Team Building InterSystems · Course Race⏱ 1h13

Eighteen teams took to the 964-metre Karting Paul Ricard circuit on 3 November 2026 for a 73-minute endurance race that proved as much a strategic contest as a flat-out battle for pace.

FAGUI (kart 15) claimed victory with 57 laps completed, edging out KART 25 by 55.274 seconds — both teams finishing on the same lap count. FAGUI posted a best lap of 1:03.871 and made 5 pit stops across the race, underpinning their result with remarkably consistent driving: their overall lap time standard deviation of 1.66 s was the tightest among the lead group. Their median race pace of 1:06.540 placed them only 5th in terms of pure speed, confirming that their victory was built on strategic discipline and regularity rather than raw pace alone. Across six stints, FAGUI maintained a controlled rhythm — their tightest stint (relais 3, σ = 0.88 s) produced their personal best lap of 1:03.871.

KART 25 secured second place at 55.274 s, also on 57 laps and 5 pit stops. Their median pace of 1:06.883 ranked 6th overall, and their standard deviation of 2.36 s highlighted occasional inconsistency. Their final stint was their best of the race, clocking a median of 1:05.290 with a stable tendency — a strong finish that consolidated second place.

KART 16 completed the podium in third, one lap down (56 laps, 5 stops). Their pure rhythm ranked 7th (1:06.915 median), but a notable third stint — where their median climbed to 1:11.876 — cost them precious ground on the leaders. They recovered strongly in stints 4 and 5, logging medians of 1:05.428 and 1:04.555 respectively.

The most striking performance gap of the race came from KART 5 (5th, 55 laps), who held the best pure race pace of all 18 teams with a median of 1:04.237 — over 2.3 seconds per lap faster than the winner's median — yet finished only 5th. With only 4 counted stints and a standard deviation of 2.35 s, the team's pace was undeniable but ultimately insufficient to overcome the gap in lap count to the podium finishers.

KART 24 (6th, 55 laps) posted the fastest lap of the entire race — a 1:01.519 — and the 2nd best pure median pace (1:04.433). Their third and final stint produced their best numbers: a median of 1:02.349 with a remarkably tight standard deviation of 0.80 s, the most consistent single stint of the day. However, their relatively few counted stints (3 in the analysis) suggest a different strategy that ultimately left them 6th.

At the other end of the performance spectrum, KART 1 (15th, 50 laps) was the most consistent team overall with a standard deviation of just 1.51 s and the 3rd best pure pace rank — a clear case of pace without results, likely influenced by time lost elsewhere in the race. Meanwhile, FSH LES VRAIS GOATS (11th, 51 laps, 6 stops) managed to outperform their pure pace ranking (17th) through their additional pit stop strategy, gaining positions on the road.

Key takeaways for teams: At Karting Paul Ricard, this 73-minute race rewarded regularity and consistent lap time execution above all. FAGUI's win with only the 5th-best median pace illustrates that pace alone does not win endurance races — managing stint-to-stint degradation and minimising time loss is equally decisive. Teams like KART 5 and KART 24, who had the fastest raw pace, must focus on converting that speed into lap count over a full race distance.