F3: Tsolov outduels Slater to claim record-equalling victory in Sakhir Sprint

Campos Racing’s Nikola Tsolov came out on top ahead of a charging Freddie Slater to seal victory in Saturday’s Sakhir Sprint Race, giving the Bulgarian driver a record-equalling fourth win in FIA Formula 3.

The Red Bull Academy junior made a fast start from fifth on the grid, and by Lap 9 of 19 was already up to second place after overtaking polesitter Joshua Dufek.

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After a multi-lap battle, and several failed attempts to take the lead, Tsolov eventually got past Slater with a move down the inside at Turn 1.

The AIX Racing driver made several attempts to retake the position, especially in the last two laps after a Safety Car restart but was forced to settle for P2 on his debut race.

Behind the leading pair was ART Grand Prix driver Tuukka Taponen. The Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy had a strong race to finish third, giving him his first podium in Formula 3.

Rodin Motorsport’s Callum Voisin wound up in fourth ahead of Hitech TGR’s Martinius Stenshorne in fifth.

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MP Motorsport duo Tim Tramnitz and Alessandro Giusti followed in sixth and seventh, while DAMS Lucas Oil driver Christian Ho, who became the first Singaporean driver to score points in F3, finished in P8.

TRIDENT scored its first points of the season in the Sprint Race, with Charlie Wurz and Noah Stromsted rounding out the top 10.

Their team mate Rafael Camara recovered from a slow start that dropped him to the back of the field to finish in P12. The Brazilian will start from pole for the second time this season in Sunday’s Feature Race, which is set to start at 12:55 local time tomorrow.

For now, you can read an in-depth report of the Formula 3 Sprint Race from Bahrain on the official website here.