Despite being involved in a start crash in the Sprint race, defending World Champion and championship leader Devin Braune was able to take another double at Circuit de Catalunya.
An unusually small starting field took on the sixth round of the World eX – and yet there was lots of drama, especially in the Sprint. Björn Skottke stalled his eX ZERO at the start. Steffen Walter was unable to avoid him and touched Devin Braune, sending the Championship leader into a spin. Braune then also caught Julius Martin.
As a result, the top four cars had a considerable lead over the chasing pack after the first corner, while Devin Braune had to chase the field from last place.
But Braune once again showed his unique class. He quickly caught up with the field and then made up position after position. On the last lap, he caught up with Julius Martin, who had been in the lead up to that point, and passed the three-time World-eX-Champion out of the slipstream when braking for Turn 1.
Martin had to settle for second place. Bodo Kräling completed the Sprint podium, although he had skidded off the track during an unsuccessful attack on Johannes Meinck in the early stages. However, the motorsport photographer fought his way back with consistent fast lap times and snatched third from Markus Martin shortly before the end of the race.
Dominik Heußen, who was leading at the beginning, had bad luck: a small mistake on lap two sent him off the track, and shortly before the end of the race he had to retire after a crash on the start-finish straight.
The main Race was unspectacular and rather typical of the Circuit de Catalunya, where overtaking is notoriously difficult, with little action. The only excitement came from an unsuccessful attempt by Markus Martin to overtake Bodo Kräling, but this had no consequences for either of them.
Devin Braune, starting from pole position, celebrated a commanding lights-to-flag victory ahead of Julius Martin and Steffen Walter, who had to defend himself against Bodo Kräling right at the end. Kräling celebrated another victory in the AM category by finishing fourth. His teammate Björn Skottke made up for the faux pas at the start of the Sprint race with a strong fifth place.
2024 Barcelona eX Prix Results
Qualifying
1 #42 Devin BRAUNE (PRO/Rocket Simsport) 1:24.684
2 #94 Julius MARTIN (PRO/Martin Racing Team) 1:25.084
3 #3 Bodo KRÄLING (AM/bspowersports) 1:25.554
4 #17 Steffen WALTER (PRO/T17 E-Speed) 1:25.586
5 #43 Markus MARTIN (PRO/Martin Racing Team) 1:25.710
6 #4 Björn SKOTTKE (AM/bspowersports) 1:25.913
7 #8 Johannes MEINCK (AM/Martin Racing Team) 1:26.246
8 #23 Dominik HEUSSEN (AM/T17 E-Speed) 1:26.756
Sprint
1 #42 Devin BRAUNE (PRO/Rocket Simsport) 9 laps in 13:04.844
2 #94 Julius MARTIN (PRO/Martin Racing Team) + 2.037
3 #3 Bodo KRÄLING (AM/bspowersports) + 4.452
4 #43 Markus MARTIN (PRO/Martin Racing Team) + 6.783
5 #8 Johannes MEINCK (AM/Martin Racing Team) + 8.471
6 #17 Steffen WALTER (PRO/T17 E-Speed) + 13.889
7 #4 Björn SKOTTKE (AM/bspowersports) + 27.773
8 #23 Dominik HEUSSEN (AM/T17 E-Speed) 8 laps, DNF
Fastest lap: #42 Devin BRAUNE (PRO/Rocket Simsport) 1:24.834
Race
1 #42 Devin BRAUNE (PRO/Rocket Simsport) 17 laps in 24:21.777
2 #94 Julius MARTIN (PRO/Martin Racing Team) + 18.372
3 #17 Steffen WALTER (PRO/T17 E-Speed) + 24.468
4 #3 Bodo KRÄLING (AM/bspowersports) + 24.678
5 #4 Björn SKOTTKE (AM/bspowersports) + 30.032
6 #43 Markus MARTIN (PRO/Martin Racing Team) + 36.179
7 #8 Johannes MEINCK (AM/Martin Racing Team) + 37.646
8 #23 Dominik HEUSSEN (AM/T17 E-Speed) + 1:09.651
Fastest lap: #42 Devin BRAUNE (PRO/Rocket Simsport) 1:24.550
Standings after 6 of 10 Rounds
1 #42 Devin BRAUNE (PRO/Rocket Simsport) 178
2 #94 Julius MARTIN (PRO/Martin Racing Team) 102
3 #3 Bodo KRÄLING (AM/bspowersports) 87
4 #17 Steffen WALTER (PRO/T17 E-Speed) 80
5 #46 Chris OVEREND (PRO/T17 E-Speed) 75
6 #43 Markus MARTIN (PRO/Martin Racing Team) 57
7 #18 Jarno WIESE (PRO/WIWI Racing Team) 52
8 #71 Nicolas HILLEBRAND (PRO/Biela Racing Team EURONICS) 40
9 #4 Björn SKOTTKE (AM/bspowersports) 39
10 #65 Frank ENGER (AM/bspowersports) 27
11 #96 Patrik BARBULESCU (AM/tv racing) 25
12 #88 Alessandro OTTAVIANI (PRO) 24
13 #7 Thomas VOIGT (AM/tv racing) 18
14 #8 Johannes MEINCK (AM/Martin Racing Team) 13
15 #23 Dominik HEUSSEN (AM/T17 E-Speed) 9
16 #21 Jurgen VAN BERGEN (PRO/Race Clutch) 4
17 #14 Yvonne HOUFFELAAR (AM/United Sim Team) 2
18 #85 Hamish EASENER (PRO/Hamish Easener Racing) 2
