2 Seconds with equal engines is massive in terms of winning races, if only kart engines were equal. This applies to F1 as well, although there it is the overall package that counts. You may find this becomes your biggest frustration, watching equal drivers clear off because they have bigger engine budgets. The closer you get to the front the bigger the difference money makes.
IMO In Cadet karting the basic chassis makes only a small difference, relatively speaking, it's the set-up that is important.
However to continue the F1 analogy and assuming your engine is within a few tenths of the leaders then a good driver, even a young one can take an evil handling dog of a set up and turn it into one that can win races. This takes time and some drivers will never get it, prefering to copy other drivers or team mates set up. When you have a stream of competing kids casually 'popping' into your awning, you know you're making progress. Because they have actually been sent to clock your set-up.
On the positive side, this is one area where you as a parent can get involved and make big differences during training. Make Big changes to the set-up and then ask for feedback. If you don't get anything, make even bigger changes until the kart is behaving so extremely that the differences are unavoidable. Compare the feedback you get with the theory and you will probably be surprised to find how your driver starts to give the correct responses. Work back from here with smaller and smaller changes.
As for overtaking, the only thing you can really do is wait, although certain things might prove useful, like training a driver to look for the gap rather than looking at the kart in front. But really 7 is too young for this.
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