Sepang MotoGP: Pedrosa takes pole at Sepang

Dani Pedrosa has taken pole position for tomorrow’s Sepang GP clash after a hard fought qualifying session.

Pedrosa stole pole from world champion Rossi at the very end of the session, giving the Spanish rider his second pole of the season.

The final five minutes of the session were intense as riders moved in and out of the top spot and up and down the timesheets.

Rossi looked to have secured his third pole of the season, but at the last second Pedrosa pulled out a 2’01.548 lap, 0.409 quicker than Rossi, on a damp track.

That left Rossi in second place on the grid for tomorrow’s race, with his Fiat Yamaha team mate Lorenzo in third and Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden in fourth.

British rider James Toseland had to settle for 12th place, with a 2’03.282 lap, 1.734 seconds off the pace set by Pedrosa.

1  Dani PEDROSA   SPA  Repsol Honda Team   Honda   2’01.548   
2  Valentino ROSSI  ITA  Fiat Yamaha Team   Yamaha   2’01.957  
3  Jorge LORENZO   SPA  Fiat Yamaha Team   Yamaha   2’02.171  
4  Nicky HAYDEN   USA  Repsol Honda Team   Honda   2’02.192  
5  Colin EDWARDS   USA  Tech 3 Yamaha    Yamaha   2’02.245  
6  Andrea DOVIZIOSO  ITA  JiR Team Scot MotoGP   Honda   2’02.836  
7  Casey STONER   AUS  Ducati Marlboro Team   Ducati   2’02.953  
8  Loris CAPIROSSI  ITA  Rizla Suzuki MotoGP   Suzuki   2’03.078  
9  Randy DE PUNIET  FRA  LCR Honda MotoGP   Honda   2’03.110  
10  John HOPKINS   USA  Kawasaki Racing Team   Kawasaki  2’03.184  
11  Chris VERMEULEN  AUS  Rizla Suzuki MotoGP   Suzuki   2’03.271  
12  James TOSELAND   GBR  Tech 3 Yamaha    Yamaha   2’03.282  
13  Anthony WEST   AUS  Kawasaki Racing Team   Kawasaki  2’03.392  
14  Marco MELANDRI   ITA  Ducati Marlboro Team   Ducati   2’03.835  
15  Shinya NAKANO   JPN  San Carlo Honda Gresini  Honda   2’04.001  
16  Sylvain GUINTOLI  FRA  Alice Team    Ducati   2’04.378  
17  Alex DE ANGELIS  RSM  San Carlo Honda Gresini  Honda   2’04.679  
18  Nobuatsu AOKI   JPN  Rizla Suzuki MotoGP   Suzuki   2’04.835  
19  Toni ELIAS   SPA  Alice Team    Ducati   2’05.120