F3: Tsolov takes maiden F3 feature race win
Bulgarian driver Nikola Tsolov secured his first Feature Race victory in Formula 3, winning from ART Grand Prix teammate Laurens van Hoepen in Budapest.
Pole-sitter Laurens van Hoepen got wheelspin at the start, and was forced to defend from his team-mate Nikola Tsolov. With the Dutchman running deep at Turn 1, the Bulgarian driver managed to take over the lead from van Hoepen.
The DRS enabled van Hoepen to stay close to Tsolov with Leon starting to drop behind.
On Lap 4, Christian Mansell overtook Santiago Ramos with a late dive to move up to fifth.
By the midway point of the race, the top six were covered by four seconds with Santiago Ramos. However, the next group led by Callum Voisin was almost ten seconds behind.
In the second group, there were some moves with Oliver Goethe having pulled off a late dive at Turn 1 to pass Dino Beganovic and secure himself ninth position on Lap 14. Behind that pairing, Gabriele Minì cleared Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak to move up to P11.
Mari Boya was next to pass the AIX Racing driver on Lap 16 at Turn 12, and he was followed by Luke Browning on the following lap at Turn 2.
Into the final three laps and after a phase of tyre management, van Hoepen began to apply the pressure on Tsolov once again in the lead fight.
Boya’s battle with Minì resumed and the Spaniard found a gap at Turn 2 to take 11th position.
Contact between Arvid Lindblad and Matias Zagazeta resulted in a late-race Safety Car on Lap 21, with the PREMA Racing driver stopped at Turn 4.
With little time to clear both cars, it was not possible to resume racing in time for a final lap shootout.
The Bulgarian kept his team-mate van Hoepen and Leon behind while Fornaroli was fourth. Mansell ensured ART had all three cars in the top five with fifth.
Ramos, Voisin, Nikita Bedrin, Goethe and Beganovic rounded out the points-paying positions.
Commenting on his maiden F3 feature victory, Tsolov noted: "Finally a Feature Race win. I’m super excited and super happy.
"Third win as well so I think we managed it well. Had a good start and that was the key for a good race. Just super excited.”
Championship standingsDespite a tough race, Gabriele Minì continues to lead the Drivers’ Championship on 119 points, ahead of Luke Browning in second on 115.
Arvid Lindblad falls to third with 113 points, while Leonardo Fornaroli closes the gap to his compatriot and is now fourth and 10 points off the lead on 109. Christian Mansell climbs up to fifth position in the Standings on 95 points.
PREMA Racing retain their advantage at the top of the Teams’ Standings, now on 321 points while ART Grand Prix scored big to go onto 241 points in second.
Trident remain third but move onto 178 points. Campos Racing and Hitech Pulse-Eight complete the
