How To Drive A Go Kart Fast

If you’re new to the karting scene you might be wondering how to drive a go kart fast. It’s a question that’s on many young drivers’ minds, but it’s such a broad topic that it’s difficult to pin down in its entirety through one article. Instead, we’re going to give you some actionable tips that you can use to improve your speed in go karting today!

Build your speed slowly
Driving a kart can be difficult, and it’s easy to make a mistake, especially if you’re a beginner. It’s important to remember that everyone is on their own journey in motorsport, and the only person you should be competing against is yourself.
If you’re doing something better than the last time you were out on track, that’s an improvement and a win. At the end of the day, the more you beat your past self, the more you will be able to beat your competitors.
The best way to improve is slowly and steadily. Don’t push yourself too hard, especially if you have a lot of track time available to you. It’s always best to slowly build up your speed and make progress as you gain confidence in the kart.

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes
We all make mistakes when driving out on track. Whether you’re a rookie or a Formula 1 driver, mistakes are a part of life. You might have braked too late or spun out around a fast corner and beached your kart in the gravel.
That’s not important. What’s important is how you get up from that low and how you learn from your mistakes. Even the best Formula 1 drivers have made mistakes, however, they have learnt from those mistakes and used them to improve their overall abilities, which is what made them so good in the end.
It’s natural to make mistakes, and it happens to everyone. There’s no need to be embarrassed by the mistakes you make, no matter how ‘simple’ or ‘stupid’ they may seem. You just need to use those mistakes to improve your own driving.

Overcome your fears
Driving a kart can be a scary experience, especially if you’re still a rookie. This causes a lot of fear in drivers, especially the younger drivers. Luckily though, there is a way to overcome your fears of driving your kart.
As soon as you overcome your fears you will instantly notice an improvement in your speed. Overcoming that fear is not easy, but the best way to do is to tackle it head on and go out on track to become more comfortable and confident in your kart.
Sometimes we don’t be afraid until a specific experience such a crash or a close call. This can set us back in our progress and cause us to slow down. In this case, the best to address that fear and put yourself in positions where you can ace that fear.
For example, if you’re afraid of heights, force yourself to climb ladders, but take small steps. In a karting example, if you’re afraid of overtaking other karts, get into some rental karts with a friend and practice, practice, practice!

Learn from other drivers around you
One of the best ways that you can find improvements in your own driving is by learning from the drivers around you. If there are drivers who are faster than you, nothing stops you from following them and copying their racing lines and braking points.
Doing so can give you a good idea of where you are slower than them and what you need to improve on. From there you can begin to figure out what you’re doing wrong, whether you’re braking too early or taking the wrong line through a corner.
If you’re good you can also get a basic set up idea from other drivers. They won’t willingly give you their set up, but if you watch how they handle their karts it can give you an idea of where your set up might be lacking compared to theirs.

Get your own coach
The best investment that a driver can make to go faster is to hire a coach. Having a coach is an easy way to fast track your own career and quickly learn the basics of the kart and how to drive it as fast as you possibly can.
This is because a coach would have already learnt from their own experiences, and they can give those experiences and knowledge straight to you. Essentially, their ceiling becomes your platform, and from there you can only get better.
Here at Kart Class we’ve got multiple different packages that you can choose from, and all of them will help to teach you how to drive a go kart fast. The beginner program is where the fundamentals of any motorsport career are set, so be sure to check this out to start your racing career on the right track. Our coaching works worldwide on all kinds of different tracks, and we’ve helped many aspiring racers to improve their lap times and get onto the podium.