Baku, Sept 26 (BTA/GNA) – Nikola Tsolov produced one of the strongest races of his career to finish second in the Azerbaijan Formula 2 Grand Prix, while his main title rival Rafael Camara won without being overtaken and retained the lead in the driversā standings.
The Bulgarian Campos Racing driver started 11th after receiving a three-place grid penalty on Saturday for a pit-lane error.
The race in Baku was typically chaotic. A series of yellow flags came out before all the first pit stops had been completed, while a quick stop for Tsolov moved him up to sixth. He then swiftly overtook Laurens van Hoepen for fifth. Race leader Alex Dunne was handed a five-second penalty, putting the Bulgarian within range of gaining another position.
Tsolov was clearly the fastest driver on the track in the middle stages of the race, setting the fastest lap of 1:55.715 on lap 14. His pace lifted him to fourth behind Martinius Stenshorne, Rafael Camara and leader Dunne.
The Campos driver overtook Stenshorne on the start-finish straight on lap 22, again setting the fastest lap, with the gap to Camara just over two seconds at that point.
Tsolov closed right up to Camara in the closing stages but ran out of time to attempt an overtake and finished second behind the Brazilian.
The Invicta driver leads the standings with 207 points, seven ahead of Tsolov, who also picked up one point for setting the fastest lap of the race.
GNA/BTA