Hey, welcome back to the club! If you are here, it means that you have grown fond of go-karting; that’s awesome! Whether your next high-speed go karting in Melbourne is a quick weekend thrill or you are already practicing and focusing on it when you go to professional racing, we are here to give you basic and practical tips to get you on track, literally.

Get comfortable with the basics. Remember that even in the thrill of the race, you need to be relaxed, so to keep you in a relaxed mind, you need to have a relaxed body position. In this way, you are not only clearing your head, but in this stance, you also give yourself visibility on the road.

Learn how to read the track. By reading, we don’t mean it literally, but getting familiar with the racetrack can help you pick up small details that might give you a strategic advantage when you are competing. The key is to understand the layout and initially identify which parts you need to speed up, steer up, and slow down.

Smooth steering is key. As technical as this may sound, smooth and controlled steering only means that this is the technique racers use to maintain their speed and control. And just like water, if you know how to control your steering, you can efficiently glide your kart even under the pressure of keeping it stable while moving quickly.

Master the art of braking. And while you’re at it, find rhythm in braking. Braking in the kart effectively means that you are in control of your balance and timing—something that needs constant practice to make it perfect and feel like you’re just gliding through the curves without losing the speed you aspire to get.

Keep your eyes ahead. This is an obvious tip and just a constant reminder to always keep your eyes on the road. Beginners tend to look down the track, and that’s okay. However, if you train yourself to look further ahead, you’ll realise that you can anticipate your turns better and decide which move you’re going to make next while still maintaining your speed at the optimum.

Consistent practice makes perfect. And like any other sport, it takes practice to achieve perfection. And you are not the one who gets to decide if you’re mastering the sport already. This might bore you out, but try again and again and again, and challenge yourself to different tracks and in varied weather conditions, so you can master your strategies with enough control.

Life is all about having fun.

And when it’s easy to forget why you started in the first place, remember that you are here to not only compete but to enjoy every single race you are in. Mastery of speed, balance, and control do not happen overnight, and it might even get you a few failures here and there to get to where you want to achieve. Don’t worry about the future, and have fun in the moment.