Devin Braune will be the man to beat in World eX Bizz this year. The game developer from Germany was the best esports racer in the World eX Championship in 2022 and unsurprisingly won the first two races of World eX Bizz Season 6 in Bahrain. But the Team Rocket Simsport driver had to fight hard for his victories, especially in Race 2.
Braune secured pole position for the first of the two races by quite a margin but Steffen Walter had a better start than him. Braking into Turn 1, Braune was hit on the rear by a spinning competitor, but was able to continue the race in third place. He caught his friend and rival Nicolas Hillebrand as early as Turn 2 and passed Steffen Walter on the first lap when the T17 E-Speed driver made a small mistake. Braune then brought home an unchallenged victory.
The top ten from Race 1 start in reverse order in World eX Bizz in the second race. It took Braune just one lap to work his way up from tenth on the grid to second. However, after he had also caught Jarno Wiese on the second lap, a spectacular battle for victory developed. Again and again, the 14-year-old kart driver attacked the esports star in his first race with the eX ZERO, even regained the lead for a momet and had a good chance to beat Braune. However, a disconnect pulled Wiese out of the race shortly before the end.
“That was a real shame,” said Devin Braune after his double victory. “The duel with Jarno was really fun and I enjoyed this event very much – the atmosphere is similar to the one we had in the World eX Championship last year.”
Wiese of Team WIWI Racing was not the only Bizz newcomer to cause a stir at the season opener. In the first race, Dane Victor Nielsen finished second behind Braune. The 16-year-old is moving up from karting to electric motorsport in real life this year with Ellysium Racing.
The podium in the first race was completed by Steffen Walter, who finished seventh in the second heat after several contacts which damaged his eX ZERO.
Nicolas Hillebrand, another driver from the World eX Championship, was among the front runners in both races. In Race 1, the Team Biela Racing driver made a mistake on the first lap when he almost hit the rear of Devin Braune at the end of the back straight. The attempt to avoid Braune cost several places. Hillebrand was still able to work his way up to fourth place by the finish.
In the second race, Hillebrand closed the gap to Braune and Wiese as they battled for the lead, losing time in the process. However, after Wiese retired, Hillebrand was unable to match Braune’s pace and had to settle for third place.
Third place in the second race again went to a driver from the newly formed T17 E-Speed team: Dominik Heußen managed an overall podium as the winner of the AM category.
Overall best AM driver in Bahrain was Bodo Kräling. In the first race he won the AM category as sixth, in the second race he finished fifth overall and second in the AM class.
Luca Munro also left a mark: the well-known red-haired esports racing journalist finished his debut in World eX Bizz in fifth place. In the second race, Munro missed out on the points after a spin.
The World eX Bizz has the motto #RacingForTheClimate – and this year that is to be taken quite literally: For every race participation, the RCCO will plant a tree at the end of the season. In Bahrain, 16 drivers competed, which equates to 16 trees.
World eX Bizz continues on April 4 at Donington (England).
