Arthur Pic demonstrated his overtaking prowess during the season-opening Formula Renault 3.5 event at Monza (6/7 April) by making up a total of 28 places over the two races to net 20 championship points.Having switched to the new AV Formula squad for 2013 Pic spent the off-season focusing on delivering improved race performances and, if the opening round is anything to go by, that work is beginning to pay dividends.The Frenchman was left frustrated by a lack of qualifying pace in wet conditions, lining up 22nd for the opening encounter and 16th for the second.But in that first race Pic made rapid progress towards the front, immediately leaping 11 spots and then swiftly climbing into the top 10. He continued to scale the order as the race progressed and by the final laps was engaged in a close battle with Nigel Melker, ultimately crossing the line just behind the Tech 1 driver in sixth.In Sunday's second race Pic had made up eight places by lap two before overhauling Sergey Sirotkin, Norman Nato and Oliver Webb in quick succession to snatch fifth position.He then set about closing in on Nico Muller, who could not resist the Frenchman beyond lap 16, and was now free to chase down race one winner Stoffel Vandoorne. He set about the task with aplomb, eroding the Belgian's significant advantage only to feel a slight issue with his front-right tyre and settle for a highly impressive P4.Pic had made his outright pace clear, registering the fastest lap of the race and making up more places than any other driver over the course of the weekend.And while he may feel there is still work to be done on the car's single lap and wet weather pace he has left his rivals in no doubt as to the abilities he possesses when the lights go out.Arthur Pic: "The first qualifying session was really tough. The weather wasn't good and we gambled on slick tyres right at the end, but it was still too wet so we ended up P22. In the race things went a lot better. I made a good start and from there the car was excellent, allowing me to pick up a few more places to finish sixth."Sundays qualifying was wet too and we still didn't have a perfect setup, so we could only manage 16th. But again the race went extremely well, beginning with another good start. The car was even better than Saturday and I was able to pass several competitors to climb all the way to fourth. I was close to making a move for the podium, but I felt something strange on my front-right tyre and decided to play it safe and secure the points."Overall I'm really happy with how the first weekend of the season went. The car was excellent in the dry and our race pace was fantastic, so I'm sure that if we can get qualifying right I'll be able to fight for victories. The aim at the next round will be to find that one-lap pace and compete for the win."Pic sits a strong fourth in the drivers' standings ahead of the series' trip to Spanish venue Motorland Aragon (27/28 April) where he will be hoping to combine his stellar race pace with improved qualifying form.