Arthur Pic’s excellent run of form continued with another strong showing in the 10th GP2 Series round of 2014 at Sochi last weekend (October 10-12) after collecting fourth in Saturday’s Feature Race before storming to fifth on Sunday.The 23-year-old Frenchman began by setting the second quickest time in Friday’s free practice session, laying the groundwork for an excellent weekend where he finished inside the top-five in every session at the Russian Grand Prix venue.Pic was therefore confident of securing his maiden GP2 pole position after Stoffel Vandoorne had narrowly denied him last time out in Monza. Despite claiming provisional pole in the dying minutes of qualifying, their rivalry continued when the Belgian reclaimed top spot soon after. Arthur responded by setting an identical lap time, but as the McLaren protégé had crossed the line first Arthur was resigned to starting a still impressive second.A sluggish getaway in the opening race on Saturday initially relegated the Campos driver to fifth before quickly moving back into third. Notwithstanding the relative lack of degradation on either Pirelli compound, Arthur then gambled with an early change to the medium tyres on lap six.This looked to have paid off handsomely a lap later when Stefano Coletti’s stoppage necessitated a Safety Car, although Pic subsequently lost a couple of places to Raffaele Marciello and Mitch Evans due to the bad timing of its arrival. Despite this, the fresh rubber allowed him to attack when normal service resumed four laps later.The Hungarian race winner’s pace was such that he could catch Marciello despite the reigning FIA European F3 champion damaging Pic’s steering when trying to overtake. Nonetheless, he continued to hassle the Italian, which eventually turned into the battle for the final podium spot before Pic was forced to settle for fourth.This translated into fifth on a partially reversed grid for Sunday’s Sprint Race. But after making another poor getaway, Arthur was once again thrust into combat with Marciello after newly crowned champion Jolyon Palmer forced the pair wide.Undeterred by dropping to 10th, Pic utilised his superior pace to fight his way through the field, firstly dispatching compatriot Pierre Gasly for ninth. Marciello once again influenced Pic’s race on lap eight – albeit this time in a positive way – when he spun at the final corner, forcing Nathanael Berthon to lose momentum and allowing Pic to breeze past into Turn 2 for seventh.After setting consecutive fastest laps, Arthur quickly homed in on Andre Negrao for sixth, although this turned into fifth when Sergio Canamasas retired. However, another Safety Car period brought the field back into close proximity for a two-lap sprint, with Pic wasting no time in claiming fifth from Arden’s Brazilian, which he maintained to the chequered flag.Another fastest lap rewarded Pic with two extra points, giving him 20 for a strong weekend, while cementing seventh in the standings.“We’ve had a great weekend and our pace was very strong throughout,” explained Arthur afterwards. “I was a little disappointed to miss out on my first pole position, however. The car felt very good, so we didn’t change anything with the set-up between practice and qualifying, which proved to be the right decision.“I was a little too careful with the clutch at the start of Saturday’s race, as I wanted to limit wheelspin. Unfortunately, the timing of the Safety Car cost me, but the car was fantastic afterwards. On the restart, [Raffaele] Marciello hit me through Turn 17, which damaged my steering column. To be honest, I think this cost me a top-three result.“I made a similarly sluggish start on Sunday, although we were able to demonstrate our pace thereafter. Without the cautious getaway I think we could have finished on the podium once again. Saying that, I’m really pleased with our performance this weekend. Our speed in dry conditions, especially when it’s warm, has been excellent.“Hopefully the weather is similar in Abu Dhabi, where I’ll be looking to secure my first pole position. If we start at the sharp end, I’m sure we can fight for victory.”Indeed, Pic’s maiden GP2 Series campaign concludes when the final round takes place at Yas Marina on November 21-23.