RELAIS ESTIVAL · Course Race⏱ 31 min

Twenty-two karts lined up on the Karting Paul Ricard circuit (964 m) on 8 July 2026 for a 31-minute endurance race. After three pit stops each and a relentless battle for position, CAVALLINO RAMPANTE (kart #16) took the chequered flag first, ahead of AL PEASE (kart #26) by a razor-thin margin of just 0.269 seconds — one of the closest finishes of the season on this circuit.

ARX06 (kart #13) completed the podium, crossing the line 27.896 seconds behind the winner, three laps down on the leader. TEAM 1 CPR MARATHON (kart #12) finished fourth at 44.196 s, with SAMIR (kart #4) and LES MOINS MAUVAIS (kart #5) rounding out the top six, separated by barely one second. CLAUDIO LANGES (kart #25), TEAM 2 CPR MARATHON (kart #15), HYU25 (kart #11), and TEAM 6 CPR MARATHON (kart #21) filled positions 7 through 10. The overall fastest lap of the race was set by CAVALLINO RAMPANTE in 59.515 s, the only team to dip under the one-minute mark in a single lap.

The pace analysis reveals a striking gap between race results and pure speed. TEAM 2 CPR MARATHON posted the best median race pace of any team covered by the analysis, at 1:00.561, and did so with excellent consistency (standard deviation: 0.21 s) — yet finished only 8th. Their pace was clearly not rewarded by the final classification, making them the standout performers in terms of raw speed.

TEAM 1 CPR MARATHON recorded the 2nd best median pace (1:01.315) and converted it into a solid 4th place — a much better conversion of their pace into results. Close behind in pure rhythm, LES MOINS MAUVAIS (3rd best pace, 1:01.464, consistency: 0.54 s) and TEAM 5 CPR MARATHON (4th best pace, 1:01.466, exceptional consistency at just 0.07 s) each told a different story: LES MOINS MAUVAIS came home 6th, while TEAM 5 CPR MARATHON slipped back to 19th — the most glaring gap between pace and final position in the entire field.

The strategy picture is equally telling. ARX06 finished 3rd despite ranking only 8th in pure pace (median: 1:01.869) — a clear example of race management and pit-stop execution outweighing outright speed. Their consistency was tight (0.36 s), and their strategy delivered five positions above what their rhythm alone would have predicted. CLAUDIO LANGES deserves a mention for the best consistency across all teams with analysis data, posting a standard deviation of just 0.16 s, good for 7th place. DAVID BALI was equally metronomic (0.14 s), finishing 11th while ranking 6th in pace — another team who lost ground beyond their control. At the other end of the spectrum, ALR23 (1.09 s) and HYU25 (0.89 s) showed the most variability in lap times.

Key takeaways for competing teams: On the Karting Paul Ricard 964 m layout, raw pace alone does not determine finishing order over 31 minutes with three mandatory pit stops — as TEAM 2 CPR MARATHON demonstrated vividly. Pit-stop execution and race management, as illustrated by ARX06's jump from 8th in pace to 3rd on the road, can be worth several positions. Consistency is equally critical: TEAM 5 CPR MARATHON's near-perfect regularity (0.07 s) went unrewarded this time, highlighting that even the most metronomic pace needs to be supported by strong strategic execution.