A 10th win for Tsolov in Spanish F4’s second Aragon race

Photo: Spanish F4

Alpine Academy affiliate Nikola Tsolov has reached 10 victories for the year in Spanish Formula 4 after winning the second race at Motorland Aragon.

It was not an easy success for Tsolov, as he was passed at turn two on the opening lap by Campos Racing team-mate Hugh Barter. However the change of positions was only for a moment as Tsolov kept around Barter’s outside and edged back past.

Over the rest of the opening lap he built up a 1.1-second lead, a gap which was trimmed down by a few tenths as Barter set fastest lap in the mirrors of his team-mate.

A safety car period brought them right onto each other for the final three laps of the race, and also brought a new name into third place.

MP Motorsport’s Kirill Smal had initially been in third ahead of Campos’s Filip Jenic, but he was then passed by Monlau Motorsport’s Robert de Haan and MP’s Timoteusz Kucharczyk. On lap three, de Haan dived down the inside of Smal at the end of the long back straight but misjudged his entry and his out-of-control car slammed into the side of Smal and put both out of the race.

Kucharczyk made the most of being promoted into third place after that, as he kept with the top two on the restart lap and then made a lunge – in similar fashion to de Haan’s – on Barter on the penultimate lap. Barter left enough room to avoid a collision and briefly dropped to third before reclaiming second place as they restarted the final lap.

That battle freed Tsolov up front, guaranteeing him victory, and Kucharczyk then repeated his move on the last tour. This time he made it stick for second place, and Jenic even got onto Barter’s gearbox as they met the chequered flag.

Monlau’s Martinius Stenshorne finished fifth, and MP’s Valerio Rinicella made a move at the end of the race to take sixth from Campos’s Manuel Espirito Santo.

Race result