategies to go faster. So if you’re one of those that wants to go all in, then feel free to apply, even though there’s limited spots available and whatever. I hope that this racecraft guide was helpful. I’ll see you in the next one. Remember to just send it. Ciao.