Defending champion Julius Martin of the Martin Racing Team was in a class of his own in Round 4 of World eX Bizz at Kyalami (South Africa). The automotive engineer became the first driver this season to win both races on the same track – anything but easy in the Esports Racing networking series, as the top ten start in reverse order in the second race.
The two-time Bizz champion already secured a commanding pole position in qualifying ahead of Chris Overend and Steffen Walter. Martin took the lead from the start and did not relinquish it until the finish. The order behind him also remained unchanged during the eight laps.
There was a bit more going on in the ranks behind. Bryan Neumeyer and Frank Enger independently lost control of their two eX ZEROs on the first lap. After that, the positions in the field were largely settled. Most of the entertainment came from the battle between Thomas Voigt and Dominik Heussen for second place behind Markus Martin in the AM category. Voigt tried everything to keep Heussen behind him, but eventually had to let the Nikdom eX ZERO pass. Markus Martin celebrated his fifth win of the season in the AM category.
In the second race, Frank Enger (bspowersports) took the lead from second on the grid and was able to defend it for a long time – first against Thomas Voigt, then against Voigt’s teammate Steffen Walter and finally against Julius Martin, who stormed through the field from the last starting position and finally took advantage of a small mistake by Enger at the start-finish to secure the lead and his fourth win of the season.
Thomas Voigt initially held P2 in the early stages of the second race, but then decided to let his teammate Steffen Walter past. But Walter couldn’t find a way past Enger either and eventually had to concede to Julius Martin as well.
Thomas Voigt came under pressure in the closing stages from Markus Martin and Chris Overend, who had collided with Bryan Neumeyer on the opening lap. Martin and Overend touched twice on the final lap and eventually ended up in the gravel, allowing Voigt to secure the AM win in the second race, as he did at Mosport.
The final round of the World eX Bizz will be held at Sebring on January 17, 2023. The title fight in both classes will be decided in the subsequent Super Final at Road America.
