endurance 20 +1h · COURSE Race⏱ 1h11

The 1,500-metre circuit of Cap Karting in Mer hosted a gripping 70-minute endurance race on 24 July 2026, with 21 teams on the grid battling for every position across an afternoon of intense karting. When the chequered flag fell, it was VOLKSWAGEN (kart #33) that took the top step of the podium.

VOLKSWAGEN completed 36 laps and crossed the line a full lap clear of second-placed PORSCHE (#39, 39 laps), with ALPINE (#45, 38 laps) rounding out the podium two laps down. FERRARI (#52) finished fourth, just 9.172 seconds behind Alpine after also completing 38 laps, while WILLIAMS (#54) came home fifth with 40 laps to their name, 32.7 seconds adrift.

VOLKSWAGEN also set the fastest lap of the entire race — a 1:21.236 recorded in their opening stint, underlining their early pace. The team ran three pit stops and showed a particularly composed first relais, posting a median pace of 1:21.688 with remarkable consistency (σ = 0.58 s). Their subsequent stints showed a natural pace degradation of 0.29 to 0.54 s/lap, which is characteristic of longer runs on this circuit.

Behind the winner, the race analysis reveals some striking contrasts between on-track performance and final classification. WILLIAMS produced the best pure pace of the field with a median race rhythm of 1:17.424 — yet finished only fifth. Their consistency score (σ = 3.82 s) was the highest in the field, suggesting pace peaks interrupted by less regular sectors. With only two pit stops, their strategy was aggressive, but it was not enough to overhaul the leaders on lap count.

FERRARI (4th) also punched well above their final position in pure pace terms, posting the 2nd-best race rhythm at 1:18.409 — a remarkable figure for a team that ultimately finished off the podium. Their consistency figure (σ = 3.43 s) points to significant lap-time variation, which appears to have cost them positions against more regular competitors.

PORSCHE (2nd) was the model of controlled aggression: their four stints showed a median rhythm of 1:22.633 (3rd best overall), with degradation contained between 0.22 and 0.47 s/lap and no stint dropping below 1:22.413 in median pace. A textbook endurance performance.

Further down the order, ASTON MARTIN (10th) punched well above their pace ranking: classified 16th by pure rhythm (1:28.070), they climbed to 10th overall through efficient strategy — notably a 17-lap final stint run at a stable 1:27.077 median without significant degradation. RED BULL (14th overall) showed the 8th-best pure rhythm but could not convert that pace into a competitive result, finishing only 14th. MC LAREN (12th) was the most consistent team over the race (σ = 1.83 s), yet suffered their sharpest pace drop in relais 2, losing as much as 0.97 s/lap — the steepest degradation recorded across a single stint in the entire field.

Key takeaways for teams: At Cap Karting Mer over 70 minutes, raw pace alone does not win races — WILLIAMS and FERRARI both demonstrated that superior rhythm without lap-count conversion leads to mid-pack finishes. Stints of controlled length with degradation kept below 0.4 s/lap (as seen in PORSCHE and VOLKSWAGEN's best relais) and three well-timed pit stops proved to be the winning recipe. Managing tyre and kart behaviour over long stints — particularly avoiding the kind of 0.97 s/lap drop recorded by MC LAREN — remains the critical differentiator on this 1,500-metre layout.