Do you want to go faster and win more races?
If so, then you need a go kart coach.
There are many benefits of hiring one which we will be discussing in this blog post.
A go kart coach can help with everything from teaching you how to drive better, giving feedback on your setup, and analyzing telemetry data after the race.
Here’s the 5 reasons why you NEED a go kart coach!
- Video analysis
- Telemetry analysis
- Pre session warm up
- Racing communication
- Improve kart setup feedback
Video analysis
The first and most important reason why you should hire a race coach is because he’s probably got tons of experience with Video analysis.
He’s probably watched tons and tons of hours of video onboards from himself driving, from teammates or simply from other drivers he’s worked with.
And as the saying goes, You can’t buy experience!
Video analysis is such an important activity for any adriver and needs to be done properly if the goal is winning races and championships.
I’ve been focusing so much on this single aspect.
I remember coming home from school and just watching video onboards all day instead of studying for the upcoming exam.
I tried to be as objective as possible, praising when I was driving really on the limit and hitting myself when I was missing an apex.
But the magic happens when you start watching other driver’s video onboards.
That’s when you learn the new tricks.
When I was racing in Formula 3 and Formula 2 I was eager to watch my teammate’s video if he happened to be faster during the session.
And that’s what you ultimately should be doing too!
And here comes your new kart coach.
He will prepare and record the videos so that you can have some proper analysis of racing lines and driving style.
And next comes the part on Data analysis.
Data analysis
So after having carefully watched and analyzed videos, do you think you’re ready for improving your lap times in the next session?
Nope.
Why? Because you’re missing the other side of the story.
If you’re not fast it will be difficult if not impossible to understand solely from watching how you drive on the video onboards.
Because videos can just tell you where you’re putting the wheels of the kart, and that’s about 40% of the story.
It doesn’t tell you how fast or slow your going through the corners or how late you are braking or even how soon you go on throttle.
That’s why you really need data to be analyzed.
And you can let the team do it for you in just 5-6 minutes.
Or…you can have your coach to thoroughly analyze them with you so that you know exactly what to do next time you get back into your kart.
Telemetry analysis is really what you need if you want to get faster, becasue it highlights the areas you need to focus with your driving and the areas where you can maybe work on the setup.
Pre-session warm up
Getting yourself to be mentally and physically ready to drive at 8AM is definetely not an easy task.
Even for go kart world champions and Formula 1 drivers!
That’s why you need someone to help you with physical exercise and reaction training.
Those exercises will help you a ton! A ton!
Especially warming up your rection times!
Because let’s be honest, karting might not be that physically demanding but it surely is one of the most mentally demanding sport where concentration and reaction times play a big role for the final performance.
And I 100% agree on that.
Especially when you will start doing lots of simulator work in Formula 4 or Formula 3, you’ll discover how challenging it is to keep the focus to the max for 30 40 or even 60 minutes straights without a rest.
That’s quite a big difference compared to a 12 – 15 minutes go kart race…
Therefore, make sure you hire a coach that can help you being fit for the sessions in the morning.
Racing communication
What is one of the biggest difference between F1 and karting?
Is it the big wheels, the weight, the horse power, the aerodynamics?
Well, yes but no.
I mean, that’s not exactly what I’m taling about.
I’m talking about race communication.
When people drive a Formula car for the first time, what is the first thing that they notice?
The earplugs and the microfone.
Yes, you don’t have team radios in Karting.
The fact is that for being fast, winning races and becoming a champion you need to know exactly what is going on around you and you need to know how to respond to that.
If you’re for example leading a race, you need to know wether you’re pulling away from the group or if they’re catching you up.
You’re mechanic can give you a sign for that but most times it will be difficult for you to see him since the mechanic stands generally tends to be pretty crowded and so you will struggle to see your mechanic.
Especially if the mechanic stands is right in the outside of a corner thus limiting your time of watching.
For this reason your coach can go around the track and make you very very important signals that could define the results of a race, or a championship.
If for example you’re doing a good job and pulling away from the group, he will tell you to just look forward and to not look back.
Else, if they’re catching you, he will ask you to try pushing a bit harder or driving smoother to pick up the pace.
Or you could end up getting a really good slipstream in qualy if your coach tells you to back off and wait for the guy behind to pass.
Kart setup feedbacks
Last but not least, you can get tons of setup advices from your coach.
He can train you to give the best and smartest feedback to the team so that they can improve the setup of the kart.
That’s a huge amount of value!
If you can easily help the team with your feedback, they will find the way to make you faster, if the problem is the chassis or the engine.
Of course if everything is good but you are just not braking late enough or you’re just not picking up the throttle early enough, then the one who needs to improve is just you and not the kart.
But sometimes it happens that both the driving and the setip needs to be fast in order to improve the lap times.
Giving great kart feedbacks is super important and you should really get the help from a top coach if you want to become the next WSK or Europena champion!
Conclusion:
Hiring a Go kart coach is the probably the best decision you can make when it comes to improving your racing performance.
Why? Well, that’s because they have an in-depth understanding of how racetracks work and what makes for a good race line.
They also know how to understand telemetry data from your go kart and will help with pre session warm up practices and feedback on setup adjustments before and after each session.
If this sounds like something you want during your race, contact me today!
Also, make sure you join my Solox coaching group before it’s too late!
