CINERITES TRANSPORTS · COURSE Race⏱ 2h31

On 7 November 2026, the Le Mans Karting International – Alain Prost circuit in Le Mans hosted a 151-minute endurance race on the 980-metre Piste Alain Prost B, with 16 teams taking the start. The event delivered a compelling mix of raw pace, strategic pit-stop management and consistency battles across the entire field.

KART 86 took the chequered flag in first place with 120 laps completed, holding off KART 16 by 36.118 seconds at the flag — both teams finishing on the same lap total. KART 74 rounded out the podium one lap down, edging KART 8 by just 1.352 seconds in the battle for third. KART 72 completed the top five, a further 16.325 seconds adrift. KART 95 did not complete the race and is classified without a tour count.

The fastest lap of the race was set by KART 7, who posted a stunning 1:04.420 — the absolute benchmark of the day on the Alain Prost track.

From an analytical standpoint, the race throws up several striking contrasts. KART 86's victory is a clear triumph of strategy over outright speed: the winners ranked only 10th in pure pace (median race lap of 1:07.468), yet managed their 10 pit stops and tyre life to perfection across nine stints. Their most effective relay was stint 6, where they sustained a median of 1:05.484 with stable tendency, demonstrating excellent tyre management when it mattered most.

KART 7 tells the opposite story. Posting the best pure pace of the entire field — a median race lap of 1:00.994 — they nonetheless finished 7th. With 11 pit stops and a regularity of 2.39 seconds (standard deviation), raw speed alone was not enough to convert into a top-three result. KART 12 presented a similar profile: 2nd in pace (median 1:01.764) but 8th at the finish.

At the other end of the spectrum, KART 48 ranked 4th in pace (median 1:02.859) but crossed the line in 11th place, 14 laps down on the leaders — the most extreme pace-to-position gap in the field, pointing to significant time lost away from the lap-counting circuit.

KART 16, the runner-up, showed the race's most consistent overall performance with a regularity of just 1.57 s across 11 stints, and ranked 7th in pure pace. Their final three stints were notably controlled, with standard deviations of 0.76, 0.99 and 0.59 s respectively — an exemplary display of end-of-race management.

KART 80 suffered the race's sharpest single-stint degradation: in their 3rd relay they slowed by 1.56 s per lap over just 6 laps, a drop that contributed to a 10th-place finish five laps behind the leading group.

Key takeaways for teams: This race confirms that at Le Mans Karting International, managing pit-stop strategy and maintaining consistent lap times across long stints is worth more than peak pace. KART 86's win from 10th in pure rhythm is the clearest possible illustration. Teams with strong raw speed — KART 7, KART 12, KART 48 — must examine where their laps were lost outside of counted stints. Meanwhile, controlling late-stint degradation, as demonstrated by KART 16's closing three relays, is a decisive factor on the 980-metre Alain Prost layout.