"Acceleration is the rate of increase (or decrease, as deceleration is a negative acceleration) of speed of a vector relative to a point of reference"
Yes I would agree with you in one way, but then we get into the precision of a definition.
A vector quantity requires both value (in this case speed) and direction. In a turn the direction is changing from moment to moment, and since it is always changing away from the initial direction, one is decelerating in that initial direction. However small you chop the instants you are still dealing with Newton's Law, that without a force acting in a different direction a body will continue to move in a straight line and of course it is that tendency to move in a straight line that affects the stability and speed of a kart.
It's also the shift of weight brought about by the deceleration that unloads the rear wheels, reducing the friction component of their grip at a time when you might have one rear wheel lifted.
So, to increase your grip you need to turn in, settle on a new direction and accelerate, lowering the rear wheels and then make another small turn. Apparently it was measured that Schumacher made up to forty of these micro movements in a turn against other F1 drivers five and a non-racing driver's one.
As far as the OP was concerned, it is quite possible that the lift of the inside wheel is due to the forces shifting weight back and outboard resulting in a lift on the inside wheel.
If the driver is still making the apex then it is possible that the kart at that point is actually understeering, far from trying to increase front end grip, the driver should have straightened the wheel a bit earlier, increasing his acceleration and preparing to turn in again to complete the turn in a fraction of a second's time.
In other words the new kart has highlighted a driving improvement that can be made, possibly because the new kart responds differently to the old one. Trying to drive the new kart by the old technique may actually slow things down, or just reproduce the old lap times rather than improving them.
In other words you have other things to try rather than just getting the front end to grip more. Getting your son to consciously change his driving style, to turn in less and straighten the wheel quicker and then turn in again, to make the turn a series of little straights may be a valid approach. At least you have noticed that the kart might be trying to tell him something.
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