La Rossa // Fun Race by Nino · Final Race⏱ 52 min

The 52-minute endurance final at Karting Eupen (Circuit 1100m, Eupen) on August 20, 2026 brought together 28 starters for a tightly contested race decided by strategy as much as by raw pace. After 45 laps, it was ANTHONY H (kart #12) who stood on the top step of the podium, just ahead of DANNY and KLASEN.

The top four finishers — ANTHONY H, DANNY, KLASEN, and MAD MAX — all completed 45 laps, separated by little more than 14 seconds at the flag. NINO (5th) and ZARNELL (6th) rounded out the lead group, both also on 45 laps, within 26 seconds of the winner. From 7th to 14th, every team equally reached the 45-lap mark, with gaps ranging from 29 to 57 seconds.

The fastest lap of the race was set by ZARNELL (kart #37) with a stunning 52.030s. Despite this outright speed, ZARNELL could only manage 6th place — a direct consequence of race management. ANTHONY H himself posted the second-fastest individual lap at 52.140s.

From a pure pace perspective, the picture differs significantly from the final standings. ANTHONY H was the 2nd-quickest team on median race pace (59.185s), which — combined with a single pit stop — ultimately secured the victory. ZARNELL held the 3rd-best median pace (59.218s) and MINO87 the 4th (59.390s), yet both finished 6th and 9th respectively, underperforming their raw speed relative to their classified positions.

On the consistency front, NINO delivered the most regular performance among the analysed top-12 teams, with a standard deviation of just 1.69s over their stint. MAD MAX was close behind at 1.77s, followed by FREDO at 1.72s. All relays in the top 12 showed a stable pace trend throughout the race — no significant degradation was recorded for any of these teams.

Strategy played a decisive role at the sharp end. ANTHONY H was the only top-14 finisher to make a pit stop (1 stop), yet came out on top — suggesting an effective in-lap/out-lap management that minimised time loss. Teams finishing 2nd through 14th all ran stop-free. Further down the order, most teams from 15th onwards made one visit to the pits.

A notable strategic overperformer was BENJAMIN7, who finished 11th despite ranking only 16th on pure median pace — a gain of five positions through consistent race execution. At the other end of the spectrum, ANMA recorded the best median pace of the entire field (54.924s) yet classified 25th, a striking gap that speaks to a difficult race day regardless of underlying speed.

Key takeaways for teams: At Karting Eupen, raw speed alone is not enough. The winner combined the 2nd-best race pace with a well-executed single pit stop. Consistency — keeping lap times steady across a full stint — proved just as valuable as outright lap time, as shown by NINO's 5th place on a lower peak pace. Teams with strong pure pace (ZARNELL, MINO87, ANMA) left significant results on the table, highlighting that race management and stint structure remain the true differentiators in endurance racing on this circuit.