Remember Luck is where preparation and opportunity meet .
Accuracy without clarity is a waste of time .
One can learn a lot by just paying close attention to certain things, above and beyond more than just the obvious normal things going on around you at any given time, and at all different times during that event. More Normal things would be going to the grid wet , cooler than normal temps , dew building up on the body of your kart, only the middle of the rear tires are touching the grid surface more ballooned look, indicating high air, just the opposite all tires are squatted indicating low air, Are hot boxes being used.
Above and beyond things, like getting to know your competition most all tracks top 5 are pretty predictable correct , and out of those 5 all will be best under certain track condition and what's required during that time , Some being best when you must prep Aggressively and a torch is involved , some get best results when little or No prep is needed , Some only get good results now and then when it falls in there lap and the track condition ends up abnormal , Bottom line learn as much as possible about your competition and a few common denominators will surface if your in tune , So when you find yourself scratching your head about changes if any are going on to the racing surface, you can then think it all through and usually be more confident with what you decide to do.
Does this sound familiar track roll in is complete practice has started and your say 1/3 rd through practice and main groove starts peeling grit off which ends up outside of main groove, and a cushion starts developing which i know everyone reading that races has seen, now the difference very few pick up on and understands why that is, when that happens if say 10 guys are standing in a group and all comment on it at least 8 will say track is drying out already , including most track promoters and or track workers to the point of starting up the blower to blow it off, RIGHT
when that's not the case the blower won't even move it WHY because it has plenty of moisture yet in it and it is to heavy for the blower to move, instead of wasting time trying to blow it off move karts up or use something with rubber tires to run it in while it still has moisture as it will turn into GRIP and a wider racing groove, the fact that it even starts peeling grit tells you the track if making enough GRIP getting better at least when those tires make enough grip to pass by a certain amount it will peel, So lets say your playing the 33s only game what does that tell you , it tells me going forward little to NO prep , if that happens like 3 times where it can still be ran in that tells me not only No Prep, also a more cured tire even before comparing lap times of previous races , Now let's say you NEVER see the track groove peel any grit off at all, BUT also NEVER goes dry dirty always has some shine and appears to still have moisture, even If bone hard what does that tell you, think about it that tells me the track sealed over and you'll be wiping some type prep all day, ( and you can take that to the bank ) now walk out feel how slick and compare lap times, and that will confirm which type prep, the more slick the more Aggressive prep required. Its that simple.
Your at a big money race day race where most always track gets pretty good and holds, never going dry dusty, pay attention to the Humidity where it was when race started and what it's projected to do remainder of the day, and what it actually does WHY because lets say race starts practice at 10 am suns out Humidity is 85 % predicted to stay close same till dark say with in 5 %, when that happens track is more predictable it will max out around noon or so and hold for quite a while until near dark will it change, with the change being Humidity went up 7 % what happens moisture sets in on surface which then 2 things can happen, lap times can Increase because the added moisture actually turn, into more grip, OR it's little to much moisture and lap times slow because less grip , especially with out some prep in tires. Now lets say same race and times but at 1 pm Unpredicted the Humidity plummets to 45 % you can bet the farm that the track surface will dry out enough that if your paying real close attention the surface color will change lightening up some , and lap times will fall off . and will require a different tire.
Point being you can learn more than you think by always paying attention !!
Thanks and God bless,