The four-hour Karting Endurance was the first medal deciding race on the Asphalt of Aspar Circuit and it proved to be a memorable one as Team Belgium defended its FIA Motorsport Games crown.
Having won the event in Marseille back in 2022 the Belgians (Justine Strauven / Maxime Drion / Maverick Dessy) seemingly had it all to do from sixth on the grid, but the reigning champions were soon embroiled in a three-way scrap for the lead in the opening hour.
Team Belgium, Team Spain and Team Slovakia all had spells at the head of the field as the first scheduled pit stops loomed, before the latter squad soon took hold of proceedings during the mid-stages of the race.
Team United Kingdom (Jack O’Neill / Andrew O’Neill / Rhianna Purcocks) were the biggest movers in the opening two hours as they blasted their way from 16th on the grid onto to the tail of the lead Slovakian car, but it was all change again in the final hour.
With the vast majority of the final pitstops having been completed the Slovakians had been shuffled down to fifth, as Belgium moved back into P1.
Nearest challengers – Team Spain (Belen Garcia Espinar / German Sanchez Flor / Jose M. Perez Aicart) – had to make a splash and dash pit stop in the closing ten minutes, confirming Belgium’s success while setting up an incredible battle for second.
As Team Belgium took the chequered flag 16 seconds clear of the chasing pack there was a barn-storming run to the line as Team Spain pipped Team United Kingdom for second by an incredible 0.064s after four-hours of action-packed racing.