KartletiX coach Ragnar Veerus set provisional pole position lap time on his way to becoming a World Champion. He exclusively shares his experience about qualifying performance on his latest outing.

One Lap Performance

Ragnar’s confidence was unsettled in his last practice when he lost the front brakes. He went into the qualifying session without really knowing if the kart will work.

“All I could think of before quali was how I will take the maximum of the kart, however well it performs. The practice before I was like a senior driver between the rest of the DD2s. Still performing overtakes and setting an overall top 30 laptime with only rare place by adapting my driving style. I wasn’t afraid of adaption, so I was ready to take the maximum.”

Touching the Limits

The KartletiX coach went out alone, with only a few other drivers behind him, to give himself room to set the fastest possible lap he can make. He knew he would miss out on slipstream a little. Without checking the boards, he completed 3 consecutive purple laps, enjoying the new tyre and newly found grip. It was the purest qualifying of his life.

“I focused fully on driving, taking each corner as I had imagined after analysing data and reimagined it all in the gym during my morning run. It felt great. And I was pleasantly surprised seeing myself on top of the table. I just thought that wow – no slipstream, no distractions, just pure driving to provisional pole.”

Choosing Position

Although, pushing alone can work well in shifter categories, like DD2, most karts require slipstreaming for lap time. While pure focus on driving will bring success anywhere, slipstreaming may give the advantage that lifts you from lower part of top 10 to leading positions. It also depends on the tracks, Bahrain International Karting Circuit for one, did not require as much slipstream as many others.

Group win was a huge stepping stone for Ragnar and translated into an overall P2. Ragnar was happy to finally put together a proper qualifying in the Grand Finals.

“My best ever quali before had been in my first ever Grand Finals in 2017, when I set a 7th fastest lap time, but got it taken away due to a nosecone penalty while chasing the slipstream. After that I had barely crossed the top 20 line.”