A year after his first triumph in the Formula 3 sprint race, Nikola Tsolov claimed a resounding victory in Monaco, this time in the main race. The Bulgarian ace, who had already shown his dominance by taking pole position on Friday, did not let go of his advantage from the very start. He launched flawlessly, leaving Roman Bilinski no chance to even attempt an attack in the first turn.

Tsolov then set a blistering pace that his rivals could not match. By the 18th lap of the 27-lap race, he had opened up a lead of 8.5 seconds ahead of Bilinski. However, a crash by Noel Leon at the entrance to “Portier” forced the safety car onto the track, temporarily neutralizing Tsolov’s progress.

The marshals in Monaco worked swiftly to clear the incident, and racing resumed at the end of the 19th lap. Tsolov showed no hesitation at the restart, immediately pulling away from Bilinski, who was more preoccupied with defending his position from Tsolov’s Campos teammate, Mari Boya.

The safety car appeared once again on the 21st lap after two separate collisions. Charlie Wurtz, who had been struggling with front wing damage from earlier contact with Leon, hit the wall at “Massne”. Moments later, Nicola Marinangeli collided with Brando Badoer in “Portier”, blocking the track and necessitating another safety car deployment.

At the second restart, Tsolov maintained his composure and quickly distanced himself from Bilinski once more. Bilinski was left to fend off attacks from Boya, who tried repeatedly but ultimately settled for third place. Ahead of them, Tsolov clinched the win with a margin of 7.2 seconds over Bilinski and also secured the fastest lap of the race, set in the penultimate lap.

Positions four and five went to Callum Voisin and Tim Tramnitz, while Laurens van Hoepen, Tuukka Taponen, Martinius Stenshorne, Louis Sharp and Alessandro Giusti rounded out the top ten. Championship leader Rafael Camara’s race ended in disappointment after he retired at the second restart due to a missing right rear wheel. Before that, he had managed to climb to tenth place following the retirements of Leon and Wurtz.

Camara’s retirement in the main race was his first non-finish of the season, causing a significant shake-up in the standings. He still leads with 77 points, but his advantage has shrunk to 13 points over Tramnitz. Tsolov’s victory has catapulted him to third place in the championship, now just 16 points off the leader.

The Formula 3 season rolls on next week at the “Catalunya” circuit in Barcelona - another track where Tsolov has often performed well.