Braking with a go kart

The way you master you’re go kart braking will give you very super-sensitive feel to the go-kart you are driving and will make you go much faster. In racing a kart there will be nothing more satisfying than sliding up and against another driver, with your kart going sideways with the tyres chirping and whilst you delicately start to adjust your braking to maintain traction. It’s one of those feelings when you feel as of everything is in slow motion and that you are unstoppable.

In My coaching experience i believe it’s the kart drivers who really do enjoy the braking on their kart in which it makes them go faster.  Some examples are the following.

Step 1.  Be the master of braking

To do this you must not fear your karts wheel locking up or spinning. They way around that is to go on the course focused and mean. Keep in mind your kart is the beast and you must make sure your able to tame it well and show it who’s boss. This is how to do it.

1. Try to choose a sharp corner that has a short straight just before it.
2. Try to brake earlier
3. Approach normally but try to give yourself a little bit more space close to the edge , you will need this.
4. Drive as fast as you can than at the last second slam the brake pedal.
5. Make sure your right foot comes of the throttle, while your left foot exerts maximum pressure of the brake, it’s should be quick and smart while doing this.
6. Straight after the bang on the pedal, make sure to release some brake pressure and try to control the kart, keep in mind and be ready the kart will snap sideway either way so try to control it. You will start to feel one of the following happen once you done that.

-           The rear starts sliding out, in which you must ease of the brake pedal.

-          Tyres start to squeal

-          Engine notes drops suddenly, like as if you’re clutch less, if you do not feel either of these you must then hit he pedal harder until you do.

So now if you’re still hitting the accelerator as hard as you can and still getting no result, then get your brakes checked if not re-kitted because it seems there not working well. Also if you keep spinning then it could mean you may be holding the brakes too long. Releasing the braking pressure after your initial hit so you can then feel the kart coming back to you. This will al take a lot of practise and some timing which needs to be spot on, so you will need to learn to get off the brake so the kart comes back to you, then you can turn into the next corner.  But make sure to stick with this so you learn extreme karting.  You will start to learn that being violent and excessive on your brake pedal can still make you be in control of your kart, which means you won’t be scared to push your brakes to their limits, and you should be able to pull off some crazy moves the e pro’s do.

Refining your brake technique and trying to get faster.

Now that you’ve had your fun it’s time to get serious, now that you’re getting used to hammering the brakes you start to realise your kart becomes more responsive. Also, trying to tame the kart under extreme circumstances in which by now you should have developed a new level to see how much grip there is available, and how hard you can push your kart. Now we will need to take advantage of all those and increase it. The science part of it all, when hitting the brakes there is a slight moment where the tyres begin to lock, when they start to produce a lot of traction. As a race driver you’re in control to try to keep the throttle for as long as you can before shortening the braking distance. So by doing this when you brake you will need to keep the tyres in that same region where they seem to be locking to get a good force of them. 

A goof way of increasing the braking force is to make sure your body weight over the rear wheels while braking. So brace yourself when you hit the brake as it pushes you back into your seat.

These are some braking techniques when you in quick times.

1. Choose your braking point, or use your usual one.
2. When you do it hit, hit it fast and as hard as possible.
3. Try to be sensitive on the pedal and also hold the brake until you sense the tyre begin to lock, you will hear a sound, and a nice chirping noise. If you feel they lock then release the brakes slightly.
4. Make sure to be aware that at that pressure you will be tempted towards the apex a bit too early, try to keep the kart as straight as you can and try to turn in late as your finishing the braking.

This is to exert the maximum braking pressure at your braking point, and then try to release the pressure as you come closer to the next corner. Once you become comfortable with this style you can move onto fixing your exits using the advanced karting steering skills. Doing all this i have said is very difficult but once mastered you will develop a new level of sensitivity and a much more involvement driving on the track.

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