Nikola Tsolov bounced back strongly at Silverstone, securing pole position for the Formula 3 Feature Race just weeks after his heartbreaking disqualification in Austria.
The Bulgarian driver showed resilience and pace to lead the field, setting the tone for a crucial weekend as he looks to make amends and continue his championship push.
He was stripped of his Feature Race victory at the Red Bull Ring after his car failed a post-race inspection for not meeting the minimum plank thickness requirement.
His championship rival Rafael Camara qualified third, with Ugo Ugochukwu securing second to complete the front row.
The Campos Racing driver made an impressive start to his racing weekend, clocking the fastest time in Free Practice with a 1:45.847s.
Championship leader Camara heads into the racing weekend with a 24-point lead, with Tim Tramnitz now behind him in the standings as Tsolov dropped back down to third following his disqualification
Nicola Lacorte returned to action at Silverstone with DAMS Lucas Oil after serving a suspension that sidelined him at the Red Bull Ring.
Nikita Johnson, who filled in for Lacorte in Austria, remains on the F3 grid as he steps in to replace Jesse Carrasquedo Jr. at Hitech.
Trident and Campos battle for early supremacy
The Trident duo of Noah Stromsted and Camara were among the first to set flying laps, with the Brazilian immediately going quickest on a 1:46.318s after the initial warm-up runs.
Prema Racing’s Ugochukwu then split the pair, moving into second by just 0.023s, before MP Motorsport’s Tramnitz and Alessandro Giusti briefly took control at the top.
Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak soon jumped up to split the MP Motorsport pair, but it wasn’t long before Tsolov carried his dominant form from practice into qualifying, snatching provisional pole with a 1:45.655s — over three-tenths clear of championship rival Tramnitz in the early running.
Further back, Mari Boya sat in 12th at the halfway mark, provisionally in position for reverse-grid pole, while his Campos team-mates filled two of the top three spots.
AIX Racing’s Brad Benavides was the first to make gains on the second flying laps, vaulting up to fourth, though still four-tenths adrift of Tsolov’s benchmark.
Rodin Motorsport’s Roman Bilinski soon demoted him to fifth, while Tramnitz found further improvement but remained 0.205s off provisional pole.
Bruno del Pino then surged into the top three, before the Trident pair also improved — Stromsted falling short of Tsolov’s time, but Camara went 0.479s faster to take over at the top with a 1:45.176s.
ART suddenly found pace, with all three drivers posting strong times to break into the top 10.
Laurens van Hoepen climbed to fourth, while Tuukka Taponen and James Wharton improved to sixth and seventh, respectively.
With just over five minutes remaining in the session, Charlie Wurz joined his Trident team-mates at the top, rising to fourth quickest.
Qualifying shootout leads to thrilling finale as Tsolov bags pole
The track evolution became clear as more rubber was laid down on the Silverstone circuit, with Theophile Nael jumping up to the front row, just three tenths behind Camara.
Martinius Stenshorne briefly climbed to second before Tramnitz reclaimed the spot.
Tsolov responded to Camara’s challenge by seizing provisional pole with a 1:45.043s, while Ugochukwu narrowly missed out by 0.023 seconds amid a rapidly shifting order.
Camara was unable to improve further, settling for third place behind Ugochukwu, who secured second.
Boya set a late lap to move back up the order, finishing just behind the Trident driver.
This result meant Tsolov claimed his third pole position of the season, title contender Tramnitz rounding out the top five.
The top 10 saw plenty of late changes, with Wurz snatching sixth place in the closing moments, pushing Stenshorne down to seventh.
Van Hoepen climbed to eighth after a strong late effort, while Nael held on to ninth with an earlier lap.
Noel Leon, who had struggled earlier in qualifying, shot up to tenth for Prema.
Just outside the top 10 was Christian Ho, whose decent lap earned him 11th and a front-row start for Saturday’s Sprint Race.
In 12th, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak couldn’t quite match his Campos team-mates but secured reverse-grid pole with that finish.
READ MORE – Nikola Tsolov loses F3 Feature Race victory following disqualification in Austria
