Here’s When “Slow In, Fast Out” Works
Slow In, Fast Out gets preached everywhere. Here's when it actually matters—and when it doesn't.
- “Slow In, Fast Out” isn’t the ideal technique, but has specific strategic uses
- Works best when following a teammate to maintain pace without overtaking
- Particularly effective in categories like X30 or Rotax where drafting is powerful
- The aggressive driver should prefer attacking with late braking over supporting from behind
- Focus on mastering late braking, trail braking, and racing lines for serious lap time gains
Let’s talk about this common cornering technique for a moment: “Slow In, Fast Out”.
Because let’s be honest, if you want to improve your lap times, here’s where you’ll have to work on other than having a strong braking technique.
There are lots of ways to take a corner, but one that people often talk about is the “brake early, gas early” technique — also known as low in, fast out.
Now, do I like this style? Not really.
But there’s a time when this could actually work.
When You Might Need It
Sometimes, you may be facing this situation.
Let’s say you’re behind a teammate and want to follow and push him to go together and get a good lap time, or pulling the gap on the others behind while collaborating.
You don’t want to overtake (maybe it’s team strategy), but you also don’t want to lose time.
That’s when this “brake early, gas early” approach can help.
The idea is you brake a little sooner than usual, roll the kart through the corner, and get on the gas a bit earlier to stay close and push your teammate out of the corner.
Both of you can pull away from the pack behind if you work together like this.
It’s super common in categories like Mini 60 or Juniors, even more in X30 or Rotax where drivers work together a lot because there’s no engine limiter and drafting will be really powerful.
So in those scenarios it will be beneficial for the driver in front to push super deep on the entries, while the driver behind to set up for better exits, so he could then push him all the way through.
Why I’m Not a Huge Fan
Look, if I had the choice, I’d always rather be the one attacking, not the one pushing from the back.
I want to be the one braking late, pushing the limits, and going for the overtake.
That’s my style.
But again, racing sometimes isn’t just about pure speed.
It’s also about knowing which strategy to use and when.
And even if this isn’t my go-to move, it’s important that you know it and know how to use it when needed.
Know Your Tools
This is just one driving strategy in your toolkit.
If you really want to master cornering, I suggest diving deeper into:
- Late braking
- Trail braking
- Racing lines in general
And of course, to analyze all of them, telemetry analysis.
That’s where you start gaining serious lap time.
If you’ve got any questions, shoot me a DM or message. Always happy to chat racing.
Just Senndit
– Alessio Lorandi
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Alessio Lorandi is the former CIK FIA World Junior Champion, winning against Lando Norris in 2013 & F3 multiple race winner. He's helped 200+ karting drivers worldwide get faster & win WSK titles with BabyRace Driver Academy & now through Senndit, his online karting coaching platform.
