2 uurs race · 2 uurs race Race⏱ 2h07

The 2-hour endurance race at Kartcentrum Lelystad (735 m circuit, Lelystad) brought together 30 teams on 18 July 2026 for 126 minutes of racing. At the end of a dense and closely fought encounter, VOLGASSS (kart #17) claimed victory with 161 laps completed, edging out KORENBERG RACING (#34) by just 15.7 seconds — both teams finishing on the same lap count. FRISTIBOY X STUNTPILOOT (#41) rounded out the podium one lap down, ahead of MEN IN ORANGE (#43) and GENTLEMEN ON TRACK (#29), who completed 160 laps and finished 1.5 s and 7.7 s behind third place respectively. Every team in the top 30 made 5 pit stops, with the exception of DSJ-RACING, ASV GIRL'S, FLOWER GIRLS (6 stops each) and SIEMENS TR (8 stops).

The fastest lap of the race was set by TEAM SIEMENS 2 (kart #2) with a time of 42.356 s, a remarkable benchmark that did not translate into a top result — the team finished 6th, two laps off the lead. KORENBERG RACING posted the second-quickest individual lap at 42.398 s, while VOLGASSS's best effort was 42.595 s.

The pace analysis reveals a clear hierarchy. VOLGASSS held the best pure median race pace of all finishers at 43.463 s, combining speed with outstanding consistency (standard deviation of just 0.59 s across 161 laps). Their six stints were all flagged as stable, with no significant degradation detected throughout the race — a model of controlled endurance driving.

KORENBERG RACING held the 2nd-best pure race pace (43.641 s median) but showed greater variability between stints (σ = 0.82 s): their fastest relays dipped into the 42-second range, while slower stints hovered above 44 s. This inconsistency, rather than raw speed, may explain the 15.7-second gap at the flag.

MEN IN ORANGE (4th place) were the most consistent team in the field, with a standard deviation of only 0.50 s and the 3rd-best pure pace at 43.655 s — fractionally quicker than FRISTIBOY X STUNTPILOOT (43.663 s), who finished one position ahead of them. Both teams completed 160 laps; the gap between them at the flag was just 1.5 s.

Two teams stand out for contrasting strategic reasons. STUNTPILOTEN (#37, 10th place) recorded the 5th-best pure race pace (43.694 s, σ = 0.62 s) but completed only 79 laps — less than half a full race distance — which explains their classification far below their rhythm would suggest. Conversely, HAPPZ HARDE KERN (#42) finished 7th despite a pace that ranked only 6th, having completed 83 laps — also a partial distance — suggesting that something outside of pure performance shaped their race.

TEAM SIEMENS 2 illustrated the most striking gap between peak speed and race pace: the fastest lap of the race, but an overall median of 44.083 s (8th-best) and the highest lap-time standard deviation among the analysed teams (σ = 1.02 s), reflecting very uneven stint-to-stint performance.

Key takeaways for teams: At Kartcentrum Lelystad, VOLGASSS's victory demonstrates that sustained median pace combined with regularity outweighs peak lap speed. The 15.7-second winning margin over an equally fast rival was built on consistency across six stable stints. Teams alternating fast and slow stints (σ > 0.80 s) lose meaningful time over 126 minutes. The most consistent team on pure pace — MEN IN ORANGE (σ = 0.50 s) — finished only 1.5 s off the podium despite never setting a headline lap time. Managing tyre and driver rhythm over each relay, rather than chasing single-lap performance, is the defining factor on this 735 m circuit.