Kart Class continues to provide more helpful tips this month with part 3 in the Vroom Academy. With over 25 years of experience racing around the world and running at the top of the field, 18 times Australian karting champion David Sera is now focused on coaching the next generation of drivers. KART CLASS is Sera’s initiative to ensure online tuition gives everyone the possibility to improve. With the goal to provide even more competitors with the essential information that is easy to access, helping to develop their skills using the various levels of programs and options.
04/01/23 - Vroom Academy
Author: Vroomkart International
PART 3
THE POWER OF FEEDBACK
When every racer goes to the track, there are three elements they need to be equipped in:
1. Making sure their driving is at the best of their ability
2. Their engine is running at optimal performance
3. That the kart is handling smoothly
If any of these three aspects are not at their best, then the driver will lose performance.
One area often overlooked from a driver is their ability to provide feedback to their mechanic / parent / race engineer. So many times, we see drivers who do not have a feel for or understanding on how their kart is behaving and they either guess what it’s doing or simply provide no feedback.
When you’re looking to push your way into the top five in your class continuously and at some stage move into motor racing, a driver who can extract more from their package and also from their support crew will ultimately succeed more.
The first way a driver can start to understand what their kart is doing on track is by writing notes after every session.
This can be as simple as dot points for a summary or more detailed info about how the kart is responding on entry, middle and exit of a corner.
Why this is important is, it allows a mechanic or parent to get a better understanding on what changes are required to extract more speed for their driver.
To begin with, I would start by simplifying the notes. Even a rating from 1-10 will get the driver thinking more after a session rather than just guessing when they are asked for feedback.
The second area is making bold adjustments to the kart so the driver can actually feel the change.
Moving a rear hub 2-3mm per side is too hard to feel when you are beginning (well even when you have a lot of experience), so you want to go more to the extreme lengths enabling the driver to feel what those adjustments have done. An example would be more like 10mm per side and change the rear axle from soft to hard, in order to feel the differences.
It’s likely you’ve gone too far, but this way it gives you a direction on which path to keep going down with adjustments and the driver can feel the kart’s behaviour.
The third area drivers want to learn is the language they use with their mechanic.
Once both the driver and support crew are on the same page, the trust strengthens between one another.
This could be the kart is under steering on entry, but the mechanic is saying it’s because of too much entry speed so then the driver is able to adjust their driving next session and the kart’s behaviour is resolved.
Or it could be that the driver is experiencing a lack of traction in the rain. Rather than making the same mistake lap after lap and experiencing the same lack of traction, the driver identifies they need to try something new to get a different result.
This goes back to the driver thinking what is happening when driving, rather than just circulating and not understanding how they can improve.
It’s always worth trying the extreme changes on test days so you get a better indication about which direction you need to go to adjust the setup. This is also the best way to get a sense of what specific adjustments do and the result of these changes.
Then write notes down on paper or an electronic device, like your phone or notebook, so you can look back over these to compare at race events from what you’ve learnt in testing.
“LEARN TO WIN” with KART CLASS – ONLINE
To improve your performance on track, visit KART CLASS online now and discover more ways you can develop your own driving skills by following the advice of David Sera. Kart Class online programs, videos, E-books, worksheets and diagrams can be accessed from any mobile device. Simply create an account, choose the program suited to your experience level and have 24/7 access to the content.
The main objective for Kart Class is to offer world class coaching to drivers anywhere in the world, anytime of the day at a fraction of the cost. No extra travelling, track fees, race team fees and the challenge of accessibility for good coaching that some race tracks can’t offer. There’s also free stuff!
Why not have your karting question answered here at Vroom? Just message David Sera at Kart Class online with the subject “VROOM Q&A” and we’ll select one answer to publish on Vroomkart.
Check out the Kart Class website - www.kartclass.com or on the YouTube channel and Instagram
THE POWER OF FEEDBACK
When every racer goes to the track, there are three elements they need to be equipped in:
1. Making sure their driving is at the best of their ability
2. Their engine is running at optimal performance
3. That the kart is handling smoothly
If any of these three aspects are not at their best, then the driver will lose performance.
One area often overlooked from a driver is their ability to provide feedback to their mechanic / parent / race engineer. So many times, we see drivers who do not have a feel for or understanding on how their kart is behaving and they either guess what it’s doing or simply provide no feedback.
When you’re looking to push your way into the top five in your class continuously and at some stage move into motor racing, a driver who can extract more from their package and also from their support crew will ultimately succeed more.
The first way a driver can start to understand what their kart is doing on track is by writing notes after every session.
This can be as simple as dot points for a summary or more detailed info about how the kart is responding on entry, middle and exit of a corner.
Why this is important is, it allows a mechanic or parent to get a better understanding on what changes are required to extract more speed for their driver.
To begin with, I would start by simplifying the notes. Even a rating from 1-10 will get the driver thinking more after a session rather than just guessing when they are asked for feedback.
The second area is making bold adjustments to the kart so the driver can actually feel the change.
Moving a rear hub 2-3mm per side is too hard to feel when you are beginning (well even when you have a lot of experience), so you want to go more to the extreme lengths enabling the driver to feel what those adjustments have done. An example would be more like 10mm per side and change the rear axle from soft to hard, in order to feel the differences.
It’s likely you’ve gone too far, but this way it gives you a direction on which path to keep going down with adjustments and the driver can feel the kart’s behaviour.
The third area drivers want to learn is the language they use with their mechanic.
Once both the driver and support crew are on the same page, the trust strengthens between one another.
This could be the kart is under steering on entry, but the mechanic is saying it’s because of too much entry speed so then the driver is able to adjust their driving next session and the kart’s behaviour is resolved.
Or it could be that the driver is experiencing a lack of traction in the rain. Rather than making the same mistake lap after lap and experiencing the same lack of traction, the driver identifies they need to try something new to get a different result.
This goes back to the driver thinking what is happening when driving, rather than just circulating and not understanding how they can improve.
It’s always worth trying the extreme changes on test days so you get a better indication about which direction you need to go to adjust the setup. This is also the best way to get a sense of what specific adjustments do and the result of these changes.
Then write notes down on paper or an electronic device, like your phone or notebook, so you can look back over these to compare at race events from what you’ve learnt in testing.
“LEARN TO WIN” with KART CLASS – ONLINE
To improve your performance on track, visit KART CLASS online now and discover more ways you can develop your own driving skills by following the advice of David Sera. Kart Class online programs, videos, E-books, worksheets and diagrams can be accessed from any mobile device. Simply create an account, choose the program suited to your experience level and have 24/7 access to the content.
The main objective for Kart Class is to offer world class coaching to drivers anywhere in the world, anytime of the day at a fraction of the cost. No extra travelling, track fees, race team fees and the challenge of accessibility for good coaching that some race tracks can’t offer. There’s also free stuff!
Why not have your karting question answered here at Vroom? Just message David Sera at Kart Class online with the subject “VROOM Q&A” and we’ll select one answer to publish on Vroomkart.
Check out the Kart Class website - www.kartclass.com or on the YouTube channel and Instagram
-
The drivers most voted on Social Networks in 2022
-
Sguerzoni (Intrepid): top-level karting needs credibility
Articles related to Section: Vroom Academy
15/06/23
Vroom Academy
14/11/22
Vroom Academy
10/10/22
Vroom Academy
09/06/22
Vroom Academy
31/05/22
Vroom Academy
05/05/22
Vroom Academy
