Although defending World Champion Devin Braune has changed teams, he remains the driver to beat in Season 9 of the RCCO World eX Championship.
The German game developer qualified on pole position for the opening round at Albert Park in Melbourne, over half a second ahead of the rest, and went on to achieve dominant victories in both the Sprint and the main Race.
Former Formula 1 driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen appeared as a guest on the World eX Bizz Talk just before free practice. He shared many interesting anecdotes from his racing career and labelled the new Formula 1 regulations “bullsh**”.
Braune was in a class of his own during qualifying, beating his good friend Nicolas Hillebrand, who was making his debut for tv racing, by 0.531 seconds. Braune’s new teammate, Jarno Wiese, qualified in third place, ahead of former World eX Champion, Julius Martin, and Robin Hay.
Braune moved from P10 on the reversed grid to P4 within just one lap of the Sprint, helped by Luke Pound spinning and contact between Nicolas Hillebrand and Jarno Wiese in the fast chicane, which earned Hillebrand a yellow card. Braune then overtook Shutterspeed Racing drivers Rui Cabeda and Bodo Kräling before catching up with race leader Steffen Walter.
He used Walter’s slight mistake in the final corner of lap 4 to take the lead, eventually achieving a commanding win in the Sprint – the first in World eX for Brabham Motorsport.
While Walter went on to finish second easily, a fierce battle developed for the final podium spot, initially held by Bodo Kräling.
The penultimate lap saw Hay make slight contact with Kräling, sending the photographer off track and out of contention. Hay was given a yellow card after the race, but continued to fight for a place on the podium with Julius Martin and his teammate Nicolas Hillebrand, who joined the battle on the final lap.
Hillebrand started attacking Martin, which eventually helped Hay secure the podium for tv racing. Martin finished fourth, completing a great comeback drive after being touched and spun around on lap 1.
Rui Cabeda finished sixth, scoring his first points in the RCCO World eX Championship. Jarno Wiese recovered to seventh place after being spun around by Nicolas Hillebrand on the opening lap, while Frank Enger scored the final point of the Sprint by finishing eighth.
Devin Braune achieved a dominant lights-to-flag victory in the main Race, finishing over 10 seconds ahead of Nicolas Hillebrand. Jarno Wiese completed the podium despite spinning after attempting to overtake Nicolas Hillebrand in the slow chicane.
Julius Martin had another eventful race, losing a position when held up by a lapped car. However, he managed to regain the place and finished fourth, ahead of Robin Hay, Luke Pound and Steffen Walter.
Bodo Kräling had another nightmare after his misfortune in the Sprint, when he was spun around in Turn 1 by Frank Enger, who had been touched by Markus Martin. Having dropped to P12, Kräling recovered to P8. The scoring positions were completed by Björn Skottke and Rui Cabeda.
Devin Braune leads the standings after his clean sweep in Melbourne, and Brabham Motorsport leads the team standings 16 points clear of tv racing.
2026 Melbourne eX Prix
Qualifying
1 #42 Devin BRAUNE (Brabham Motorsport) 1:29.984
2 #71 Nicolas HILLEBRAND (tv racing) 1:30.515
3 #18 Jarno WIESE (Brabham Motorsport) 1:30.804
4 #94 Julius MARTIN (Martin Racing Team) 1:30.880
5 #97 Robin HAY (tv racing) 1:31.259
6 #28 Luke POUND (Brabham Motorsport) 1:31.370
7 #25 Patrick WINZENICK (Shutterspeed Racing) 1:31.385
8 #17 Steffen WALTER (T17 E-Speed) 1:31.452
9 #3 Bodo KRÄLING (Shutterspeed Racing) 1:31.954
10 #5 Rui CABEDA (Shutterspeed Racing) 1:32.038
11 #65 Frank ENGER (@bspowersports) 1:32.333
12 #43 Markus MARTIN (Martin Racing Team) 1:32.380
13 #4 Björn SKOTTKE (@bspowersports) 1:32.712
14 #7 Thomas VOIGT (tv racing) 1:32.880
15 #33 Jennifer SCHAMEY (T17 E-Speed) 1:33.321
16 #37 Ben LOXTON 1:33.763
Sprint
1 #42 Devin BRAUNE (Brabham Motorsport) 8 laps in 12:17.782
2 #17 Steffen WALTER (T17 E-Speed) + 6.553
3 #97 Robin HAY (tv racing) + 12.945
4 #94 Julius MARTIN (Martin Racing Team) + 14.142
5 #71 Nicolas HILLEBRAND (tv racing) + 14.534
6 #5 Rui CABEDA (Shutterspeed Racing) + 20.646
7 #18 Jarno WIESE (Brabham Motorsport) + 21.369
8 #65 Frank ENGER (@bspowersports) + 23.437
9 #4 Björn SKOTTKE (@bspowersports) + 25.389
10 #3 Bodo KRÄLING (Shutterspeed Racing) + 25.966
11 #33 Jennifer SCHAMEY (T17 E-Speed) + 26.590
12 #28 Luke POUND (Brabham Motorsport) + 26.919
13 #7 Thomas VOIGT (tv racing) + 30.075
14 #43 Markus MARTIN (Martin Racing Team) + 38.425
15 #25 Patrick WINZENICK (Shutterspeed Racing) + 42.727
16 #37 Ben LOXTON 0 laps, DNF
Fastest lap: #42 Devin BRAUNE (Brabham Motorsport) 1:30.764
Race
1 #42 Devin BRAUNE (Brabham Motorsport) 16 laps in 24:26.894
2 #71 Nicolas HILLEBRAND (tv racing) + 10.325
3 #18 Jarno WIESE (Brabham Motorsport) + 13.593
4 #94 Julius MARTIN (Martin Racing Team) + 14.621
5 #97 Robin HAY (tv racing) + 17.535
6 #28 Luke POUND (Brabham Motorsport) + 20.136
7 #17 Steffen WALTER (T17 E-Speed) + 26.876
8 #3 Bodo KRÄLING (Shutterspeed Racing) + 42.197
9 #4 Björn SKOTTKE (@bspowersports) + 43.040
10 #5 Rui CABEDA (Shutterspeed Racing) + 44.032
11 #65 Frank ENGER (@bspowersports) + 56.846
12 #25 Patrick WINZENICK (Shutterspeed Racing) + 57.375
13 #33 Jennifer SCHAMEY (T17 E-Speed) + 1:12.022
14 #7 Thomas VOIGT (tv racing) + 1:13.363
15 #43 Markus MARTIN (Martin Racing Team) + 1:22.303
16 #37 Ben LOXTON – 1 lap
Fastest lap: #42 Devin BRAUNE (Brabham Motorsport) 1:30.227
Season 9 Standings after 1 of 9 Rounds
Drivers
1 #42 Devin BRAUNE (Brabham Motorsport) 38
2 #71 Nicolas HILLEBRAND (tv racing) 24
3 #18 Jarno WIESE (Brabham Motorsport) 18
4 #94 Julius MARTIN (Martin Racing Team) 17
5 #97 Robin HAY (tv racing) 16
6 #17 Steffen WALTER (T17 E-Speed) 14
7 #28 Luke POUND (Brabham Motorsport) 8
8 #5 Rui CABEDA (Shutterspeed Racing) 4
9 #3 Bodo KRÄLING (Shutterspeed Racing) 4
10 #4 Björn SKOTTKE (@bspowersports) 2
11 #65 Frank ENGER (@bspowersports) 1
Teams
1 Brabham Motorsport 56
2 tv racing 40
3 Martin Racing Team 17
4 T17 E-Speed 14
5 Shutterspeed Racing 8
6 @bspowersports 3
