THE DRIVING TECHNIQUE
FOR SINGLE-SPEED KARTS
EXPLAINED BY JOSEPH TURNEY

TKART Staff

03 November 2020

They do not have gears, the front brakes are less powerful than gear karts, but taking them to the limit is not simple: single-speed karts need the right techniques behind the wheel. We asked the English talent of the Tony Kart Racing Team to tell us about them

1°
DRIVING POSITION

“It is better not to invent anything in regard to the installation of the seat and mount it following the standard measurements indicated by the manufacturer. In fact, these dimensions are designed to ensure that the centre of gravity is in the optimal position for the specific characteristics of the chassis. Eventually, you can change the stiffness of the material: a softer seat is usually combined with hard tyres and a harder seat with soft tyres.
This does not mean that the driving position cannot be as comfortable as possible. To achieve this, adjust the footrest and the height of the steering wheel so that you have your arms and legs bent: an angle between 130° and 140° is ideal. You must be able to push as hard as you can to turn the steering wheel: the driving style to be adopted with single-speed karts, as we will see later, requires driving as cleanly as possible and pulling the steering wheel towards you to steer, as some drivers do, is not a good idea because it affects driving precision”.

Hands should be placed at 9 and 15.

2°
TRAJECTORIES AND DRIVING STYLE

“As is common knowledge, when driving single-speed karts, it is essential to be careful not to let the engine speed drop too low so as not to get stuck coming out of bends. The goal is therefore to draw trajectories that allow you to keep the engine in torque and, at the same time, not go too far. In addition to very round and wide trajectories, you must try to drive as cleanly as possible (that is, you must avoid oversteering), especially when the asphalt is very hot. At high temperatures tyres tend to slip, overheating occurs and, therefore, you lose performance. The result? You will find yourself no longer having any grip when cornering, or to be in the phase in which the difference is made between going fast or slow in karting”.

These pictures show the ideal trajectories for four different types of bends: hairpin bend, 90° bend, double 90° bend and chicane.

THE DRIVING TECHNIQUEFOR SINGLE-SPEED KARTSEXPLAINED BY JOSEPH TURNEY

1° DRIVING POSITION

2° TRAJECTORIES AND DRIVING STYLE

THE DRIVING TECHNIQUE
FOR SINGLE-SPEED KARTS
EXPLAINED BY JOSEPH TURNEY

1°
DRIVING POSITION

2°
TRAJECTORIES AND DRIVING STYLE