especially considering it seem like the other-racers don't have any problems with it
you'd expect a A- slave with maxed temperament, pet&horse-racing, endurance, and wearing full horse-gear would make it easier but it dosn't at-all
Yes it does man, races are practically a free win if your slave has maxed stats. If your girl also has maxed taming then she really is as good as they get without special traits. Here's some info and tips:
-quicksave at the chariot loadout screen, quickload if you lose
-heavy chariot gear gives 1 extra hp to the selected chariot part. Base hp of all parts is 1. If any part's hp goes to 0 you crash and lose/die. If slave gets hurt mid- race her endurance drops so she will be slower.
-all track segments other than Start, Finish and Straight have stat-checks, if you fail the stat check you lose hp on a chariot part related to that segment or outright lose:
-- Curve: maneuver check, damage to sides and lose speed on fail
-- Concrete Jungle: maneuver check, death on fail
-- Bladestring: maneuver check, death on fail. Loli are immune to this trap.
-- Ruski Road: 2 checks, one maneuver check, damage to slave on fail. Then a speed check, damage to wheels on fail.
-- Dragon Teeth: Use Manage Reins to pass safely no matter your speed/maneuver, damage to slave on fail
-based on above, the only useful heavy chariot part is the wheels as it lets you ignore the russian roads once. If the track has no russian road you go with weight 5.
-Your maneuverability goes down the faster you go
-You want to use Whiplash every single time you can get away with it. If your current speed is low it is safe to use it on all segments (except the teeth of course)
-your second go-to option is managing the reins. That gives a big maneuver boost but lowers your current speed by 1. If you fail a maneuver check even while managing the reins then...
-...draw the reins. Lowers your current speed by a ton, which in turn increases your maneuver alot. At very high speeds the maneuver you get from slowing down will be greater than the boost from managing the reins.