First Day Driving My New Kart
Today, I took my new kart from Cameron Karting out for a spin. Aside from getting seat-time, I also learned a couple useful tips and secrets for when I'm in a real race.
- Slick tires in wet weather can give you a strategic advantage with the correct predictions. If you see the track beginning to dry up, then the wet tires won't last for long because they are extremely soft. Slicks will last longer and pick up grip once the track is dry enough.
- Wide turns can help keep the speed up in wet weather. Taking a tighter line is risky, but it isn't worth the gamble. A wider line will be used when a particular corner is wet from rain. Your main objective while taking a corner is to find as many dry patches on the track as you can and seize every opportunity.
- Don't pump the throttle while starting the kart up. It jut wastes fuel and energy.
- Slicks will make braking more difficult if the track is still slightly wet. I learned that the hard way coming into the Tic Tac Toe turn. Also before The Monaco turn, there was a big patch of water between two areas of dry road, which throws the kart off balance and makes braking next to impossible. I spun out at that turn a couple times, but that shows that I'm searching for my limit in the kart. I handled that corner with ease the first few runs, but it became my worst enemy of the day after I switched to slicks. This also proves how effective the rain tires are in this kind of situation. Even with rain tires, it's still best to look for as many dry patches on the ground as possible.
Today was a day of education for me. I wasn't trying to aim for good lap times, but I wanted to get comfortable with the kart and the way it handles because it will be my kart for the 2015 Redline Oil Championship.