The upgraded eX ZERO made a successful debut at the start of the 2025 RCCO eX World Championship. The Evo version provided thrilling racing and fierce battles at the season opener at Watkins Glen. Defending champion Devin Braune continued his winning streak in the all-electric racing series, but faced stiff competition from new team-mate Callum Crips, at least in the sprint.
Devin Braune dominated pre-season testing and continues to be the driver to beat. The Rocket Simsport driver secured pole position for the race by a wide margin. Only kart racer Jarno Wiese came within four tenths of a second.
Interestingly, Braune was almost six seconds faster than last year’s GTP pole at Watkins Glen, proving once again the incredible performance and speed of the all-electric eX ZERO.
The Sprint Race, with its reverse starting grid for the Top 8, was once again full of action.
Bodo Kräling started from pole position but had to give up the lead to Devin Braune’s new teammate Callum Crips in the Bus Stop chicane on lap 1.
By this point, Braune had already made up three positions from P8.
He passed Nicolas Hillebrand and Julius Martin on the first lap, the latter with a slight kiss, and Bodo Kräling at the start of lap 3.
It did not take long for Devin Braune to close the gap to the leader. But overtaking his new team-mate was another matter.
An entertaining battle developed between the two Rocket Simsport cars, which was decided when Callum Grips made a small mistake on lap 6.
The British track instructor immediately tried to counterattack but had to settle for P2, giving Rocket Simsport a 1-2 finish in the sprint race.
Nicolas Hillebrand completed the sprint podium, but there was plenty of drama behind the top three.
Jarno Wiese was forced into a spin at the end of lap 1 by rookie driver Bert Knops.
His comeback included contact with Johannes Meinck and a fierce battle with Thomas Voigt for P10 on the final lap.
The battle for P4 was decided in the same corner on the penultimate lap when Bodo Kräling and Steffen Walter made contact, allowing three-time eX World Champion Julius Martin to pass both of them.
The feature race was another commanding performance from Devin Braune, who pulled away from the start to win by 8.5 seconds after 17 laps.
Jarno Wiese dropped from second to third after a slow start.
The young German kart racer regained second position from Steffen Walter on lap 3 and eventually took the chequered flag in P2 after a solid drive.
There was drama on lap 5 when Nicolas Hillebrand misjudged his braking for the bus stop chicane, robbing Steffen Walter of a possible podium finish.
Walter recovered to P8, while Hillebrand received a yellow card for the incident.
Hillebrand later came under massive pressure from Callum Grips and eventually lost P3 to the rookie, who completed another double podium for Rocket Simsport.
Julius Martin, Bodo Kräling and Bert Knops had a nice battle for fifth, sixth and seventh.
Steffen Walter, Frank Enger and Patrick Winzenick completed the top 10, with the latter scoring a point on his World eX debut.
There were some great battles all over the grid, proving the big step the series has taken with the new eX ZERO Evo.
2025 Watkins Glen eX Prix
Qualifying
1 #42 Devin BRAUNE (Rocket Simsport) 1:26.458
2 #18 Jarno WIESE (WIWI Racing Team) 1:26.854
3 #17 Steffen WALTER (T17 E-Speed) 1:27.162
4 #71 Nicolas HILLEBRAND (Hans-Günther Springob Rennsport) 1:27.308
5 #46 Chris OVEREND (T17 E-Speed) 1:27.373
6 #94 Julius MARTIN (Martin Racing Team) 1:27.485
7 #90 Callum CRIPPS (Rocket Simsport) 1:27.565
8 #3 Bodo KRÄLING (bspowersports) 1:27.627
9 #85 Bert KNOPS (Brabham Motorsport) 1:27.696
10 #65 Frank ENGER (bspowersports) 1:28.274
11 #7 Thomas VOIGT (tv racing) 1:28.277
12 #33 Jennifer SCHAMEY (Schamey Racing) 1:28.364
13 #25 Patrick WINZENICK (bspowersports) 1:28.439
14 #43 Markus MARTIN (Martin Racing Team) 1:28.467
15 #23 Dominik HEUSSEN (T17 E-Speed) 1:28.944
16 #8 Johannes MEINCK (Martin Racing Team) 1:29.015
Sprint
1 #42 Devin BRAUNE (Rocket Simsport) 9 laps in 13:18.104
2 #90 Callum CRIPPS (Rocket Simsport) + 2.686
3 #71 Nicolas HILLEBRAND (Hans-Günther Springob Rennsport) + 6.240
4 #94 Julius MARTIN (Martin Racing Team) + 9.616
5 #3 Bodo KRÄLING (bspowersports) + 10.720
6 #17 Steffen WALTER (T17 E-Speed) + 11.109
7 #65 Frank ENGER (bspowersports) + 12.370
8 #46 Chris OVEREND (T17 E-Speed) + 13.150
9 #25 Patrick WINZENICK (bspowersports) + 15.393
10 #18 Jarno WIESE (WIWI Racing Team) + 17.614
11 #43 Markus MARTIN (Martin Racing Team) + 19.630
12 #85 Bert KNOPS (Brabham Motorsport) + 19.748
13 #7 Thomas VOIGT (tv racing) + 20.131
14 #23 Dominik HEUSSEN (T17 E-Speed) + 21.328
15 #33 Jennifer SCHAMEY (Schamey Racing) + 24.219
16 #8 Johannes MEINCK (Martin Racing Team) + 25.036
17 #92 Jamie FALVEY (Jamie Falvey Racing) + -19.-104
Fastest lap: #42 Devin BRAUNE (Rocket Simsport) 1:27.196
Race
1 #42 Devin BRAUNE (Rocket Simsport) 17 laps in 24:57.823
2 #18 Jarno WIESE (WIWI Racing Team) + 8.557
3 #90 Callum CRIPPS (Rocket Simsport) + 15.162
4 #71 Nicolas HILLEBRAND (Hans-Günther Springob Rennsport) + 15.422
5 #94 Julius MARTIN (Martin Racing Team) + 21.970
6 #3 Bodo KRÄLING (bspowersports) + 22.488
7 #85 Bert KNOPS (Brabham Motorsport) + 22.776
8 #17 Steffen WALTER (T17 E-Speed) + 27.951
9 #65 Frank ENGER (bspowersports) + 33.981
10 #25 Patrick WINZENICK (bspowersports) + 34.587
11 #7 Thomas VOIGT (tv racing) + 42.678
12 #33 Jennifer SCHAMEY (Schamey Racing) + 43.266
13 #43 Markus MARTIN (Martin Racing Team) + 43.573
14 #8 Johannes MEINCK (Martin Racing Team) + 44.413
15 #23 Dominik HEUSSEN (T17 E-Speed) + 45.970
16 #46 Chris OVEREND (T17 E-Speed) 3 laps, DNF
17 #92 Jamie FALVEY (Jamie Falvey Racing) 0 laps, DNF
Fastest lap: #42 Devin BRAUNE (Rocket Simsport) 1:26.840
Standings after 1 of 9 Rounds:
1 #42 Devin BRAUNE (Rocket Simsport) 38
2 #90 Callum CRIPPS (Rocket Simsport) 23
3 #18 Jarno WIESE (WIWI Racing Team) 20
4 #71 Nicolas HILLEBRAND (Hans-Günther Springob Rennsport) 18
5 #94 Julius MARTIN (Martin Racing Team) 15
6 #3 Bodo KRÄLING (bspowersports) 12
7 #17 Steffen WALTER (T17 E-Speed) 8
8 #85 Bert KNOPS (Brabham Motorsport) 6
9 #65 Frank ENGER (bspowersports) 4
10 #46 Chris OVEREND (T17 E-Speed) 1
11 #25 Patrick WINZENICK (bspowersports) 1
