Tips for good qualifying

M

Michael13

Member
Ok I’m struggling to qualify well. are there any tips that would be a general rule or even something special someone could do to get a quick fast lap.
Clone class, these are the thoughts I am having.

Would gearing be on the high side To qualify?

Would you have tires with a little more Bite than you would have in main?

I hear rumors of lower oil levels for Qualifying?

Tape shroud up tight?

Are these good ideas?
Are they wrong and are there more?

thank you
 
Michael13 said:
Would you have tires with a little more Bite than you would have in main?

I hear rumors of lower oil levels for Qualifying?

Tape shroud up tight?
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I prep different for qualifying than I do for a race. Sometimes it's for bite and other times it's not necessarily bite but something to fire the tires off.

That couple ounces of oil could make a slight difference but it doesn't sound like you're searching for hundredths of a second ; you're needing tenths.

If you don't have to prep super aggressively, or don't mind to kill tires, you should practice qualifying. In most cases higher air is going to help you find speed. The question is how much higher? That's where the practice runs comes into play. The same goes for gearing. Try a few different ratios and see what the lap times tell you.
 
Qualifying you want your fastest tires on there. Youre out there to set the fastest lap you can. You will normally run more air in qualifying than race time.
Lots will run taped up, 2 less ounces of oil. Youre looking for any advantage you can and also just how good is the competition, if youre looking for tenths, taped up with less oil is not going to do that. Looking for thousandths, it may.
I want the fastest gear on at that time im qualifying, i wont just add a tooth to qualify.
Qualifying takes a lot more precise driving, you cant make a mistake and recover to make a good run.
 
For qualifying:
I'm generally up on air (or at least the correct air for the track.)
More aggressive PRW.
A tooth or two LESS on the rear if racing the same track conditions later. If the track has moisture in it, we may be up a tooth or two compared to race time. (Keep in mind that tracks generally get faster/better later when you would typically go down in rear teeth for the feature.) Bottom line is that you want the "right" gear on for qualifying and the "right" gear on on for the race (seldom are they the same.) Defintiely pay attention to the changing track conditions. Watching lap times in other classes can be used to your benefit for sure.

In qualifying, you want to keep your momentum up. You can arc the corners more because you're not concerned with protecting your position at entry or trying to turn down under someone to pass on exit. You'll discover that you are able to turn more rpm when you can run your line without concerns for other cars. Take that into consideration.

Forget about the oil deal. Until you get down to about 4 ounces, a dyno shows no difference. I don't know what the race pays, but qualifying usually doesn't pay enough to rebuild that engine that ran low on oil for even a few seconds.


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Well we run Heats on Saturday nights, But they added a class just for this weekend Pro Clone 375 with Qualifying.
So I'm glad I saw this post. So adding a little more air we talking like .5 to 1.0 lb.
 
Burris Racer said:
Yes, as much as you can get away with. 1/2 - 1 lb is in the range of what I do
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Set your air for practice and see how much you gain afterwards. A lot of times for series races we would set our air for qualifying to what the pressure build up was after the final practice. A good digital gauge makes this a lot easier.
 
Youve gotten a lot of good information here. What I dont see is how to be successful at pill drawing at tracks that don't have time trials. 67 is the lowest number I have drawn this year. Started last every race this year. Anybody have any tips on drawing better?
 
mike97760 said:
Youve gotten a lot of good information here. What I dont see is how to be successful at pill drawing at tracks that don't have time trials. 67 is the lowest number I have drawn this year. Started last every race this year. Anybody have any tips on drawing better?
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Dig in your pocket and pull out another $20 or $100 whatever entry is and redraw. Ive been told this happens at one of the largest indoor races in the country
 
Another thing to keep in mind is read the track. I watched about 20 karts drive through the dustiest part of the track and slide way out to keep their line. I simply drove a different line to avoid dust and was fast qualifier. With different water situation it wouldn't have been fast. Think!
 
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