Less is More - Opinion Piece

A highly overused phrase at the best of times but it does have an affect here. As with most sports, karting is a combination of talent, knowledge and luck. You can increase your technical know-how and your skill set, but there's not much you can do about your luck ratio... or is there?

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What do we mean?

Consider this. When you were a kid and first sat on a bike, could you ride it? Ok, take the stabilisers off, now could you ride it? Probably not. But you practised and managed to reach the end of your driveway before nose diving into the neighbours topiary. And then, you got a bit braver and managed to get to the bottom of the road… before eating a kerbstone. Ring any bells here? It wasn't all that long before you were screaming round the neighbourhood, giving your neighbours the finger and competing for the longest skid marks (on the road). So at that point if some asked if you could ride a bike you'd probably look at them in disgust for having the need to ask. So what happened? Well, before you ever got on one a bike was a bit alien. Your brain didn't have the foggiest as to what skills you'd need to stay on. So you were gripping the handlebars for dear life, pedalling like Jimbob the performing parrot and develop a deep understanding of the properties of gravity, balance and inertia… all at once. Then you'd start to understand each skill individually and gradually merge them all into one seamless operation. And what do you get when you achieve this?

Starting from Scratch

So back to the subject. The first time you get in a kart it'll be a bit alien, not as much as your bike but a bit. You won't have any idea where the weight is, its dimensions, how well it will stick to the road… nothing. It won't take long though before you think you've got it. You'll be pushing the throttle pedal through the under tray and squealing tyres all over the place and you'll think you're it… till some flash git comes flying up the inside of you on a corner and laps you… then laps you again. So what's he got that you haven't eh?

Confidence

He's using exactly the same principal for karting as you did on your bike. He's learnt karting one step at a time, and now he's done it so many times it's second nature. He doesn't go into a corner thinking where to apex, how to distribute his weight or if he should brake or not. He's probably not thinking at all, or of something completely different from racing – and it works because he's confident. Some of my best races have been thinking about racing games or what crash helmet I want to buy, I even spent one session singing to myself to find out if I could hear myself with my crash helmet on. I'm not saying go out and be braindead. Learn your craft, let it become second nature and then don't worry about it on the racetrack. Think about how you're gonna take the kart ahead rather than what your doing. Think about when to push really hard and when to relax. Just think less, get more.