Exactly a year after winning his first Formula 3 victory, Nikola Tsolov returned to the top step of the podium in Monaco, but this time in the main race, and not in the sprint, which he won 12 months ago, Sportal.bg reported.
The Bulgarian lion did a lot of his work on Friday, when he won his first Formula 3 pole position after winning the qualification in the Principality. Today he made an excellent start and did not give the second-placed Roman Bilinski a chance to even think about attacking in the first corner.
Subsequently, Tsolov imposed an unbearable pace for his rivals and by the middle of the 18th of 27 laps he had broken away 8.5 seconds ahead of Bilinski. Then, however, the safety car appeared on the track due to the accident of Noel Leon on the entry to “Portier“.
The quick work of the marshals in Monaco allowed the restart of the race at the end of the 19th lap. The resumption of the race did not hinder Tsolov, who again began to break away from Bilinski, who rather had to defend himself from the attacks of Tsolov's teammate in Campos – Marie Boya.
On the 21st, the race was again neutralized by the safety car due to two separate incidents. First, Charlie Wurtz, who restarted with damage to his front wing after contact with Leon, hit the wall of “Massne“, and seconds later, Brand Badoer was hit by Nicola Marinangeli on “Portier“ with both cars parked on the track, race control had no choice but to announce a new safety car.
And at the second restart at the end of lap 23, Tsolov did not allow any surprises and broke away from Bilinski, who again had to look in his mirrors and beware of the Paint. However, the Spaniard was never able to find a way past the Polish driver of Rodin and finished third, while up front Tsolov triumphed with a lead of 7.2 seconds over Bilinski. The Bulgarian lion also took the bonus point for the fastest lap of the race, which he recorded in the penultimate round.
Fourth and fifth were completed by Callum Voisin and Tim Tramnitz, while points were also taken by Laurens van Hoepen, Tuuka Taponen, Martinius Stenshorn, Louis Sharp and Alessandro Giusti. Championship leader Rafael Camara did not make it to the finish after pitting at the second restart with a missing right rear wheel. The Brazilian had previously climbed to tenth place after the retirements of Leon and Wurz, who were ahead of him.
With Camara's zero, his first in a main event since the start of the season, his lead at the top of the general classification was drastically reduced. The Brazilian continues to lead with 77 points and a 13-point lead over Tramnitz, while third after his victory today is now Zolov, who is 16 points behind the leader.
The Formula 3 season continues next week at another of Zolov's favorite tracks - – “Catalunya“ in Barcelona.