RELAIS ESTIVAL · Course Race⏱ 43 min

Twenty-two teams took the start of a 42-minute endurance race at Karting Circuit Paul Ricard (964 m) on 22 July 2026. With every team making exactly three pit stops, the outcome came down to raw pace, consistency, and the ability to string together clean stints under pressure.

TEAM 2 CPR (kart #12) crossed the line first, completing 35 laps and finishing a lap ahead on the road. Despite posting the fastest lap of the entire race — a 1:00.172 — their victory margin was built on strategy and execution rather than outright pace in the standings: their median race pace of 1:01.765 ranked them only 3rd among the top teams analysed. Their four stints were all marked as stable, with the final relais even showing a 0.20 s/lap improvement — a sign of a team that managed its tyres carefully and finished strong.

MATTHIAS (kart #18) secured 2nd place (36 laps, gap 5.571 s) as the most consistent team of the race, recording an overall standard deviation of just 0.62 s — the lowest in the field. Their pace (median 1:01.771, 4th fastest) was solid across all four stints, with the final relais (10 laps, median 1:01.929) being their most productive. Stints 2 and 3 showed a slight acceleration trend of roughly 0.17–0.19 s/lap, reflecting a well-managed workload throughout.

TEAM 1 CPR (kart #23) completed 3rd (36 laps, 7.672 s), boasting the 2nd best median pace of the race at 1:01.716 — faster in pure speed than the race winner. Their fastest lap of 1:00.840 and a strong opening stint (median 1:01.332, σ 0.33 s) showed real potential, but slowing trends in stints 2, 3, and 4 (accelerating 0.17–0.26 s/lap) prevented them from converting that speed into a higher result.

FATHER & SON (kart #19) finished 4th (36 laps, 29.547 s) yet recorded the fastest median race pace of the entire field at 1:01.136 — nearly 0.6 s/lap quicker than the winner in pure rhythm. However, a high overall variability (σ 1.42 s) and a significantly slower 2nd stint (median 1:03.532, σ 1.23 s) cost them dearly. When on song — stints 3 and 4 both medians under 1:01 — they were untouchable on raw speed.

CLIVEN (kart #10) held 5th (36 laps, 37.521 s) with the 5th fastest median pace (1:01.850), running four stable stints but carrying a high variability in stint 3 (σ 2.25 s). TEAM RS (kart #2) rounded out the top 6 (36 laps, 45.171 s) with a median of 1:02.693 — consistent pace across stints 1, 3, and 4, though stint 2 (median 1:03.967) disrupted their overall rhythm.

Further back, GUI (kart #22) in 8th stands out as a hidden performer: their median pace of 1:03.075 ranked 8th overall, but stints 1 and 3 showed genuine speed with medians of 1:01.135 and 1:01.266 respectively. Their high variability (σ 2.19 s overall) and a very short 4th stint (6 laps) ultimately limited their classification. Meanwhile, SPEED DEMONS (kart #21, placed 21st) posted the 11th fastest pure pace — suggesting that their final classification owes more to lost time on track than to a lack of outright speed.

Key takeaways for teams: This race illustrated that fastest lap and pure pace do not automatically translate into victory. TEAM 2 CPR won with only the 3rd best median rhythm by combining stability (four stable stints) and a strong finish. FATHER & SON had the quickest median pace of the field yet finished 4th, their inter-stint variability proving costly. MATTHIAS demonstrated that consistency (σ 0.62 s) is a powerful weapon in endurance racing. Managing degradation across stints — particularly avoiding the slowing trends seen in several mid-field teams — remains the decisive factor on the 964 m Paul Ricard karting layout.