Grand Prix SODIVITRAGE · Endurance Race⏱ 48 min

The International Circuit of Sologne Karting (Salbris, 1,500 m) hosted a 48-minute endurance race on 10 July 2026, bringing together 13 teams on the grid for a closely contested battle of pace, consistency, and pit strategy.

Ferrari (kart #16) took the victory with 27 laps completed, crossing the line a full lap clear of the chasing pack on the timing sheet — though the on-track gap to second-placed Alpine (#12) stood at 55.696 seconds. Alpine also completed 27 laps and held second position throughout the closing stages. Citroën (#19) rounded out the podium with 26 laps, one lap down on the leaders, followed by Porsche (#2), also on 26 laps but a further 1:22.050 behind Citroën. All four podium finishers made exactly two pit stops.

Positions five through twelve were separated by 25 laps each, with the exception of BMW (#17), who completed only 23 laps after requiring a third pit stop — a detail that proved costly in a race decided on laps counted. Red Bull (#4) brought home the final classified position in 13th with 24 laps.

The fastest lap of the race was set by Ferrari in a time of 1:20.180, the only sub-1:21 lap of the entire event.

Digging into the analytical data, the story of the race reveals some notable gaps between on-track speed and final classification. Porsche posted the best pure pace of any team, with a median race lap of 1:21.806 — yet finished only 4th. Their high consistency deviation (2.58 s) and incomplete relais data suggest that time lost during pit-stop windows and inconsistency across stints were the decisive factors. Mercedes (#3) told an even starker tale: 2nd-best median pace at 1:21.977 but only 9th at the flag, finishing just 0.047 s ahead of Bugatti — clear evidence that their pace advantage could not be converted into positions, most likely due to time lost on track outside their recorded stints.

Ferrari's winning formula combined the race's sharpest consistency (standard deviation of just 1.57 s) with two progressive stints: the opening 10-lap relais produced an improving trend of 0.34 s/lap, while the second 11-lap stint held a median of 1:23.098 with a tightening scatter of 1.16 s — a textbook execution under endurance conditions.

Alpine, despite finishing second, recorded the 6th-best median pace (1:25.750) and the widest scatter of the top four (2.41 s), meaning their runner-up position owes more to lap count management and pit timing than to raw speed. Conversely, Lotus (#9) finished 6th despite ranking 13th in pure pace — the clearest example of strategic overperformance in this event.

The sharpest degradation of the race belonged to Audi (#13), whose second stint faded at a rate of 1.25 s/lap, the steepest drop recorded across all teams. BMW's extra pit stop (3 total vs. 2 for most rivals) cost them dearly in net laps, despite a competitive median pace of 1:25.223 (5th best).

Key takeaways for teams: At Sologne Karting, raw pace is not enough. Ferrari's victory was built on consistency above all else — the lowest scatter in the field, combined with improving stints. Teams like Mercedes and Porsche, who led in median pace but fell down the order, must prioritise stint management and minimise time lost in pit-stop sequences. On a 1,500 m circuit over 48 minutes, every additional stop translates directly into laps — and laps are everything.