Hi everyone, im a long time lurker and even though this account is old, I just spend my time reading stuff here. but something is killing me, yesterday I had a race a kart race obviously. I started this year without previous karting experience on the nationals, 150kg min weight 125cc parilla sudam (direct drive) which is the norm in south america.
In that circuit my best time is 47.52 secs which is a normal pole time with good weather and temp, this after 4 and half months of being in the "scene" so to say. average speed is around 73-76km/h in Luis P Serra (san jose) circuit (pic)
After a 2 month punishment of no racing since august, I had a race this weekend in another track. Not my first time in that one, but what really surprised me is that I wasn't doing amazing times like in san jose. I was 2.5-3 full seconds off pace!!! This is the second time I've been here, my lack of experience doesn't helps that much, but getting overtaken in the straight like I was in a sunday cruise was demoralizing. I did my best to follow them through the turns, but they were simply faster, as if I was running in a smaller class.
for you to have an idea, the track is not a kart track, it's a race track that excludes some corners to make it shorter (1470m) the average speed is 93-96km/h, needless to say it's wider, bumpier, etc To begin with, after the race I went on and checked the pinion and crown teeth, I was using a shorter relation than the rest, this explains why I was so slow near the end of the straights. You spend like 80% of the time full throttle on this track. Another thing I realized is that as soon as the race started and reached the first corners, everyone rocketed through them while I was left behind. In some of the corners where you're supposed to go full throttle I even had to lift to get through them, my mechanic and my team blamed me but they dont understand that it had to be done otherwise I would end in the grass lol.
All I could do was watch them fly past me and it killed me in the inside, now, aside from the shame of finishing last, I realized this wasn't entirely my fault. I can understand being 1 sec off the pace, but not 2.5 or 3, that is absurd.
I know that my kart was mostly set up for san jose, not for this one. How and what things should I change first? I honestly don't know where to being with. thanks in advance guys