Nikola Tsolov dominated the Formula 3 Feature Race from pole in Austria, delivering a flawless drive to reignite the championship fight.
With Rafael Camara slipping down the order after an initial good start, Tsolov’s victory slashes the Brazilian’s lead to just a single point.
Martinius Stenshorne executed a superb recovery drive to second from 15th on the grid, Tim Tramnitz completing the top three after starting from 17th place, a crucial podium for one of the title contenders.
The Campos driver started from pole for Sunday’s race after a superb qualifying performance, aiming to further close the gap to Camara in the championship after securing a podium in Saturday’s Sprint Race.
The Trident driver endured a disappointing race and finished ninth, with his championship lead now reduced to just 20 points.
Ugo Ugochukwu was stripped of his podium finish in the Sprint after receiving a time penalty for leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage over Tsolov, who inherited the final spot on the podium as a result.
Joining the Bulgarian on the front row was AIX Racing’s Brad Benavides and completing the top three grid order was Camara’s Trident team-mate Noah Stromsted.
Tsolov pulls away well as multiple stalls unfold behind him
Tsolov made a good start at lights out to maintain his lead into Turn 1 ahead of Benavides.
His Campos team-mate, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak, stalled on the grid from fifth, while Bruno del Pino also struggled to get away cleanly from fourth.
This allowed Camara to quickly move up to fifth as Stromsted launched an early attack on Benavides for second but couldn’t make the move stick out of Turn 4.
Meanwhile, Tsolov pulled away at the front, building a two-and-a-half-second lead by Lap 3.
Stromsted finally made the pass into Turn 3, with Ugochukwu following him through to take third, and Camara eventually finding his way past at Turn 8.
Brando Badoer added to the American’s troubles, demoting him to seventh after he had started from the front row, Ugochukwu passing Stromsted for second on Lap 4.
The Mercedes junior offered little resistance as Camara charged past into Turn 4, while Benavides ran wide into the gravel at the same corner, tumbling down to 12th.
On Lap 7, Camara made a bold lunge up the inside of Ugochukwu for second.
Although he initially went in too deep, allowing the Prema Racing driver to briefly reclaim the position, Camara sealed the move into Turn 4 and set his sights on his championship rival ahead.
The gap out front dropped under two seconds for the first time on the next lap, with Camara beginning to reel Tsolov in.
Stenshorne of Hitech took sixth place off Badoer, all the way up the order from 15th on the grid.
Tramnitz and Stenshorne on a charge
Mari Boya climbed to eighth from 14th on the grid, Tramnitz in ninth from 17th and Theophile Nael advanced to 10th after starting 19th.
The Aston Martin Academy driver dived down the inside of Badoer, but both ran wide, opening the door for Tramnitz to execute a lovely switchback at Turn 3 and snatch seventh place.
By Lap 11, the Italian had fallen all the way down to 17th as he suffered suspension damage, retiring from the race at the end of the lap.
Tramnitz gained another place, passing Voisin for sixth before the British driver ran wide out of Turn 4 and slipped further back to 10th.
By Lap 14, Tsolov had stretched his lead to over two and a half seconds, while Ugochukwu was piling the pressure on Stromsted just behind.
Ugochukwu made a move into Turn 3 but left the door open, allowing Stenshorne to sweep past both of them at the following corner.
With fresher tyres, Tramnitz boldly swept around the outside of Turn 6 to snatch fifth from the Prema driver.
On Lap 18, the gap between Tsolov and Camara increased to over four seconds as Stenshorne began to catch the championship leader for second.
Within the DRS threat, he launched his attack on Lap 19 as Stromsted ran wide out of the final corner, allowing Tramnitz past for fourth.
Camara lost out to the Norwegian at Turn 3 as Stromsted dropped down to seventh.
Tsolov wins to cut down Camara’s championship lead to just one point
Nael lost out massively in the battle for seventh, dropping out of the top 10, losing further places as he ran wide at Turn 4.
Boya took fifth place from Ugochukwu at the same corner on Lap 21, Wurz all over the back of his team-mate Stromsted in seventh, soon finding his way by.
Tramnitz found his way onto the podium at Camara’s expense on Lap 24 with a move into Turn 3, before Boya remarkably demoted the Brazilian to fifth at Turn 9.
Ugochukwu then pushed him down to sixth, as the 20-year-old continued to slide down the order.
Back to the front and Tsolov crossed the line for victory in Spielberg, his third victory of the season and a significant boost for his F3 title aspirations.
Sternshorne and Tramnitz completed the podium positions with two equally impressive drives starting from lower down the order.
Boya settled for fourth after a late push to snatch the final podium spot from the German driver, while Ugochukwu crossed the line in fifth.
Camara finished sixth, gaining just one position from his starting spot, with home favourite Wurz following in seventh place.
Stromsted came home eighth, Laurens van Hoepen took ninth, and Voisin claimed the final point in 10th.
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