Greater Noida, Oct 25 (IANS) Formula Renault 3.5 driver Arthur Pic claimed pole position in MRF Challenge at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) here Friday.

The only support race for the Formula 1 Indian Grand Prix this weekend saw a three way battle for pole position including Pic, Tio Ellinas and Harry Tincknell. In the end, there was less than two-tenths of a second separating the top three as they constantly traded positions in the qualifying session. Pic managed to take pole posting a time of 1:55.684.

Indian driver Parth Ghorpade was on a quick lap on his last run and was poised for a top-6 finish but got held up in traffic and had to settle for 10th.

"It was a bit difficult on the first run as the track had changed quite a bit from the morning session. My first run in qualifying was not that great but the car kept getting better as the session went on. I was able to push on my final run and get the fastest lap," said Pic.

Earlier in the day, Pic topped the time in the practice session with 1:56.575, ahead of Sean Walkinshaw and Rupert Svendsen-Cook.

The first race of the weekend will take place at 3:30 p.m. Saturday after the Formula 1 qualifying session.