Things got heated at the fourth round of the RCCO World eX Championship at Road Atlanta. Defending champion Devin Braune’s strongest challengers all made mistakes.
Braune celebrated two more victories on the short but demanding classic American circuit and remains unbeaten in Season 9. “Fun racing everyone,” wrote the three-time World eX Champion on Discord. “Genuinely surprised we didn’t all crash because this track was tougher than the Nordschleife, and I mean that!”
The unique Sim Racing Community had further refined the eX ZERO and the tyre model after the last race and also introduced tyre warmers. The result: significantly more consistent and realistic tyre behaviour, but – due to a much stiffer setup – unfamiliar handling with occasional ‘snap oversteer’, which, combined with the deceptively simple yet extremely difficult Road Atlanta circuit, led to quite some ‘big moments’ and accidents throughout the entire grid.
Nico Hillebrand and Jarno Wiese failed to score any points at all this time. Hillebrand retired from the sprint following contact with Steffen Walter. In the race, he was one of a total of six (!) drivers to receive a drive-through penalty for a jump start, before a crash in the infamous ‘Esses’ knocked him out of the race.
Wiese led the sprint for a long time from the reversed grid. However, his teammate Braune closed in steadily and increased the pressure, which ultimately led to a small mistake by Wiese in Turn 5 with four laps to go and resulted in a DNF. Wiese also retired from the race following a crash.
Julius Martin did not have perfect day of racing either. After a strong showing with P2 in qualifying, he also took second place in the sprint – starting from ninth on the reverse grid. In the race, however, the former champion jumped start on the front row. Martin defended the lead for two laps against pole-setter Devin Braune before serving his drive-through penalty. From seventh, Martin fought his way up to fifth, thereby reducing the gap to second-placed Nicolas Hillebrand in the standings to six points.
Björn Skottke caused a pleasant surprise by finishing third in the sprint. The @bspowersports driver started from 12th on the grid but stayed out of all the drama and thus moved up the field. Contact with Markus Martin shortly before the end of the race dropped ‘Skottie’ to P8.
Martin was one of many drivers who went off the track in the Esses in the opening laps of the sprint. Right after the start, Chris Overend, Robin Hay and Luke Pound were all caught up in the incident. Thomas Voigt crashed on lap two whilst running second, and Martin one lap later. Pound bounced back with a strong performance in the feature race, securing his first podium finish in the RCCO World eX Championship.
Steffen Walter narrowly missed out on the podium in both the sprint and the race, finishing fourth in each. Robin Hay also picked up points twice, finishing fifth and sixth, despite the incident at the start of the sprint and a jump start in the race.
Jennifer Schamey also put in a strong performance, scoring points in both the sprint and the race – her first of the season.
2026 Road Atlanta eX Prix
Qualifying
1 #42 Devin BRAUNE (Brabham Motorsport) 1:02.169
2 #94 Julius MARTIN (Martin Racing Team) 1:02.459
3 #46 Chris OVEREND (T17 E-Speed) 1:02.702
4 #71 Nicolas HILLEBRAND (tv racing) 1:02.778
5 #28 Luke POUND (Brabham Motorsport) 1:02.892
6 #97 Robin HAY (tv racing) 1:02.919
7 #17 Steffen WALTER (T17 E-Speed) 1:03.065
8 #43 Markus MARTIN (Martin Racing Team) 1:03.156
9 #18 Jarno WIESE (Brabham Motorsport) 1:03.291
10 #7 Thomas VOIGT (tv racing) 1:03.538
11 #3 Bodo KRÄLING (Shutterspeed Racing) 1:03.541
12 #4 Björn SKOTTKE (bspowersports) 1:03.836
13 #33 Jennifer SCHAMEY (T17 E-Speed) 1:03.841
14 #65 Frank ENGER (bspowersports) 1:04.207
15 #8 Johannes MEINCK (Martin Racing Team) 1:04.391
Sprint
1 #42 Devin BRAUNE (Brabham Motorsport) 12 laps in 12:49.499
2 #94 Julius MARTIN (Martin Racing Team) + 10.039
3 #4 Björn SKOTTKE (bspowersports) + 24.192
4 #17 Steffen WALTER (T17 E-Speed) + 27.400
5 #97 Robin HAY (tv racing) + 28.321
6 #65 Frank ENGER (bspowersports) + 29.431
7 #33 Jennifer SCHAMEY (T17 E-Speed) + 45.418
8 #8 Johannes MEINCK (Martin Racing Team) + 45.597
9 #3 Bodo KRÄLING (Shutterspeed Racing) + 48.050
10 #46 Chris OVEREND (T17 E-Speed) + 36.759
11 #7 Thomas VOIGT (tv racing) – 3 laps
12 #18 Jarno WIESE (Brabham Motorsport) 8 laps, DNF
13 #71 Nicolas HILLEBRAND (tv racing) 5 laps, DNF
14 #43 Markus MARTIN (Martin Racing Team) 2 laps, DNF
15 #28 Luke POUND (Brabham Motorsport) 0 laps, DNF
Fastest lap: #42 Devin BRAUNE (Brabham Motorsport) 1:02.562
Race
1 #42 Devin BRAUNE (Brabham Motorsport) 23 laps in 24:24.675
2 #46 Chris OVEREND (T17 E-Speed) + 15.982
3 #28 Luke POUND (Brabham Motorsport) + 26.742
4 #17 Steffen WALTER (T17 E-Speed) + 28.325
5 #94 Julius MARTIN (Martin Racing Team) + 34.428
6 #97 Robin HAY (tv racing) + 51.114
7 #7 Thomas VOIGT (tv racing) + 1:06.685
8 #4 Björn SKOTTKE (bspowersports) + 6.545
9 #65 Frank ENGER (bspowersports) – 1 lap
10 #33 Jennifer SCHAMEY (T17 E-Speed) – 1 lap
11 #8 Johannes MEINCK (Martin Racing Team) – 1 lap
12 #3 Bodo KRÄLING (Shutterspeed Racing) – 1 lap
13 #43 Markus MARTIN (Martin Racing Team) 21 laps, DNF
14 #18 Jarno WIESE (Brabham Motorsport) 9 laps, DNF
15 #71 Nicolas HILLEBRAND (tv racing) 6 laps, DNF
Fastest lap: #42 Devin BRAUNE (Brabham Motorsport) 1:02.654
Season 9 Standings after 4 of 9 Rounds
Drivers
1 #42 Devin BRAUNE (Brabham Motorsport) 152
2 #71 Nicolas HILLEBRAND (tv racing) 80
3 #94 Julius MARTIN (Martin Racing Team) 74
4 #97 Robin HAY (tv racing) 56
5 #17 Steffen WALTER (T17 E-Speed) 53
6 #46 Chris OVEREND (T17 E-Speed) 42
7 #18 Jarno WIESE (Brabham Motorsport) 39
8 #28 Luke POUND (Brabham Motorsport) 27
9 #4 Björn SKOTTKE (bspowersports) 15
10 #7 Thomas VOIGT (tv racing) 12
11 #3 Bodo KRÄLING (Shutterspeed Racing) 12
12 #65 Frank ENGER (bspowersports) 9
13 #5 Rui CABEDA (Shutterspeed Racing) 4
14 #43 Markus MARTIN (Martin Racing Team) 4
15 #33 Jennifer SCHAMEY (T17 E-Speed) 3
16 #25 Patrick WINZENICK (Shutterspeed Racing) 1
17 #8 Johannes MEINCK (Martin Racing Team) 1
Teams
1 Brabham Motorsport 191
2 tv racing 35
3 T17 E-Speed 95
4 Martin Racing Team 78
5 @bspowersports 24
6 Shutterspeed Racing 16
