Nikola Tsolov won the Formula 2 Feature Race in Melbourne, besting Rafael Camara and Laurens Van Hoepen to take the top step of the podium.
Tsolov made history with his victory in Melbourne, becoming the first Bulgarian driver to win a race in F2.
In a chaotic race, the Red Bull junior kept a level head and survived two Safety Car restarts to take the win.
A difficult start for Beganovic
Dino Beganovic was lining up on the front row with Martinius Stenshorne alongside him. Both drivers are eager to take the first Feature Race win of the season.
Beganovic struggled at the start, losing places as Alex Dunne made his way into the lead, the Irishman locking up in the first corner, settling into second.
Stenshorne took advantage of the squabble, taking the lead with Dunne behind and Tsolov in third.
Further down the grid, Joshua Duerksen had fallen to 18th in the order after the start, after having a false start, which then cost him a five-second penalty. The Sprint Race winner was struggling in the early stages.
On Lap 2, Dunne went around the outside of Stenshorne, the duo going wheel-to-wheel, narrowly avoiding contact. Heading into Lap 3, Dunne got the slipstream behind Stenshorne and looked clear to make his way ahead of his teammate.
However, as Dunne moved across the track, his rear wheels clipped Stenshorne’s front wing, taking it off and sending the Norwegian into the gravel in Turn 1. Dunne also picked up damage, spinning on the track in the exit of Turn 1.
Tsolov held the lead
The Safety Car came in on Lap 5, Tsolov leading the field to green. He had a clean start, building a 0.6s gap.
Ritomo Miyata made it past Kush Maini on Lap 7, sweeping around the outside of the Alpine-liveried ART.
Lap 8 marked the beginning of the first pit cycle, with Gabriele Mini leading the pack of the first few drivers. Beganovic dove into the pits on Lap 9, looking to make up for his poor start.
Close behind were the rest of the front-runners diving into the pit lane. Beganovic lost places in the pit cycle, having to make his way through traffic to return to his previous positions.
Luckily, his warmer tyres enabled him to move up to fifth and close on Camara’s gearbox. Lap 12, Beganovic had DRS into Turn 1, looming behind the Invicta, but he wasn’t quite close enough to move ahead.
Tsolov was comfortable out front, breaking the DRS from Camara. The gap sat at 1.4s for the Red Bull driver.
On Lap 14, Beganovic lunged down the inside of the Invicta into Turn 9. Comfortably making it past and into second place, setting his sights on Tsolov.
The two Hitech drivers were taking Lap 15 side by side, the duo battling for the final points playing positions. However, while Miyata and Herta fought Duerksen and Mini both began to close in, joining the fight.
Beganovic was slowing rapidly on Lap 16, falling through the order and pulling up on the side of the track at the exit of Turn 10. With his car on the track, a Virtual Safety Car was called.
Unable to roll the car off the track, the Virtual Safety Car turned to a full Safety Car.
Varrone took surprise lead
Nicolas Varrone pitted under the Safety Car, taking advantage of the situation, leaving the pit lane in the race lead. On Lap 21, the Safety Car ended, and Varrone led the field to green.
It was a decent start for the VAR driver, but Tsolov was close to the Argentine driver. He faked the move around the outside and lunged down the inside of Varrone, taking the lead.
Varrone received a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane, as he struggled at the front with Camara closing on the gearbox of the VAR driver.
Van Hoepen and Ollie Goethe went side by side on Lap 23, the duo fighting cleanly but fiercely around the track. Goethe looked down the inside of the Trident but thought better of the move.
Tsolov, who had built a gap out front, saw the gap close to 0.7s as Varrone found the pace to catch him. Bringing Camara with him.
Camara brought the gap to Varrone down to just 0.3s, looking to take second from the VAR driver.
On Lap 27, Camara finally made the move stick in Turn 12, taking second place and beginning the battle to close the 2.9s gap to Tsolov.
Varrone continued to drop back. The super soft tyres were falling off as Van Hoepen was on the VAR driver’s gearbox. The Trident got past Varrone into Turn 9, moving onto the final step of the podium.
Varrone continued to drop, losing places to Goethe, Miyata, Inthraphuvasak, Montoya and Herta.
Camara unable to catch up
On the final lap, Tsolov’s gap stood at 2.2s, Camara closing the gap but not quickly enough to challenge for the lead.
Tsolov crossed the finish line to become the first Bulgarian driver to win an F2 race. Camara and Van Hoepen finished on the podium.
Goethe and Miyata finished fourth and fifth. Inthraphuvasak, Herta and Mini benefited from penalties to take points in sixth, seventh and eighth.
Montoya and Duerksen recovered from their penalties to take the final two points playing positions.
READ MORE – Joshua Duerksen – how ‘risky’ early move helped hand him F2 Sprint victory
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