I am going karting for a friend’s stag-do in a couple of weeks, it’s not something I have ever done before.

There are 16 of us in 8 x teams of 2 drivers and the race will last around an hour and a half, during which time each team will have to swap drivers, make fuel stops etc. The team that completes the most laps will be crowned victorious.

I would like to be competitive, has anybody on here got any tips?

The racing line is probably wider than you think.
Don't break too hard or too late.
Watch for other drivers at hairpins, I nearly got a ban for rear ending people at the harpin.
wait for the tyres to warm up before you rag it.

Always the wider line, it feels better to slide about going for tight lines but it's not actually fast, and half the time there's 3 people going for the same space and one of them has already spun.

Oh, and that's quite a lot of laps, it's tiring and you can get a bit beaten up so take it easy.

Don't push too hard – better to be half a second slower a lap and not crash.

On most go cart track you won't have to use the brakes at all. If other people in front of you do, that's your time to try and carry more speed than them into the corner and out drag them through it and out the other side.

If it's teams of 2, try doing a lengthy stint each rather than swapping every ten laps or so – just be aware that carting does take a physical toll on your arms, hips and hands so general fitness will also help.

Finally, power to weight is important so pick a partner who's not a salad dodger………

I always won by braking late into bends. But I wasn't competing with professionals, so YMMV. The key feature is to be a skinny runt, seems to be a major advantage.

It will be quite a lot more physical than you might expect. Chuckles thinking of all those that claim racing driving (esp F1) isn't a sport.

1) make sure you know what a roper racing line is – entry point, apex, exit point
2) remember it's exit speed not entry speed that's important – i.e don't stuff it into the corner at max speed and scrub off all your speed for the exit
3) use the brake as little as possible, and potentially not at all on an indoor circuit – works on rear axle only so very easy to fishtail into a corner
4) if you're not used to karting probably keep it to about 15-20 mins per session

Finally, power to weight is important so pick a partner who's not a salad dodger

This is the key to going fast IMO. Thin people go fast, fat people don't. Apart from that, a good line is essential, if you're drifting you're losing time. Learn about racing lines. Plenty of examples on the internet, practise on racing games if you have any.

don't slide. Keep it smooth.

I haven't been for a few years now and I aint no expert but the thing I used to find difficult initially was grip levels in cornering and accelerating. The trick I found helped was to ignore the noise of your engine and try to feel for grip with your right foot…. and be SMOOOOTH!!

Definitely crash diet. Go karts weigh bugger all, so if you're slim, you'll have a big advantage.

Thanks for the tips, I will read up on racing lines.

I think it's going to be a demanding day – karting in the morning, paint-balling in the afternoon then boozing followed by curry. Better set Sunday aside for recovery.

Dont forget the bouncing up and down in the seat game when you scrub off all your speed in the carners lap after lap after lap…

If you're really hungover and your vision is blurry it doesn't really help.

give it death!

….yeah and put your hand over carb for a power boost.. 🙂

lean out to weight the outside wheels in the corner. if you ride bikes this id really difficult!

Dont wear a SCARF

I was going to type pretty much what djglover wrote….

here's my thoughts…..

– don't jab at the brake, particularly when the tyres are cold. You'll spin.
– Try & stay out of trouble until you get the measure of other drivers; i.e. don't steam into a corner behind someone, only to find they spin/brake hard causing you to panic jab the brake & spin.
– use the entire width of the track, don't just follow where other's go. Most people don't use the full width of the track on entry & exit of corners.
– If you are short like me, use one of the back rests or you will kill your arms in a few laps.
– take some old mtb gloves to wear instead of the gardeners gloves they give you.
– if you are struggling to overtake someone, try taking a wider line into a corner, turn sharply to get a later apex exit & get the run on them along the next straight.
– don't let the engine bog down as they take ages to get going again.
– you're better off being 1sec/lap slower than spinning every 5 laps 'cos you are trying too hard.

obviously you'll give a few turns of the throttle cable adjuster pre-race……

Alternatively just rag it cut into corners last thing and get the cart skidding this way you'll have fun, and won't ruin your day taking it all far to seriously, as lets be honest if you were gonna get a picked up by mclaren it would have happened by now. 8)

If its indoors on a flat circuit then there will be oil everywhere, which means the tyres never warm up (and theyr made from hard shiny cheep mtb tyre rubber). So no grip anyway.

Also if its indoors, there will probably be a raceing line where the majority of the oil has cleared from. It might not be the ideal one (as said above, everyone will aim for the inside line) but it will have more grip. Your best bet is to go wide, stick to your braking points (if theyr try and brake late, just dive up behind them on the inside and get a better run out of the corner. If your wide you also have the option of if they brake sooner you can cut in front. On the inside you have no real options, the tyre wall on the apex, t-bone the guy on the outside, spin, or crawl round. Work out which corners have grip and which dont, and stick to your principles, mistakes happen when you try something new like the dodgy inside line.

Otdoors is different, there will be masses of grip, but more power, just stick to the wider (equaly grippy, and higher speed compared to the tighter lines) lines and you'll fly round the track.

Ohh and watch the lights at the start, easy enough to get 3-4 places if you catch some people napping.

thomthumb – Member
lean out to weight the outside wheels in the corner. if you ride bikes this id really difficult!

Wrong. If you look at the top boys doing it they do exactly the opposite – maximum weight spread evenly across all 4 wheels so lean to the inside.

If possible get to the track a bit early. Chances are you will see the workers or some really good guys getting in some practice – have a look at the lines they take

Oh, also, try and get a good kart… Both places I've been to have really variable hardware, if you get stuck with a bad one you're screwed. Very like paintballing in that respect.

Thanks for taking the time to respond!
I have just found out that it's indoor – a place called Langar Karting & Quad Centre – near Nottingham (www.lkqc.com)

I do outdoor endurance karting, generally 3 hour races and have done for many years. Here's a few tips:

1. never take your feet off the pedals cause you will lose control (i.e. dont take foot off accelerator then wait for it to slow down)
2. break before the corner then accelerate through
3. Follow the racing line not your mate ahead. you'll usually see the rubber on the track, dont go off this as it will be slippy!
4. Feather the pedals on a decent bend (tap break, accelerator, break, etc.) this will maintain momentum.
5. The skinny guy doesnt always win the race – heavy people are faster through corners as they gain more grip.
6. When you do the change over push your mate out once he takes over, these karts take ages to get going and every little helps!
7. Look out for a decent kart, listen to engine and look for damage.

Went for my first time last Friday was amazed by how quickly I picked it all up, if your used to playing on racing games/can actually drive already you'll already know what to do when sliding/how to get your back out which was amazingly fun but obviously not quick. Catch 22!

If you can get a power ball to get your hands strong as that's what hurt me most was getting claw hand, very similar to Alpine descents!

But remember to have fun!

Take it easy on the way home. The combination of excitement and completely different handling can be problematic when you get back in your car.

One thing I remember from my kart grand prix winning days (I was the skinny kid racing heavy adults) was if you rest your foot on the brake – even slightly, it kills your speed without you realising you're doing anything wrong. I thought my Kart was bust… alas I was 'riding the clutch' – stoopid

LOL at all the Jenson Button wannabes on this thread (me included ;-))

Double to what Scuttler said!! easy to pick up points and fines on way home!!

Plus what Bearback describes will probably get you black flagged anyway or at very least get you the two hands signal from the marshalls!

My top tips would be,wear knee pads if you have them, I always seem to bash my knees on the centre column, and a back protector if you have one, hard plastic seats remove skin from your spine!

Also, if someone crashes and the yellow lights come on,use this "no overtaking" time to pull up behind whoever is in front of you.Not directly behind mind you!Then keep an eye on the lights, as soon as they go out……gun it!!!! You'll catch half the field napping! Guaranteed.

If you're due to change drivers try to do it when yellow lights are on for a crash, it saves time.
Let your driver know from the pit wall how many laps they're going to do before they come in to change.Make sure your at the lane,helmet on,gloves on ready to drag them out and hop in!

oh yeah, all this talk about not sliding the back end out…….can be cobblers, it's a useful skill for making your cart wider on parts of the track where there's a sneaky chance of someone coming round outside on a tightish corner!

Chucky (Vortex Racing) from here use to race professionally. He's your man!

I've been to Langar before. There's you throttle for about 3/4 of the circuit. Only need to brake once IIRC

The standard STW advice on going for a dump before the race applies here just as well as it does to shaving weight off your plastic race bike.

Ignore the posts telling you not to brake. You are either flat out or braking full on. Braking slightly means you could be accelrating for longer then brake harder.
Only problem with go karts is that they wiggle all over the shop under hard braking so don't expect to be able to steer when braking and dont brake mid way into a corner you'll just spin.

7. Look out for a decent kart, listen to engine and look for damage.

Can also try texting the registration to "my text check" to see if has been written off, stolen recovered etc etc…

Sorry couldnt resist, IGMC

Move along now, no useful tips in this post!

Take a cushion.
Brake in as late as possible and in a straight line and never in the corner
You only need to brake on 90 degree or more corners the rest just let off on the gas that way you also reduce the risk of locking up
When you're just behind someone on an exit of a corner try and clip the rear corner of their kart [works better in the wet and amrshall may not notice]. preferably on the last lap when you've been trying to apss someone for 18 laps leaving you to take the win and he then ends up 9th 😆

fireworks against your competitors! its a race goddamnit!!!

Don't bother taking it seriously.