Let's start with a reality check.
A 500 rpm difference at say 8:1 gear ratio means that the rear wheel doing 1 rev per second more at that point. (500/8=62.5 rpm 62.5 rpm /60 seconds= 1 rev per second. The wheel is approx 3 feet in circumference, 1 mph is 1.5 fps so the kart is doing approximately 2 mph faster at that point assuming the wheels are in perfect contact with the road.
Speed down the straight is predicated in most cases by the exit speed from the previous corner. You can knock a few MPH off your exit speed simply by getting the steering wrong, something as simple as getting a perfect entry point but pulling the kart in too tight or getting too much throttle down at the right point.
So a high top rpm could mean that in only one lap was his previous corner right, but he messed up elsewhere on the track
or:
somewhere he lifted both rear wheels with his foot down.
Unless you have the graphs relating your position on the track and the time of maximum revs, looking at the highest rpm alone can be pretty meaningless.
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