Eugene Panenko

Before You Calm Your Hands, Check Where You’re Looking

2026-09-30T02:43:36.843Z

Before You Calm Your Hands, Check Where You’re Looking

When I watch a driver constantly correcting the steering through a corner, simply saying “be smoother” is not enough.

I want to understand why those movements are happening. Is the driver catching a slide? Carrying too much entry speed? Struggling to feel the kart? Or seeing where they need to go too late?

Terence Dove’s article about focusing on corner exits gave me an idea I want to explore with our drivers:

Sometimes the problem starts with the eyes, and the hands reveal the consequences.

When Your Vision Stays at the Apex

Imagine a driver entering a corner, looking at the apex and guiding the kart toward it. Up to that point, the target is clear.

But what happens next?

If their attention stays at the apex, they may start planning the exit too late. When they finally look up, they discover that the kart is not pointing where it needs to go.

They add steering. Release it. Add it again.

Perhaps they are not trying to drive aggressively. They are simply receiving information too late and repeatedly correcting their path.

When your eyes fall behind, your hands have to catch up.

That is why “stop moving the steering wheel” may not solve the problem. We are asking the driver to change the visible result without addressing what causes it.

The Apex Is Part of the Corner

Hitting the apex matters. But the corner does not end there.

As a coach, I want to see how the kart exits: its speed, its direction, how the driver unwinds the steering, and whether acceleration continues without unnecessary corrections.

Before entering, I want the driver to know:

Where do I want to be on the exit, and how should the kart feel when I get there?

Braking, turn-in and the apex then become parts of one connected task: preparing the exit.

In a sequence of corners, the best exit may be the one that prepares the next turn. We need a clear plan for each corner rather than one identical solution everywhere.

What a Good Exit Should Feel Like

I want you to recognise more than an exit point. I want you to recognise the feeling you are trying to create.

When the corner comes together, the kart feels like a spring releasing you forward. You unwind the steering, apply power and feel the kart accelerate freely.

The rear tyres are not breaking into unnecessary wheelspin or sliding. The front tyres are not washing wide and making you add more steering. The kart is not hopping or feeling bound up, as though the engine is trying to accelerate while you are still holding it in the corner.

The tyres are still working under load. They have to be. But as you unwind the steering, you reduce their cornering demand and give them more capacity to support acceleration.

You feel the grip helping you move forward.

That is the exit we need to prepare on the entry.

Your entry speed, turn-in timing, kart rotation and throttle application should bring you to a position from which you can keep accelerating while progressively opening the steering.

If you have to add steering again, catch the rear or lift off on the exit, ask what happened earlier:

Did I enter too fast? Turn too early? Look toward the exit too late? Apply power before the kart was ready?

A clean, strong exit is a useful sign that the earlier phases worked together. It is not the only test: setup, grip and engine performance also affect the result.

Your task has two parts: see where you want to exit, and know how you want the kart to feel there.

Move Your Focus Through the Corner

I am not asking you to ignore the apex or stare at one exit point throughout the corner.

Identify the apex early, then move your main visual focus toward the exit and the continuation of your line in time to prepare for them. Keep the closer references in your peripheral vision.

Do not wait until you arrive at the apex to start thinking about what comes next.

Looking ahead also does not mean losing awareness of other karts or changes on the track. Your vision keeps moving and gathering information. Your attention should be preparing the next phase of the corner.

A Question for Every Driver

I want each of you to think through every corner and answer honestly:

Where am I looking before braking?
Where am I looking when I begin turning the steering wheel?
Where am I looking through the middle of the corner, before the apex?
When do I move my focus toward the exit?
Where am I looking as I unwind the steering and accelerate?

Please answer by corner number. Describe what you actually do, rather than what you think the correct answer should be.

Use this format:

Corner number: …
Before braking: …
At turn-in: …
Before the apex: …
I move my focus toward the exit when: …
During acceleration: …

If you do not know, say so. That gives us a specific task for the next practice: becoming aware of how you use your vision.

How We Will Test It

We will choose one corner and first observe how you normally drive it.

Then, without changing the kart setup or asking you to go faster, we will give you one task:

Identify the exit early and move your attention toward it sooner.

Do not force yourself to hold the steering wheel still. We want to find out whether better visual preparation naturally changes your steering.

We will compare video and data:

Are there fewer unnecessary corrections?
Is the line more consistent?
Can you unwind the steering more progressively?
Is the exit speed maintained or improved?
Does the kart feel freer as it accelerates?

Calmer hands alone are not enough if you have simply slowed down considerably. We need to compare the result at a similar pace.

If the kart genuinely slides, you must respond. If changing your vision does not help, we will keep investigating entry speed, braking, throttle application, body movement and setup.

Smoothness Begins Before Your Hands Move

To me, smoothness means timely, precise inputs that match what the kart needs.

Before asking a driver to calm their hands, I want to know whether they are receiving information early enough and have a clear plan for where they are taking the kart.

See the continuation of the corner early. Prepare the kart for it. Give yourself fewer reasons to correct what you could have anticipated.

And remember the feeling we are working toward: a kart that releases from the corner and accelerates freely, like a spring.

— Eugene Panenko
KartFreedom

First Shifter Tests: A New Chapter for KartFreedom × CKR

2026-09-29T21:16:47.551Z

First Shifter Tests: A New Chapter for KartFreedom × CKR

Our first KartFreedom × CKR Shifter Academy tests are now behind us, and they gave us much more than lap times.

They gave us stories.

Stories about progress, consistency, barriers, ambition, and why Shifter karting continues to have such a special place in racing.

Graeme Eslick — from newcomer to Shifter in a year and a half

Graeme Eslick drove a Shifter kart for the first time in his life.

What makes this especially impressive is where his journey started.

Graeme only began karting in the spring of 2025. In roughly a year and a half, he has reached a level that shows just how much can happen when training is approached with real consistency.

There is no magic formula behind it.

There is a dream. There is hard work from the driver and coach. There is strong family support. And, above all, there is regular practice.

Over the last year and a half, Graeme has trained more than almost anyone around him and has taken part in a huge number of races.

Week after week. Race after race. Session after session.

That consistency has built something very important: adaptability.

First, we saw how quickly he adapted from KA100 to the faster TAG Senior category.

Then came the Shifter.

And once again, he exceeded expectations.

In his first-ever Shifter test at AMP, Graeme ran a 49.4.

But the lap time is only part of the story.

What impressed me even more was how quickly he began understanding the kart.

In the video, you can actually hear and see the learning process happening.

In just four sessions, Graeme started to understand when to shift, how to listen to the engine, how to combine braking with downshifts, how to organize his hands and feet, and how to keep driving the kart at speed while his brain was processing a completely new set of tasks.

Of course, there is still a huge amount to learn.

That is part of what makes Shifter so exciting.

But for a first day, it was an outstanding debut.

Manny — from behind the scenes to behind the wheel

I also want to highlight another story from the test.

Manny.

For a long time, most people at the track knew him as the mechanic working behind the scenes.

Preparing karts. Fixing problems. Helping drivers. Doing the work that often goes unnoticed but makes everyone else’s racing possible.

At the beginning of this year, he was still relatively new to karting.

Today, he has become a very good mechanic.

But mechanics were not what originally brought him into this world.

Racing did.

He wanted to drive himself.

Manny already had a kart, but for a long time he did not have the opportunity to practice consistently.

Eventually, he found a way around that barrier as well — he became a track member and started training.

This weekend was only the third Shifter practice of his life.

With the ROK Shifter engine, Manny ran an impressive 50.6 at AMP.

Again, the lap time matters.

But the story matters even more.

Your starting point does not define your destination

Graeme and Manny came into karting from very different starting points.

One is building his career quickly through constant training and racing.

The other spent months helping everyone else, working as a mechanic, while still carrying the desire to drive himself.

Both stories remind us of one important idea:

Your starting point does not define your destination.

There will always be barriers.

Money.
Time.
Experience.
Age.
Equipment.
Knowledge.

But there is an enormous world of possibilities on the other side of those barriers.

And how far we go depends largely on how consistently we are willing to work.

Why Shifter is personal to me

And maybe that is exactly why this project feels so personal to me.

I still remember my first day in a Shifter kart.

It was 2013 — 13 years ago.

Before that, I had already spent years racing single-speed karts, learning, competing and becoming faster.

But the first time I drove a Shifter, something felt completely different.

I realized: this is it. This is what I’ve been looking for.

Maybe this was the feeling I had been waiting for since I first fell in love with racing back in 1994.

The acceleration.

The shifting.

The braking.

The sound of the engine.

The physical intensity.

The challenge of doing so many things at the same time — and gradually turning that initial chaos into one continuous rhythm.

Thirteen years have passed since then.

Engines have evolved. Chassis have changed. Technology has moved forward.

Shifter karting continues to develop.

But one thing has never changed for me:

That feeling when you finally begin to understand the kart.

That moment when the machine stops feeling complicated and starts feeling natural.

When shifting, braking, steering, throttle, grip and engine sound stop being separate tasks and become one process.

That feeling changed the way I looked at karting.

And that is why watching Graeme’s first day, Manny’s progress, and every new driver getting into a Shifter means something special to me.

Because I know exactly what that first experience can mean.

Why we created KartFreedom × CKR Shifter Academy

This is one of the main reasons we created the KartFreedom × CKR Shifter Academy.

The goal is not simply to rent out Shifter karts.

The goal is to create a structured development path.

A place where drivers can experience Shifter karting safely, understand the technique, develop the required physical and mental skills, study video and data, learn how the kart works, and eventually prepare for racing.

We continue enrollment into the program and are already working toward adding another Shifter training kart in the near future.

Because Shifter is not simply another kart.

It has its own philosophy. Its own culture. Its own universe.

It demands acceleration, brutal braking, physical strength, precision and coordination.

You have to listen to the engine, work the gearbox, brake, downshift, steer, manage the throttle and understand the grip — all while everything is happening incredibly fast.

There is almost no time to stop and think.

Eventually, the driver has to become part of the machine.

Body, mind, engine, gearbox, tires and asphalt working together at the limit — fighting for hundredths and thousandths of a second against competitors…

and against yourself.

Shifter can make young drivers stronger.

And somehow, every time you drive one, it can make adults feel younger again.

🏁 KartFreedom × CKR Shifter Academy
The journey has started.

AMP Doesn’t Teach Bad Habits

2026-09-28T23:34:06.350Z

A driver who simply repeats a movement develops a habit. A driver who understands why it worked gains a tool.

AMP Doesn’t Teach Bad Habits

I’ve heard people say that AMP teaches drivers the wrong way to drive. I disagree.

AMP is an unusual track. Its elevation changes, low-grip sections, and moments when the kart loses contact with the pavement and regains grip after landing demand a lot from a driver. You have to keep feeling how the kart’s behavior changes.

At AMP, you sometimes need to help the kart rotate under braking. At a high-grip national race at Trackhouse, that same technique might cost you time. The kart may need a much cleaner entry. But that doesn’t make the skill you learned at AMP useless. Another track, another race, or different conditions may call for it again.

The difference is how you learn.

A driver can memorize a sequence: brake here, turn here, wait for the kart to rotate. If conditions change and the driver keeps repeating that sequence, it becomes a habit, even when it no longer works.

Or the driver can ask: Why did the kart rotate there? What did my braking do? Why did it respond differently on the next lap? That driver is learning cause and effect. They can use the technique when it helps and change their approach when it doesn’t.

A driver who simply repeats a movement develops a habit. A driver who understands why it worked gains a tool.

That is what purposeful practice means to me. Every track can add to our set of tools. AMP gives us opportunities to feel and control a kart in challenging, changing conditions. Our job is to take that understanding with us, not just a memorized line.

A fast driver doesn’t drive the same way everywhere. A fast driver notices what has changed, understands why, and adapts.

Eugene Panenko
KartFreedom

Driving Style: Why I Don’t Believe in One Right Way to Be Fast

2026-09-28T23:24:17.797Z

Driving Style: Why I Don’t Believe in One Right Way to Be Fast

I recently read an article by Torrance about two approaches to driving a kart. One driver keeps the kart as clean and precise as possible, almost as if it were running on rails. Another uses the brakes to help rotate the kart, with a small amount of controlled movement at corner entry.

I like that distinction, but my conclusion is simple: a strong driver needs both skills. The question is not which style you call your own. The question is whether you can adapt when the track, tires, and grip change.

I often hear drivers say, “I’m a smooth driver.” Sometimes that reflects excellent precision. Other times, it means they are uncomfortable using the brakes to help the kart turn. They brake in a straight line, release the pedal completely, and then ask the steering wheel to do all the work. On a grippy track, that can look beautiful and produce a good lap time. When grip drops, it may stop working.

This is especially noticeable at AMP in low-grip conditions. Adding more steering does not necessarily make the kart turn more. The front tires may scrub, the kart runs wide, and the driver has to wait longer before getting back on the throttle. In those conditions, you need to know how to help the kart rotate under braking. That means choosing the right entry speed, feeling the load transfer, and releasing the brake as you turn.

This is a subtle skill. I am not talking about locking the rear tires or throwing the kart sideways. Good rotation under braking can be almost invisible from the outside. The driver feels the difference: the kart points toward the exit sooner, needs less steering after the apex, and is ready to accelerate earlier.

The opposite can happen, too. As grip builds, a driver may keep trying to rotate the kart as aggressively as they did earlier in the day. Now the kart slides too much, starts hopping, or loses speed. The driver needs to calm the entry and let the chassis carry speed through the corner. A technique that helped in the morning can hurt in the final.

That is why I don’t want to teach my drivers one “signature” style. I want them to ask:

Did the kart rotate when I needed it to?
How much steering was I still holding after the apex?
Could I get back on the throttle earlier?
What happened to my speed on the next straight?
Can I repeat it lap after lap?

Smoothness is a valuable skill. Rotating the kart with the brakes is a valuable skill too. Neither should become an excuse for a weakness in the other. If you always drive cleanly, learn to feel and control rotation. If you always look for a slide, learn to carry speed without unnecessary movement.

To me, great driving is about adaptability. You understand what the kart needs right now and give it just enough rotation to make the corner faster. At AMP, especially when grip is low, braking often plays a bigger role in making that happen. When conditions change, your approach should change with them.

Driving style is not a label you choose once and keep forever. It is a set of tools. The more tools you truly master, the faster you can adapt on track.

Eugene Panenko
KartFreedom

Don’t Count Laps. Make Every Lap Intentional.

2026-09-28T13:05:17.455Z

Don’t Count Laps. Make Every Lap Intentional.

I’ve been training myself for many years, and I’ve also spent many years working in karting and coaching a huge number of kids and adults.

And I keep seeing the same thing:

More track time does not always mean more progress.

I’ve seen drivers who spend more time on track than anyone else, burn through tires, complete hundreds of laps — and still barely improve.

Why?

Because they are simply driving.

Arnold Schwarzenegger once explained that when he trained a muscle, he didn’t just move the weight. He concentrated completely on that muscle. He tried to feel it, understand it, connect his mind to what was happening physically.

For me, karting works exactly the same way.

When I go on track, I try to mentally get inside the kart.

I feel the tires.
I feel the load on them.
I feel the chassis and weight transfer.
I feel the engine.
The asphalt.
The grip level.
Every braking zone.
Every moment when the kart starts to slide, bind, rotate, or lose support.

At high speed, my brain is constantly trying to absorb hundreds of small signals and answer one question:

What is happening right now, and what can I change to make the next lap better?

I don’t want to simply complete another lap.

I want to use every fraction of a second on track as an opportunity to learn.

And when the session ends, the work is not over.

I watch video.
I study telemetry.
I compare laps.
I look for mistakes.
I study other drivers.

And if somebody does something better than me today — great.

That means I have someone to learn from.

Because no matter how good you are, there will always be a day when someone beats you.

And that is not a reason to make excuses.

It is information. It is an opportunity to improve.

So if you truly want to become better in karting, come to the track with intention.

Don’t just drive mindless laps, wearing out tires while repeating the same mistakes again and again.

Before every session, ask yourself:

What exactly am I working on?What am I trying to feel?What am I trying to change?

And after the session, ask yourself:

What did I learn?

Because 100 focused laps can teach you more than 1,000 laps on autopilot.

In karting, it’s not about how much you drove.

It’s about how much you understood while driving.

Drive. Feel. Think. Analyze. Improve.

— Eugene
KartFreedom

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR BRAIN TO BECOME A FASTER DRIVER

2026-08-19T00:49:23.726Z

BEFORE YOU CAN GET FASTER: THE SKILLS YOU NEED BEFORE REAL IMPROVEMENT CAN HAPPEN

As coaches, we constantly give drivers instructions.

Brake later.
Release the brake smoother.
Listen to the engine.
Feel the rear axle.
Look farther ahead.
Use the whole track.
Feel when the tires begin to slide.
Think about the exit.
Watch the driver ahead.

All of this is good advice.

There is only one problem.

To actually do these things, a driver needs enough mental capacity left to process and analyze all that information.

For a beginner — and sometimes even for a reasonably fast driver — almost 100% of their attention may already be occupied simply driving the kart.

Where is my braking point?
What corner is next?
Am I going too fast?
Where is the apex?
Someone is behind me.
Someone is beside me.
Don't spin.
Don't crash.
BRAKE!

And right at that moment, the coach says:

“Listen to whether the engine is bogging on the exit.”

Great advice.

Except the driver literally has no mental space left to do it.

This is why driver development isn't simply about teaching more and more technical skills.

First, we need to gradually free up the driver's brain so those skills can actually be used.

1. AUTOMATICITY

The first goal isn't necessarily to become faster.

The goal is to make basic kart control require less conscious attention.

Braking, steering, throttle, shifting, positioning the kart and knowing the track eventually need to become increasingly automatic.

Think about driving a normal car.

An experienced driver doesn't consciously think:

“Now I take my foot off the throttle. Now I press the brake. Now I turn the steering wheel.”

You just do it.

That leaves your attention available for traffic, navigation and everything happening around you.

Racing works the same way.

The less brainpower you need simply to control the kart, the more you have available to actually drive it fast.

2. VISION

Fast driving requires much more than good eyesight.

It requires knowing where to look and when to move your eyes.

Developing drivers often visually chase their own kart. They look too close and constantly react to what is happening right now.

A stronger driver is mentally ahead of the kart.

Before reaching the apex, they are already seeing the exit.

On the exit, they are already preparing for the next corner.

Sometimes they can see a situation developing before the driver ahead even makes the mistake.

Good vision almost slows racing down inside your head.

And when everything starts to feel slower, you stop simply reacting and begin making decisions.

3. SENSITIVITY

There is a huge difference between being able to drive a kart and being able to feel exactly what the kart is doing underneath you.

A developing driver often says:

“The kart is bad.”

Why?

“It slides.”

Okay. Which end?

When?

Entry, apex or exit?

Under braking or throttle?

Is the front refusing to rotate, or is the rear losing grip?

As a driver develops, their internal vocabulary becomes much richer.

They begin to recognize steering load, rear rotation, tire scrub, wheelspin, brake locking, engine response and small changes in grip.

This isn't magic, and it isn't necessarily some talent you were born with.

It can be trained.

4. AWARENESS

The next level is understanding more than just your own kart.

Where are the other drivers?

Who is faster?

Where exactly are they faster?

Who is defending?

Who is beginning to make mistakes?

How is the track changing?

What are the tires doing?

Where is the grip developing?

What happened on the previous lap?

And what is likely to happen five seconds from now?

This is where someone who can drive a kart quickly begins to become a racing driver.

5. SELF-ANALYSIS

And then we reach one of the most important abilities of all.

Learning to observe yourself while you're driving.

Not emotionally:

“Damn, that corner was terrible.”

Analytically:

“I entered too deep, released the brake too quickly, overloaded the front and had to wait before getting back to throttle.”

Now we have useful information.

And a completely different learning loop begins:

Drive → Feel → Understand → Adjust → Test

Instead of:

Drive → Drive → Drive → Come into the pits → Coach explains what you did wrong

That's a huge difference.

SO WHAT DO I ACTUALLY RECOMMEND TO MY DRIVERS?

First, and probably most importantly:

Stop turning every practice session into qualifying.

If every run looks like:

Go out → Chase a PB → Look at the MyChron → Go back out and attack again,

you may become faster.

But you aren't necessarily becoming a better driver.

Sometimes deliberately drive at 90–95%

Leave some attention available.

Then use it.

What is the rear axle doing?

Where does the steering load increase?

When does the tire begin to slide?

Where can you first reach full throttle?

Where do the RPMs drop?

Where are you waiting for the kart?

Sometimes, to learn how to go faster, you first need to deliberately slow down a little.

One run — one objective

Don't try to fix ten things at once.

One session can be entirely about vision.

The next can be about brake release.

The next can focus on one corner.

The next can be only about exits.

Another can be about understanding what the rear axle is doing.

When one skill begins requiring less conscious attention, we can add another.

After a run, you talk before the coach does

I often don't want to immediately tell a driver what I saw.

I want to hear from the driver first.

“Talk me through your lap.”

Where did you lose time?

Why?

What was the kart doing?

Where did you have to wait?

Which problem came from your driving, and which one actually came from the kart?

At first, the answer may simply be:

“I don't know.”

That's okay.

The objective is to gradually turn:

“The kart wasn't good.”

into:

“I had understeer on entry, added more steering input, overloaded the front and compromised my exit.”

That's a massive step in driver development.

Learn to predict your own lap time

Finish a lap and don't immediately look at the MyChron.

First, make a prediction.

“That felt like a 52.8.”

Next lap:

“That was probably two tenths slower.”

“That should be my best one.”

Then look at the time.

When a driver starts accurately feeling differences of one or two tenths, that's a very good sign.

They're beginning to understand the cost of their own actions.

Break the track into pieces

Don't try to fix the entire lap.

Pick one sector.

Or even one corner.

Run it five times and change only one thing.

Braking point.

Brake release.

Turn-in.

Minimum speed.

Throttle application.

Then look at the result.

Change → Feel → Measure → Understand

Practice should sometimes be a laboratory, not a race.

Train your eyes separately

Dedicate an entire run to vision.

Brake marker → Apex → Exit → Next corner.

Before reaching the apex, your eyes should already be searching for the exit.

On the exit, they should already be finding the next reference.

At first, you have to consciously force yourself to do it.

Eventually, it becomes automatic.

And then something interesting happens:

The track begins to feel slower.

Follow a faster driver — but don't simply copy them

Don't just try to hang onto their rear bumper.

Observe.

Where do they brake?

More importantly, where do they release the brake?

When does their kart begin to rotate?

When do they return to throttle?

How much track do they use?

Then, after the session, answer one question:

Why is that driver faster than me?

Not:

“Because he's really good.”

Specifically — where and why?

Learn to analyze mistakes without emotion

A spin.

A bad lap.

A failed overtake.

A lost position.

The mistake has already happened.

Getting angry won't give you those two seconds back.

But understanding it might prevent you from losing the next two.

Why did it happen?

Late braking?

Dirty line?

Too aggressive a steering input?

Cold tire?

Too much entry speed?

A strong driver isn't someone who never makes mistakes. A strong driver is someone who turns mistakes into information very quickly.

FIVE QUESTIONS AFTER EVERY RUN

I want my drivers to gradually develop the habit of answering these questions:

1. Where did I lose the most time?

2. Why did I lose it there?

3. What did I feel from the kart?

4. What did I change, and what happened as a result?

5. What exactly am I going to try on the next run?

If you can answer those five questions, the practice session already had value.

Even if you didn't set a new PB today.

AND ONE RECOMMENDATION FOR PARENTS

Especially for parents of young drivers.

Try not to make the first question after every session:

“What was your lap time?”

Sometimes ask:

“What did you learn?”

“What was the kart doing?”

“Where did you lose time?”

“What are you going to change on the next run?”

A personal best is a result.

Understanding why that personal best happened is a skill.

And that skill stays with the driver when the track, tires, weather, class or kart changes.

MY GOAL AS A COACH

My job isn't to spend the rest of a driver's career standing beside the track saying:

“Brake here.”

“Turn here.”

“Get on throttle earlier.”

“Don't do that.”

Actually, it's the opposite.

I want to gradually make myself less necessary.

I want a driver to come back into the pits and, before I even say anything, tell me:

“I lost around two tenths in the first sector. I'm releasing the brake too quickly, the kart stops rotating and then I have to wait for throttle. On the next run I want to keep the same braking point but change the release. Then let's compare the telemetry.”

That, to me, is development.

Not simply a fast driver.

A thinking driver.

First, you learn to control the kart.

Then you learn to feel it.

Then you learn to understand it.

Then you learn to change your driving yourself.

Eventually, you begin processing the kart, the track, the tires, your competitors and the race itself at the same time.

And that's when you notice something about truly strong drivers:

It almost looks like they have more time behind the wheel than everyone else.

They don't.

We all have exactly the same amount of time.

The best drivers simply stopped spending theirs thinking about things that became automatic a long time ago.

Cincinnati — A Track You Have to Negotiate With

2026-08-11T12:39:39.472Z

Cincinnati — A Track You Have to Negotiate With

After racing at Cincinnati, I realized this is one of those tracks you simply cannot understand by looking at the layout on a map.

On paper, it’s roughly 0.95 miles with 16 corners, several long straights, fast sections and technical combinations. But once you get behind the wheel, another factor appears — something the track map cannot show you.

The amount of bumps here is insane.

And they are not just uncomfortable. They become part of the track itself and directly influence how you have to drive it.

Braking points change. Lines change. Steering and throttle application change. Sometimes you have to give up the geometrically perfect racing line and choose a slightly different path simply because it keeps the kart more stable and allows you to get back to the throttle earlier.

For a driver coming to Cincinnati for the first time, one of the biggest challenges is simply finding a rhythm.

You are learning the layout, braking points, apexes and racing lines, while at the same time almost memorizing the surface itself: which bump you can attack, which one unloads the kart, where the kart moves under braking, and where moving your line by just a couple of feet can make the kart significantly more stable.

The layout itself creates another interesting challenge.

Cincinnati combines long straights and very fast sections with extremely slow corners and technical sequences. In the final corner, for example, the speed can drop to around 25 mph, followed immediately by a long acceleration zone.

And that creates a constant gearing compromise.

You want enough top-end gearing to avoid running out of RPM and losing speed at the end of the long straights. But every step you take in that direction costs you acceleration out of the slow corners.

Go shorter, and the kart comes alive out of the technical sections — but you pay for it at maximum speed.

You simply cannot have everything.

The question becomes: where are you willing to lose a little in order to gain more somewhere else?

The same compromise exists with chassis setup.

You need a kart responsive enough to rotate through the slow sections, but not so aggressive or stiff that it becomes nervous over the bumps. Chase rotation too much and you may have a great slow sector but an unstable kart through the fast sections and heavy braking zones. Make it too comfortable and stable, and suddenly you are fighting understeer through the slow combinations.

That is why Cincinnati rewards patience.

Overdriving the entry, fighting the steering wheel or trying to win every individual corner usually makes the next one worse.

You have to think in sequences rather than individual apexes. Sometimes you sacrifice the entry. Sometimes you turn later. Sometimes you let the kart run wider. And sometimes you completely abandon the “perfect” geometric racing line because another line allows the chassis to survive the bumps and carry more speed.

And in a Shifter, Everything Gets Amplified

Cincinnati becomes a completely different track in a Shifter.

The difference in speed between sections is huge. One moment you are approaching maximum speed, and seconds later you have to remove a massive amount of that speed for a slow corner.

And you are not simply braking.

You are managing front and rear braking, downshifting through multiple gears, controlling rear stability, dealing with bumps and preparing the kart for rotation — almost simultaneously.

Then, immediately after the apex, you are back to full acceleration and shifting through the gears again.

Everything happens incredibly fast.

A bump that simply moves the chassis around in a single-speed kart can completely change the balance of a Shifter under heavy braking. The rear becomes unloaded, the risk of locking increases, the kart starts moving underneath you — and there is very little time to correct a mistake.

Then there is the physical side.

High speeds, powerful braking, rapid direction changes, constant impacts from the surface and the amount of work required from your hands and body make Cincinnati extremely demanding. During a long session or race, fatigue eventually starts affecting not only your body, but your precision.

And that might be the biggest challenge of driving a Shifter here.

It is not enough to be brave and brake late.

You have to remain precise while everything is happening incredibly quickly. You need to feel the kart moving underneath you without trying to correct every movement with the steering wheel. You need to understand when to control the kart — and when to simply let it move.

For me, Cincinnati turned out to be less about absolute speed and more about adaptation, compromise and feeling the kart underneath you.

You can be a fast driver.
You can understand the technical side.
You can have a fast kart.

But when you arrive here for the first time, Cincinnati makes you start searching for answers all over again.

Sometimes, to go faster, you have to stop fighting the kart and start listening to what it is telling you.

Motivation: Sometimes Racing Changes More Than Your Lap Times

2026-05-19T11:43:52.064Z

I knew a guy who wasn’t living the best life for a long time.

No structure. No discipline. No real feeling that he was moving forward.

Every day looked the same. Work, exhaustion, constantly telling himself “later.” Later he’d get in shape. Later he’d fix his mindset. Later he’d finally go after the thing he dreamed about as a kid.

And that dream was racing.

Real racing. The track. The competition. The feeling of your heartbeat rising before the start. The smell of rubber and fuel. That moment when you put the helmet on and the rest of the world disappears somewhere outside the paddock.

And one day, he finally showed up at the track.

At first, just to try it.

No huge expectations. No plan to change his life. Just finally doing something he had always wanted to do.

But then something happened that even he didn’t expect.

He kept coming back.

At first for the excitement. Then for the progress.

Training became part of his routine. He started working on fitness, focus, consistency, data analysis, driving technique.

And slowly, it wasn’t just his driving that started to change.

He changed.

Because racing teaches you something very quickly:

You cannot lie to the track.

The track doesn’t care how you feel.
It doesn’t care how many excuses you have.
It doesn’t care how many times you said, “I could’ve been faster.”

It responds only to actions.

To preparation.
To discipline.
To staying calm under pressure.
To showing up again after a bad session.
To doing boring work consistently for the sake of a few tenths.

And the most important part is this:

The work doesn’t only happen on the track.

Every day you work on yourself — at the gym, in the garage, on the simulator, reviewing onboard footage, analyzing mistakes, improving your routine, making small improvements day after day — you are building more than just a faster driver.

You are building a different version of yourself.

Because after a while, you realize the same skills that make you faster in racing start changing your life outside of racing too.

When you learn to train consistently, you begin to understand the power of systems.

When you wake up early for practice, you start respecting your own time.

When you review mistakes after every session, you stop being afraid of mistakes in life.

When you spend months chasing small improvements, you start understanding how big goals are actually achieved.

And most importantly — you create momentum.

And momentum changes people.

Not motivational videos.
Not quotes on social media.
Not waiting for the “perfect moment.”

Daily movement forward.

Every workout.
Every lap.
Every hour in the gym.
Every simulator session.
Every data review.
Every early morning.
Every attempt to become a little better than yesterday.

From the outside, it may look like someone is simply learning how to drive faster.

But internally, something much bigger is being built.

Character.
Discipline.
Composure under pressure.
Self-respect.
Confidence.

Because confidence rarely comes from thinking.

It comes from repeated action.

❝

Every day you work on yourself — on and off the track — you are changing more than the driver. You are changing the person.

❞

That’s why racing becomes much more than a hobby for so many people.

It becomes the place where life starts coming back together.

Goals return.
Energy returns.
Better people enter your circle.
You begin respecting yourself more — because you know how much work stands behind every small step forward.

And honestly, that’s how life changes.

Not through one giant decision.

But through hundreds of small actions repeated over and over, even on the days you don’t feel motivated.

Put the helmet on.
Go to the track.
Do another session.
Another workout.
Another step toward the person you want to become.

And one day you realize:

It wasn’t only your results that changed.

You changed too.

Winners and Losers

2026-01-20T02:26:17.389Z

Winners and Losers

Everyone wants to be among the winners.
But most people always end up among the losers — and that is an axiom.

Why does this happen?
Why do people who genuinely love racing keep losing?
What is the real secret of those who consistently win?

In this article, I want to talk about the formula of success.
I believe that at least a few people on this planet will be able to use it.
The formula is known to everyone — even without me.
The problem is simple: not everyone is willing to apply it.

Using this formula is like doing mental math instead of using a calculator.
It’s harder.
It requires effort, focus, and discipline.

We live in a new digital era.
Total digitalization has brought a new addiction — short dopamine hits.
Reels, short videos, flashy headlines consume minds more and more — both young and not so young.

Can you really learn something meaningful from a 30-second video titled
“HOW TO BRAKE IN KARTING”?
Obviously — no.

Any coach or team that respects themselves will never build their philosophy this way.
Because this approach destroys the very essence of racing.

It will not make you an outstanding driver.
Those who promote this format usually have only one goal —
to sell you a picture of successful success.

Karting is an extremely complex sport.
Every driver needs an individual approach and a long-term development plan.
And nothing will work if the driver himself is not ready for this —
or if he ends up in an environment where business matters more than development.

To align true learning with the right environment, you need extraordinary luck.

Karting today is insanely competitive.
Talent alone is no longer enough — as it was 20, 30, or 40 years ago.
There is too much money.
Too much commerce.

That’s why, working with many different drivers, I keep coming to the same conclusion:

Those who never miss even the smallest chance to become better — succeed.

Those who believe they can:

ignore the coach’s recommendations;
skip analysis and feedback;
not learn how to maintain their kart;
not understand chassis or engine setup;
avoid physical training;
skip practice sessions or train less than competitors because “I’m more talented”;
blame tires, engine, or equipment instead of their own driving mistakes —

may become good drivers.

But they will never become champions.

Your task is simple — use everything.

In karting, there are no small details.
Sometimes drivers don’t have a coach.
They don’t have a new engine.
They don’t have fresh tires, simulators, or perfect conditions.

And yet, they can still beat those who have all of this —
because those people don’t actually use what they have.

They collect information piece by piece and apply it on track.
They don’t waste free time on games or entertainment.
They build and maintain their engines.
They assemble their karts.
They study manuals on chassis setup, tires, and engines.

They learn how to disassemble and rebuild an engine.
How to tune a carburetor.
How to understand what the kart is really doing.

Every driver must know this.

Because every good karting driver is not just a driver.
He is also a mechanic, an engineer, and a tuner.
Without this, you cannot understand cause-and-effect —
and without that, progress is impossible.

The formula of success is simple: use everything you have, every single day, without exceptions.

Remember this the next time you “don’t have time” to read an article or watch a video
that contains a clue about what you need to change to become better.

In racing, winners are not those who know more.
They are those who learn, knows and do more.

Победители и проигравшие

2026-01-20T02:12:41.844Z

Победители и проигравшие

Все хотят быть в числе первых.
Но большинство всегда остаётся во вторых — и это аксиома.

Почему так происходит? Почему люди, которые искренне любят гонки, продолжают проигрывать? В чём секрет успеха тех, кто стабильно побеждает?

В этой статье я хочу поговорить о формуле успеха. Я верю, что хотя бы несколько человек на планете смогут ею воспользоваться. Формула эта известна всем и без меня, но проблема в другом: ею не все готовы пользоваться. Потому что применять её — всё равно что считать в уме, когда рядом лежит калькулятор. Это сложнее, требует усилий и дисциплины.

Мы живём в новой электронной эпохе. Тотальная цифровизация принесла с собой новый наркотик — короткую дофаминовую зависимость. Рилс, короткие видео, яркие заголовки всё больше поглощают умы — как юных, так и далеко не молодых людей.

Можно ли с помощью рилс, коротких видео с заголовками вроде «как правильно тормозить в картинге», действительно чему-то научиться?
Очевидно — нет.

Уважающий себя тренер или команда никогда не будут строить свою философию вокруг подобного подхода. Это разрушает саму суть гонок. Такой формат не поможет вам стать выдающимся пилотом. Люди, команды и «эксперты», работающие в этом стиле, преследуют лишь одну цель — продать картинку успешного успеха.

Но картинг — это крайне сложный вид спорта. Каждый пилот нуждается в индивидуальном подходе и продуманной программе развития. И ничего не получится, если сам пилот к этому не готов. Либо если он попадает в среду, где приоритет — бизнес, а не развитие спортсмена.

Чтобы совпали и желание учиться, и грамотная среда, нужна необыкновенная удача.

Сегодня картинг стал безумно конкурентным. На одном лишь таланте, как это было 20–30–40 лет назад, пробиться уже невозможно. Слишком большие деньги, слишком много коммерции.

Именно поэтому я снова и снова, работая с разными пилотами, убеждаюсь в одном:
успеха добиваются те, кто не упускает ни малейшего шанса стать лучше.

Те же, кто считает, что им можно:

не читать рекомендации тренера;
не смотреть разборы и анализ;
не учиться обслуживать свой карт;
не разбираться в настройках шасси и мотора;
не заниматься физической подготовкой;
пропускать тренировки или тренироваться меньше соперников, потому что «я талантливее»;
винить в отсутствии темпа технику, шины и мотор, но не собственные ошибки —

могут стать хорошими пилотами.
Но чемпионами — никогда.

Ваша задача — использовать всё.

В картинге не бывает мелочей. Иногда у пилота нет тренера, нет нового мотора, нет свежих шин, нет симулятора и идеальных условий для тренировок. Но он всё равно может превзойти тех, у кого всё это есть — если те этим не пользуются.

Такие пилоты по крупицам собирают информацию и реализуют её на трассе.
Свободное время они не тратят на игры и развлечения.
Они строят и обслуживают свой мотор, собирают карт, изучают мануалы по настройкам шасси, шин и двигателей.
Они учатся разбирать и собирать мотор, настраивать карбюратор, понимать поведение техники.

Это должен уметь каждый гонщик.

Потому что каждый хороший картингист — это не только пилот.
Это механик, инженер и тюнер в одном лице.
Без этого невозможно понимать причинно-следственные связи, а значит — невозможно стабильно прогрессировать.

Формула успеха проста: использовать всё, что у тебя есть, каждый день, без исключений.

Запомните это в следующий раз, когда вы снова «не найдёте времени» прочитать статью или посмотреть видео, в котором есть подсказка, способная сделать вас быстрее.

В гонках выигрывают не те, кто знает больше.
А те, кто знает и делает больше.