A messy Qualifying turned out to be a lucky charm for Biela Racing Team EURONICS‘s Nicolas Hillebrand in Round 3 of the World eX Championship at Bathurst’s famous Mount Panorama.
The German made it into the Top 8 only with his final lap after serving a drive through penalty for speeding in pit lane. This handed Hillebrand pole position for the shorter Sprint race, with the Top 8 of Qualifying starting in reversed order.
Hillebrand took the lead right at the start and recorded an unexpected lights-to-flag Sprint victory, eventually beating Devin Braune and Chris Overend to P2 and P3 and interrupting Braune’s winning streakm in World eX.
A Turn 1 collision helped Hillebrand as Braune lost ground when he tried to squeeze into a gap between Jarno Wiese and former World eX Champion Julius Martin. While Braune lost just one position, Wiese and Martin dropped to the back of the field, effectively ending their charges.
Braune made up position by position, passing Chris Overend on the very last lap to claim the runner-up spot behind Hillebrand, while Overend completed the podium with Steffen Walter and Markus Martin finishing fourth and fifth.
There was a fierce battle for the AM class win right behind the Top 5. Despite starting from the front row, bspowesports‘ Bodo Kräling was caught by tv racing pair Patrik Barbunescu and Thomas Voigt. Both were able to pass the AM class championship leader before Barbunescu crashed at the mountain on the final lap while Kräling was able to re-pass Voigt out of the slipstream on the back straight, sealing his fourth AM class win of the season.
World Championship leader Devin Braune – who had set a new track record in Qualifying heading second placed Steffen Walter by almost a full second – scored a commanding win in Race 2, beating Jarno Wiese by almost 12 seconds. It was the first World eX podium finish for the young German kart driver who was able to take P2 from Steffen Walter on Lap 1.
Walter later had to concede P3 to Nicolas Hillebrand who charged from P8 on the grid to another podium finish, while Julius Martin completed the Top 5.
Chris Overend endured a terrible Race after his third place finish in the Sprint, spinning twice in Turn 2 and ending up 10th.
There was less drama in the AM class this time after the frantic Sprint. Patrik Barbulescu took the Race lead in Turn 1 and went on to score an unchallenged first career AM class win ahead of Bodo Kräling and Thomas Voigt who survived a spectacular crash on Lap 2 after clipping an inside wall.
2024 Bathurst eX Prix Results
Qualifying
1 #42 Devin BRAUNE (PRO/Rocket Simsport) 1:39.277
2 #17 Steffen WALTER (PRO/T17 E-Speed) 1:40.239
3 #94 Julius MARTIN (PRO/Martin Racing Team) 1:40.379
4 #18 Jarno WIESE (PRO/WIWI Racing Team) 1:40.419
5 #43 Markus MARTIN (PRO/Martin Racing Team) 1:40.604
6 #46 Chris OVEREND (PRO/T17 E-Speed) 1:40.642
7 #3 Bodo KRÄLING (AM/bspowersports) 1:40.904
8 #71 Nicolas HILLEBRAND (PRO/Biela Racing Team EURONICS) 1:40.950
9 #7 Thomas VOIGT (AM/tv racing) 1:41.266
10 #96 Patrik BARBULESCU (AM/tv racing) 1:41.327
11 #8 Johannes MEINCK (AM/Martin Racing Team) 1:41.764
12 #85 Hamish EASENER (PRO/Hamish Easener Racing) 1:41.929
13 #4 Björn SKOTTKE (AM/bspowersports) 1:42.296
Sprint
1 #71 Nicolas HILLEBRAND (PRO/Biela Racing Team EURONICS) 8 laps in 13:29.323
2 #42 Devin BRAUNE (PRO/Rocket Simsport) + 3.663
3 #46 Chris OVEREND (PRO/T17 E-Speed) + 4.664
4 #17 Steffen WALTER (PRO/T17 E-Speed) + 12.625
5 #43 Markus MARTIN (PRO/Martin Racing Team) + 13.066
6 #3 Bodo KRÄLING (AM/bspowersports) + 20.184
7 #7 Thomas VOIGT (AM/tv racing) + 21.528
8 #18 Jarno WIESE (PRO/WIWI Racing Team) + 22.203
9 #8 Johannes MEINCK (AM/Martin Racing Team) + 25.665
10 #4 Björn SKOTTKE (AM/bspowersports) + 25.895
11 #85 Hamish EASENER (PRO/Hamish Easener Racing) + 32.815
12 #96 Patrik BARBULESCU (AM/tv racing) 7 laps, DNF
13 #94 Julius MARTIN (PRO/Martin Racing Team) 2 laps, DNF
Fastest lap: #71 Nicolas HILLEBRAND 1:40.452
Race
1 #42 Devin BRAUNE (PRO/Rocket Simsport) 15 laps in 25:11.765
2 #18 Jarno WIESE (PRO/WIWI Racing Team) + 11.948
3 #71 Nicolas HILLEBRAND (PRO/Biela Racing Team EURONICS) + 12.539
4 #17 Steffen WALTER (PRO/T17 E-Speed) + 19.142
5 #94 Julius MARTIN (PRO/Martin Racing Team) + 31.776
6 #96 Patrik BARBULESCU (AM/tv racing) + 34.482
7 #3 Bodo KRÄLING (AM/bspowersports) + 34.895
8 #7 Thomas VOIGT (AM/tv racing) + 42.322
9 #85 Hamish EASENER (PRO/Hamish Easener Racing) + 42.410
10 #46 Chris OVEREND (PRO/T17 E-Speed) + 58.350
11 #8 Johannes MEINCK (AM/Martin Racing Team) + 1:05.429
12 #4 Björn SKOTTKE (AM/bspowersports) + 1:20.377
13 #43 Markus MARTIN (PRO/Martin Racing Team) 0 laps, DNF
Fastest lap: #42 Devin BRAUNE 1:39.334
Standings after 3 of 10 Rounds
1 #42 Devin BRAUNE (PRO/Rocket Simsport) 106
2 #17 Steffen WALTER (PRO/T17 E-Speed) 54
3 #94 Julius MARTIN (PRO/Martin Racing Team) 46
4 #71 Nicolas HILLEBRAND (PRO/Biela Racing Team EURONICS) 35
5 #3 Bodo KRÄLING (AM/bspowersports) 35
6 #46 Chris OVEREND (PRO/T17 E-Speed) 27
7 #96 Patrik BARBULESCU (AM/tv racing) 25
8 #88 Alessandro OTTAVIANI (PRO) 24
9 #18 Jarno WIESE (PRO/WIWI Racing Team) 19
10 #43 Markus MARTIN (PRO/Martin Racing Team) 12
11 #65 Frank ENGER (AM/bspowersports) 11
12 #4 Björn SKOTTKE (AM/bspowersports) 10
13 #7 Thomas VOIGT (AM/tv racing) 6
14 #23 Dominik HEUSSEN (AM/T17 E-Speed) 5
15 #21 Jurgen VAN BERGEN (PRO/Race Clutch) 4
16 #14 Yvonne HOUFFELAAR (AM/eTeam Brit) 2
17 #85 Hamish EASENER (PRO/Hamish Easener Racing) 2