F3: Nikola Tsolov starts from pole in Spielberg

      Nikola Tsolov set the fastest time in Formula 3 qualifying at Spielberg. For the Campos Racing driver, this is his second pole position of the season after Monaco. Alongside the Bulgarian on the front row for Sunday’s race will be Brad Benavides from AIX Racing.

      Instead of Nicola Lacorte, who is missing the round due to disqualification, American driver Nikita Johnson took the wheel of the DAMS team car.

      Friday’s qualifying took place under cloudy skies with the risk of rain during the session. As a result, the drivers did not wait in the pits and immediately headed out onto the track. After three warm-up laps, they began to push at full speed.

      Nikola Tsolov set the benchmark for the rest – 1:21.598. Mari Boya posted the second-best time, with Ugo Ugochukwu moving up to third. Championship leader Rafael Camara found himself outside the top ten.

      On the second flying lap of the first attempt, Tim Tramnitz climbed to second, while Camara set the third-fastest time. Tsolov strengthened his lead by improving his time to 1:21.282.

      Several drivers headed to the pits after two quick laps, while most, including the leaders, ran a slow lap before continuing their attack.

      Tramnitz improved his time but remained in second. Alessandro Giusti moved up to third. There were a couple of track excursions for Johnson and Taponen, but the only consequence was the cancellation of their lap times without any damage to the cars.

      As the session reached its halfway point, the drivers returned to the pits for fresh tires. Most of the field went out for their second attempt with eleven minutes left. After several more warm-up laps, they resumed the attack.

      Rafael Camara set the fastest time (1:21.011), but moments later Tsolov surpassed him with a 1:20.927. On his second flying lap, Tsolov improved even further to 1:20.743, while Camara failed to improve and slipped to seventh place. Brad Benavides moved up to second, with Noah Strømsted in third.

      In the final minutes of the session, yellow flags appeared due to Ugo Ugochukwu spinning in the last corner. The Prema driver was fortunate not to sustain any damage and was able to continue.

      The sprint starting grid is reversed – the drivers who finished in the top twelve will start tomorrow’s race in reverse order. Thus, ART GP’s James Wharton will start from pole on Saturday, joined on the front row by Alessandro Giusti from MP Motorsport.

      Driver

       Team

       Time

       Gap

       Laps

      1. N. Tsolov

       Campos Racing

       1'20.743

       -

       15

      2. B. Benavides

       AIX Racing

       1'20.919

       0.176

       17

      3. N. Strømsted

       Trident

       1'20.921

       0.178

       16

      4. B. del Pino

       MP Motorsport

       1'20.937

       0.194

       15

      5. T. Inthraphuvasak

       Campos Racing

       1'20.965

       0.222

       14

      6. K. Voisin

       Rodin Motorsport

       1'21.001

       0.258

       18

      7. R. Camara

       Trident

       1'21.011

       0.268

       15

      8. U. Ugochukwu

       Prema Racing

       1'21.015

       0.272

       15

      9. B. Badoer

       Prema Racing

       1'21.019

       0.276

       15

      10. C. Wurz

       Trident

       1'21.040

       0.297

       15

      11. A. Giusti

       MP Motorsport

       1'21.043

       0.300

       15

      12. J. Wharton

       ART Grand Prix

       1'21.106

       0.363

       15

      13. N. Leon

       Prema Racing

       1'21.107

       0.364

       15

      14. M. Boya

       Campos Racing

       1'21.139

       0.396

       15

      15. M. Stenshorne

       Hitech TGR

       1'21.143

       0.400

       14

      16. S. Ramos

       Van Amersfoort Racing

       1'21.205

       0.462

       15

      17. T. Tramnitz

       MP Motorsport

       1'21.230

       0.487

       15

      18. R. Bilinski

       Rodin Motorsport

       1'21.244

       0.501

       18

      19. T. Nael

       Van Amersfoort Racing

       1'21.256

       0.513

       16

      20. T. Taponen

       ART Grand Prix

       1'21.319

       0.576

       15

      21. L. Sharp

       Rodin Motorsport

       1'21.358

       0.615

       18

      22. L. van Hoepen

       ART Grand Prix

       1'21.397

       0.654

       15

      23. K. Ho

       DAMS Lucas Oil

       1'21.437

       0.694

       15

      24. D. Carrasquedo

       Hitech TGR

       1'21.559

       0.816

       14

      25. M. Zagazeta

       DAMS Lucas Oil

       1'21.579

       0.836

       15

      26. I. Dominguez

       Van Amersfoort Racing

       1'21.741

       0.998

       14

      27. D. Hedley

       AIX Racing

       1'21.781

       1.038

       17

      28. N. Marinangeli

       AIX Racing

       1'21.823

       1.080

       17

      29. J. Si

       Hitech TGR

       1'22.236

       1.493

       15

      30. N. Johnson

       DAMS Lucas Oil

       1'22.540

       1.797

       15