You could drive it in circles on weekends.
You could just mess around with it in your spare time.
OR, you could seriously think about how you want to improve your skills at the sport and embark on a training program.
There are two aspects to this; knowing your kart, fitness and driving skills.
Driving skills will allow you to perform as close to perfection as is possible to how you visualise your drive on the circuit to be.
That said, before embarking on a training session, you should walk the track, and even get a map of the circuit to better envision how you would drive the circuit. This will help you to picture the "perfect" lap and how to tackle challenges and the corners in a circuit.
Racing lines: The ideal line is the route which your vehicle must take to minimise the time spent to complete a lap. Corners are the features to take note of, as it is because of these that the racer has to consider how to minimise the time spent in the corner and how to maximise the speed of your vehicle. The shortest distance however, does not translate into the faster time.
When cornering, maintaining the faster speed will more than make up for a longer distance travelled. Thus, fitting the turn with the wider radius into the corner and maintaining a higher speed will make for a faster lap than trying to fit a turn with the smallest radius. This is because a tighter turn will require a lower speed to retain control or risk spinning out.
A driver can choose a early or late apex, or the ideal line. An early apex is to turn into a corner before reaching the apex of a turn, and vice versa. Whatever the approach, whether drifting into a turn, or whatever, the objective is to hit the apex, in order to minimise the distance and maximise the speed taken for the route that you have chosen. Hitting the apex means to go close on the inside lane of the tightest part of a turn.
In order to attain the optimal line, the vehicle will be positioned on the outside of the track prior to the corner and head towards the apex when embarking on the turn. After the turn, the vehicle is positioned towards the outside of the track, allowing for the straightest line upon exit.
A late apex takes advantage of greater speed coming into the turn while an early apex takes advantage of the longer approaching straight to accelerate. Choosing which is dependent on what obstacles lay ahead or before the turn.
Other considerations like tyre compounds and weight also have to be taken into consideration.
Steering: This is one of the main inputs the driver gives to the kart, and the way in which you handle the steering wheel has a direct effect on how the kart behaves. For example, under wet conditions, you have to be aggressive with the steering wheel to induce the kart into a proper turn. Also, situations such as drifting also requires an ability to read situations and react with the proper input to the steering wheel.
Braking: Braking is another fundamental part of driving a kart, especially when turning into corners. As with racing lines, there is an optimum line to take when braking, and this varies according to the track that you're driving on. Generally, braking should be done early, and be completed upon entry into a turn.
However, in a technique such as trail braking, a continuous light brake is applied at a point after your normal braking point when going into a turn. This braking action is maintained throughout the turn up until the apex. This will increase traction to the front wheels but decrease traction to the rear wheels, and also reduces understeer. It may also be used to induce oversteer, to take a tighter turn. In any case, this technique it used to enable a vehicle to enter a corner at a higher speed while maintaining control.
The brake drift is a technique where a momentary full on application of the brake causes the vehicle to lose rear traction and oversteer. The objective again, is to shift weight to the front wheels and enable the vehicle to enter a corner with a higher speed while maintaining control.
