Tsolov takes third F3 pole in Silverstone qualifying

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Red Bull junior Nikola Tsolov claimed his second pole in a row by beating Ugo Ugochukwu to top spot during FIA Formula 3 qualifying at Silverstone.

Championship leader Rafael Camara set the early pace for Trident, his effort of 1m46.318s the time to beat. Prema’s Ugochukwu continued his recent upturn in form by moving to within 0.023s of Camara’s benchmark.

The McLaren-backed driver was quickly relegated to third when MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz stormed to the top of the timesheet with a 1m45.999s, and he was followed in second by Campos Racing’s Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak.

Tramnitz’s time wouldn’t remain unbeaten for long, as fellow title contender Tsolov went fastest with a 1m45.655s to lead by more than 0.3 seconds.

While most drivers returned to the pitlane, AIX Racing’s Brad Benavides climbed to fourth only to be swiftly relegated by Rodin Motorsport’s Roman Billinski.

With 15 minutes remaining, Trident’s Noah Stromsted secured a provisional front-row spot by reducing Tsolov’s advantage   to 0.038s. The pair were soon shuffled back, however, as Camara lowered the pace by almost half a second to regain top spot with a 1m45.176s.

As drivers returned to the track for their final runs, Charlie Wurz became the third Trident driver to move into the top four. First to the line to complete his last lap of the session was VAR’s Théophile Naël. He briefly snatched second, only to be displaced by Hitech GP’s Martinius Stenshorne.

As the championship contenders crossed the line, Tramnitz claimed second but was then relegated to third by Tsolov, who sealed pole for Sunday’s feature race with a 1m45.043s. Despite also improving, Camara was shuffled back to third by Ugochukwu.

Campos’s Mari Boya moved up to fourth , 0.1s ahead of Tramnitz, and the Spaniard’s team-mate Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak provisionally claimed reversed-grid pole for Saturday’s sprint race by setting the 12th quickest time.

Qualifying results