KFT ENDURANCE 8H CAT 1 & 2 · Course Race⏱ 8h07

On 2 August 2026, the Karting des Fagnes in Mariembourg hosted a gruelling endurance race of 486 minutes on its 1,366-metre Location circuit, with 39 teams on the grid. At the chequered flag, 2 – VLV19R (kart #36) claimed victory by completing 365 laps, finishing one lap clear of a tightly packed group of three teams — VLV19R Academy, FKI Racing and AMS Racing Team — who all reached 366 laps but were classified behind on time.

The top of the classification was remarkably close. 2 – VLV19R Academy (kart #27, 366 laps) took second place, 42.198 seconds ahead of third-placed 2 – FKI Racing (kart #30, 366 laps) — separated by a mere 0.084 s. 1 – AMS Racing Team (kart #14, 366 laps) completed the top four, a further 15.373 seconds back. 1 – The Art of Racing (kart #7) finished fifth, one lap down, while 2 – BMR1 by KartingBenelux.com and 1 – Eastkart St Vith rounded out the top seven, both on 363 laps. All teams in the top 39 made exactly 15 pit stops, with the sole exception of 1 – JAG Racing, which made 16.

The absolute fastest lap of the race was set by 2 – FKI Racing in 1:11.497, the quickest single lap recorded across the entire event.

The race analysis reveals that the result faithfully reflected the underlying pace hierarchy. 2 – VLV19R not only won the race but posted the best median pace of the field (1:12.436) and the highest consistency (standard deviation of just 0.62 s), making them the dominant force on pure performance. Their best stint was Stint 7 (40 laps, median 1:12.177), and they maintained a remarkably stable pace throughout the 486 minutes, with no stint showing meaningful degradation. 2 – FKI Racing held the second-best pure rhythm (median 1:12.541, σ 0.71) and signed the race's fastest lap, yet had to settle for third at the finish — their strategy of shorter and longer stints mixed across 16 stints ultimately cost them a few seconds overall. 2 – VLV19R Academy, third on pure pace (1:12.546), benefited from very clean late-race stints to secure second place.

1 – TB Racing Barber (kart #8, 9th at the finish) showed noteworthy pace in 7th place on pure rhythm (1:12.906), suggesting that accumulated time in the pits or less favourable stint sequencing pushed them back in the final standings. Conversely, 2 – Special 1nterest finished 31st despite holding the 23rd-best pure pace — a gap of eight positions highlighting that raw speed alone did not translate into a strong result.

Among the notable endurance metrics, 1 – JAG Racing finished last (39th, 334 laps, 32 laps down) — the only team to make 16 pit stops, which cost additional track time. At the other end of the consistency table, several stints from mid-field teams showed clear acceleration trends within short stints (8–9 laps), reflecting regular driver changeover patterns rather than pace drops.

Key takeaways for teams: At Karting des Fagnes, pace consistency across long stints proved as decisive as outright speed — VLV19R's σ of 0.62 s over 365 laps illustrates this perfectly. Teams splitting their race into numerous short stints (8–9 laps) paid a hidden penalty in out-lap time. Managing the first stint carefully (all top-four teams posted their highest median lap time in Stint 1, reflecting traffic and tyre warm-up) and building into a stable rhythm from Stint 2 onwards was the clearest differentiator between the podium finishers and the rest of the field.