The desert of Bahrain was host of the last regular World eX event of Season 7. The Outer Circuit of Bahrain delivered intense night racing and defined the starting grid for the Super Final on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife on December 3.
World Championship leader Devin Braune was once again setting the pace, securing pole position four tenth ahead of kart racer Jarno Wiese who hit traffic on his fastest lap while Chris Overend completed the Top 3 in Qualifying.
The reversed-gird Sprint began with a stunning start of Devin Braune who moved from P8 to P4. While Nicolas Hillebrand and Steffen Walter enjoyed an early lead, Bodo Kräling and Devin Braune battled hard for P3 with quite some action also behind the Top 4.
After passing Kräling, Braune quickly also got past Steffen Walter before hunting down his good old friend Hillebrand.
Hillebrand tried to defend but eventually lost the lead to Braune on Lap 4.
Hillenbrand briefly lost second place to Steffen Walter before the latter was involved in a Turn 1 pile-up which caused more drama at the exit of Turn 2 ending any hopes of Bodo Kräling, Julius Martin and Jarno Wiese.
With Hillebrand now safe in P2, a new battle for P3 ignited between Steffen Walter, Chris Overend and Markus Martin.
Contact between Martin and Walter allowed Jarno Wiese to gain a position while Steffen Walter’s race went from bad to worse with a disconnect just three laps from the finish.
Devin Braune eventually scored another commanding win in front of Nicolas Hillebrand and Chris Overend.
The AM class was full of drama, too, with Frank Enger spinning on Lap 1. AM class leader Bodo Kräling endured a nightmare with two sperate incidents while Thomas Voigt fought hard with his good old slot car rival Björn Skottke and a recovering Julius Martin defending the AM class win and sixth overall after picking up the pieces from other drivers.
As usual in World eX, the Main Race was less eventful with Devin Braune starting from pole position and defending the lead into Turn 1.
Second placed Jarno Wiese tried to keep up with the World Champion but could not quite match the pace and had to settle for P2.
Julius Martin and Chris Overend enjoyed an entertaining battle for the final spot on the podium. Both drivers kept swapping positions before a slight mistake from Overend decided the battle on Lap 11.
A fierce four-car battle between Nicolas Hillebrand, Markus Martin, Steffen Walter and Bodo Kräling ended in tears when Walter and Martin made contact. The snooker move also involved Hillebrand who was instantly out of the race with a badly damaged eX ZERO.
Bodo Kräling had the best position to watch the carnage and went on to finish fifth and scoring another AM class victory in front of his bspowersports teammates Frank Enger and Björn Skottke, the latter taking revenge on Thomas Voigt for the Sprint.
It was the tenth World eX victory in a row for Devin Braune who will start the World Championship deciding Super Final on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife on pole position ahead of Julius Martin who finished the regular season in the runner-up spot.
2024 Bahrain eX Prix Results
Qualifying
1 #42 Devin BRAUNE (PRO/Rocket Simsport) 58.438
2 #18 Jarno WIESE (PRO/WIWI Racing Team) 58.814
3 #46 Chris OVEREND (PRO/T17 E-Speed) 58.913
4 #94 Julius MARTIN (PRO/Martin Racing Team) 58.997
5 #43 Markus MARTIN (PRO/Martin Racing Team) 59.206
6 #17 Steffen WALTER (PRO/T17 E-Speed) 59.250
7 #3 Bodo KRÄLING (AM/bspowersports) 59.297
8 #71 Nicolas HILLEBRAND (PRO/Biela Racing Team EURONICS) 59.440
9 #65 Frank ENGER (AM/bspowersports) 59.518
10 #7 Thomas VOIGT (AM/tv racing) 59.608
11 #4 Björn SKOTTKE (AM/bspowersports) 59.623
12 #102 Jennifer SCHAMEY (AM/RCCO Guest Driver) 59.900
Sprint
1 #42 Devin BRAUNE (PRO/Rocket Simsport) 13 laps in 12:51.229
2 #71 Nicolas HILLEBRAND (PRO/Biela Racing Team EURONICS) + 11.355
3 #46 Chris OVEREND (PRO/T17 E-Speed) + 13.573
4 #18 Jarno WIESE (PRO/WIWI Racing Team) + 14.149
5 #43 Markus MARTIN (PRO/Martin Racing Team) + 15.777
6 #7 Thomas VOIGT (AM/tv racing) + 19.888
7 #94 Julius MARTIN (PRO/Martin Racing Team) + 20.024
8 #4 Björn SKOTTKE (AM/bspowersports) + 24.851
9 #65 Frank ENGER (AM/bspowersports) + 26.222
10 #3 Bodo KRÄLING (AM/bspowersports) + 27.335
11 #102 Jennifer SCHAMEY (AM/RCCO Guest Driver) + 27.752
12 #17 Steffen WALTER (PRO/T17 E-Speed) 12 laps, DNF
Fastest lap: #42 Devin BRAUNE PRO/Rocket Simsport) 58.578
Race
1 #42 Devin BRAUNE (PRO/Rocket Simsport) 25 laps in 24:36.705
2 #18 Jarno WIESE (PRO/WIWI Racing Team) + 8.528
3 #94 Julius MARTIN (PRO/Martin Racing Team) + 19.573
4 #46 Chris OVEREND (PRO/T17 E-Speed) + 23.753
5 #3 Bodo KRÄLING (AM/bspowersports) + 29.071
6 #65 Frank ENGER (AM/bspowersports) + 33.139
7 #4 Björn SKOTTKE (AM/bspowersports) + 40.944
8 #7 Thomas VOIGT (AM/tv racing) + 41.295
9 #43 Markus MARTIN (PRO/Martin Racing Team) – 1 lap
10 #17 Steffen WALTER (PRO/T17 E-Speed) – 1 lap
11 #102 Jennifer SCHAMEY (AM/RCCO Guest Driver) 23 laps, DNF
12 #71 Nicolas HILLEBRAND (PRO/Biela Racing Team EURONICS) 5 laps, DNF
Fastest lap: #42 Devin BRAUNE PRO/Rocket Simsport) 58.524
Standings after 9 of 10 Rounds
1 #42 Devin BRAUNE (PRO/Rocket Simsport) 252
2 #94 Julius MARTIN (PRO/Martin Racing Team) 136
3 #46 Chris OVEREND (PRO/T17 E-Speed) 127
4 #17 Steffen WALTER (PRO/T17 E-Speed) 113
5 #3 Bodo KRÄLING (AM/bspowersports) 106
6 #18 Jarno WIESE (PRO/WIWI Racing Team) 91
7 #43 Markus MARTIN (PRO/Martin Racing Team) 82
8 #71 Nicolas HILLEBRAND (PRO/Biela Racing Team EURONICS) 48
9 #4 Björn SKOTTKE (AM/bspowersports) 47
10 #65 Frank ENGER (AM/bspowersports) 42
11 #7 Thomas VOIGT (AM/tv racing) 37
12 #96 Patrik BARBULESCU (AM/tv racing) 25
13 #88 Alessandro OTTAVIANI (PRO) 24
14 #8 Johannes MEINCK (AM/Martin Racing Team) 21
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
