Tsolov claims maiden F2 victory in Melbourne feature race

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Red Bull junior Nikola Tsolov climbed from fifth on the grid to win an eventful Formula 2 feature race at Albert Park.

DAMS driver Dino Beganovic lined up from pole, but the Swede was slow away at the start and slipped to fifth.  Alex Dunne darted around Beganovic before challenging his Rodin team-mate Martinius Stenshorne, who held onto the lead into turn one, with Campos Racing’s Tsolov gaining two spots to third.

Tsolov’s team-mate Noel Leon and MP Motorsport’s Oliver Goethe came to blows on the opening tour, and AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen also tumbled down the order.

Stenshorne resisted a renewed challenge from Dunne towards the end of lap two,  and the pair went side-by-side again down the pit straight. Dunne moved across into the path of Stenshorne before he was fully ahead, resulting in the two cars colliding and retiring with damage at turn one. 

The incident promoted Tsolov to the lead ahead of Invicta Racing’s Rafael Camara and Beganovic, and the safety car was deployed.

Tsolov remained ahead once racing resumed on lap six, and Beganovic was the first of the leading cars to head for the pitane at the end of lap eight to switch from soft to supersoft compound tyres. Tsolov and Camara made their stops one lap later, while Trident’s Laurens van Hoepen and Goethe both did the same and initially rejoined ahead of Beganovic, who quickly used his hot tyres to regain the positions he lost.

Beganovic soon passed Camara for a net-second place before setting his sights on Tsolov, but the Ferrari Academy member then pulled off the circuit with a mechanical issue, causing a virtual safety car period before the safety car was deployed once again.

The yet-to-pit Nico Varrone (Van Amersfoort Racing) and Cian Shields (AIX Racing) were running first and second at this stage. Shields took the opportunity to make his mandatory stop, and rejoined mid-pack, while Varrone did the same one lap later and emerged still in the lead despite a slow left-front tyre change.

Green-flag running resumed with 12 laps remaining, and Tsolov pounced after just three corners to take first place away from Varrone, who was then awarded a 5s pitlane speeding penalty.

Varrone quickly dropped 1.5s behind Tsolov before halving the deficit, but soon came under pressure from Camara who snatched second with seven laps remaining. Having pulled clear once more, Tsolov cruised home with a 1.669s winning margin, with Camara taking second ahead of fellow maiden podium-finisher Van Hoepen and Goethe.

Hitech GP’s Ritomo Miyata made a late pass on Tasanapul Inthraphuvasak to pip the ART GP driver to fifth and repeat his result from Saturday’s sprint race. Prema’s Sebastian Montoya was seventh on-the-road ahead of Duerksen, but both were carrying 5s penalties which demoted the pair to ninth and 10th respectively.

Hitech’s Colton Herta profited to take seventh, while MP’s Gabriele Mini climbed from 21st on the grid to eighth. Varrone faded and tumbled out of the points before the finish, with his penalty further demoting him to 17th.

Race results (33 laps)