IRON MAN SERIES · Finale Race⏱ 1h24

The Finale endurance race at Lignano Circuit FPV (Lignano Circuit short, 950 m) in Precenicco took place on 30 August 2026. Ten drivers lined up for an 83-minute contest that produced a tight and closely fought battle at the front, decided by just a handful of seconds after 86 laps.

GRASSOTTO MATTEO (kart #7) crossed the line first, completing 86 laps and securing victory by a margin of 2.677 seconds over BELLO' KRISTIAN (#2). Third place went to ZACCARON ERIC (#10), a further 0.052 s adrift at 2.729 s from the leader. ROCCO ANDREA (#8) took fourth, 3.241 s back, while SCHUTZ CARLO (#5) and CUCCHIARA MATTIA GIANLUIGI (#9) rounded out the top six, both also on 86 laps but with larger gaps of 36.337 s and 42.743 s respectively. TRAINA MATTEO (#5) and PALANTONE DONATELLO (#3) finished seventh and eighth on 84 laps, while DUREGON FEDERICO (#1) completed 82 laps in ninth and BONDIO FABIO LEONE (#6) finished tenth on 76 laps. All ten drivers made 4 pit stops, with the exception of DUREGON FEDERICO who required 5 passages au stand.

The fastest lap of the race was set by ROCCO ANDREA with a time of 51.534 s. In terms of pure median race pace, ROCCO ANDREA also held the edge with a median of 52.072 s — making him the fastest driver over the full race distance despite finishing only fourth. GRASSOTTO MATTEO posted the second-best race pace (52.110 s median), while ZACCARON ERIC sat third at 52.133 s. The most consistent driver across the race was BELLO' KRISTIAN, whose standard deviation of just 0.60 s was the lowest of the field, underpinning his strong second-place finish despite ranking only fourth in outright pace.

The strategy analysis reveals clear contrasts in driver management. GRASSOTTO MATTEO spread his effort across five stints totalling 86 laps, maintaining solid pace with only a mild slowdown of 0.18 s/lap in his third stint. ZACCARON ERIC was exemplary in regularity, producing five consecutive stable stints with a tight median around 52.1–52.3 s throughout. ROCCO ANDREA, the fastest man on pure pace, also showed remarkable discipline in his final stint of 22 laps at a median of 51.846 s — his sharpest of the race — though a brief degradation of 0.15 s/lap in his fourth stint may have cost him ground in traffic.

The most striking case belongs to DUREGON FEDERICO: ranked 5th in pure pace with a median of 52.253 s, he finished 9th after running six stints rather than five — his extra pit stop clearly disrupting his race. Beyond the additional stop, his final three stints all showed lap-time degradation, peaking at a loss of 0.38 s/lap in his sixth and final stint, the steepest decline of any driver in the race. This combination of an extra stop and increasing pace attrition proved fatal to his classification.

At the back, BONDIO FABIO LEONE struggled throughout, posting the slowest median pace at 54.425 s and finishing ten laps down. CUCCHIARA MATTIA GIANLUIGI (P6) showed a significant drop in pace during his fourth stint (53.161 s median, degrading at 0.18 s/lap) but recovered well to close at 52.687 s in his final stint.

Key takeaways for teams: At Lignano Circuit FPV, the winning margin was razor-thin — the top four were separated by only 3.241 s after 83 minutes. Pace and regularity must go hand in hand: BELLO' KRISTIAN's exceptional consistency (σ = 0.60 s) converted a fourth-best raw pace into second place overall. Stint length management was also decisive — drivers who experienced mid-stint degradation, even minor (0.15–0.18 s/lap), conceded ground. Most critically, an additional pit stop, as seen with DUREGON FEDERICO, can cost several positions in a tight field even when underlying pace is competitive.