Championship leader, Nikola Tsolov, speaks up about his heritage and how much of an impact it has had in the world of motorsport. Being from Bulgaria and growing up in the capital, he had very little influence within the country when rising into the motorsport spotlight.
Ten other names, including Alexandra Vateva and Todor Slavov, are mentioned as being involved in motorsport through a variety of other categories like rally and endurance racing, yet no Bulgarian has even competed in an F1 race or world championship.
Ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, which will host the first Formula 2 weekend due to a reorganisation of races from the conflict in the Middle East, Tsolov reflects on how important it feels to represent his country at such a high level of competition:
“It obviously means a lot to me. The sport has been growing a lot in Bulgaria since I’ve started and I’ve kind of created a path for younger generations as well to come through.”
Bulgaria has since opened a range of indoor and outdoor karting tracks, including in the birthplace of Tsolov himself. It seems the rising popularity of Formula 1, alongside his presence, is having an effect on the younger generation to aspire to a career in motorsport. His Feature Race win last time out in Melbourne certainly shows that it is possible:
“I’m looking forward to seeing it grow even more. I see more kids starting to do more karting in the country, which is always nice to see. I really feel the support in the comments section, maybe because I’m the only one but every time, all the support is being viewed for me.”
The Miami Grand Prix kicks off at 9:30 local time with Free Practice and 14:30 local time with Qualifying on Friday the 1st of May, followed by the Sprint Race at 10:00 local time on Saturday the 2nd of May and the Feature Race at 12:30 local time on Sunday the 3rd of May.
Image: Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images
