Romain Grosjean has claimed his first pole position in the GP2 Series this afternoon at the Hungaroring, edging out Andreas Zuber and Lucas di Grassi by less that one tenth in an enthralling qualifying battle.

The Frenchman was delighted, and somewhat relieved, to finally take the top position in qualifying with a last minute lap of 1:27.782 after struggling with the final corner throughout the session: his rivals were both just 0.08 behind him when the chequered flag fell at the close of the session.

The top fourteen drivers were within a second of pole, with 21 drivers within another second of the top spot. The incredible closeness of the result today, along with the highly technical nature of the circuit, holds the promise of a scorching battle here tomorrow in race one.

Budapest - Qualifications:

1. Romain Grosjean - ART Grand Prix 1:27.782
2. Andreas Zuber - Piquet Sports 1:27.864
3. Lucas di Grassi - Barwa Int. Campos Team 1:27.866
4. Vitaly Petrov - Barwa Int. Campos Team 1:28.035
5. Karun Chandhok - iSport International 1:28.062
6. Mike Conway - Trident Racing 1:28.123 16
7. Giorgio Pantano - Racing Engineering 1:28.203
8. Bruno Senna - iSport International 1:28.237
9. Jérôme d'Ambrosio - Dams 1:28.413
10. Kamui Kobayashi - Dams 1:28.513
11. Sébastien Buemi - Trust Team Arden 1:28.562
12. Sakon Yamamoto - ART Grand Prix 1:28.730
13. Andy Soucek - Super Nova Racing 1:28.750
14. Diego Nunes - DPR 1:28.756
15. Alvaro Parente - Super Nova Racing 1:28.921
16. Davide Valsecchi - Durango 1:28.926
17. Ho-Pin Tung - Trident Racing 1:29.010
18. Javier Villa - Racing Engineering 1:29.094
19. Adrian Valles - BCN Competicion 1:29.188
20 Roldan Rodriguez - Fisichella Motor Sport Int. 1:29.458
21. Luca Filippi - Trust Team Arden 1:29.873
22. Michael Herck - DPR 1:30.021
23. Carlos Iaconelli - BCN Competicion 1:30.220
24. Marko Asmer - Fisichella Motor Sport Int. 1:30.258