Dani Pedrosa nipped Casey Stoner’s amazing run of six consecutive pole positions by taking the first spot on tomorrow’s starting grid at Sepang, and his second pole position of the season.
The Spaniard who lead all the practice sessions this weekend, despite an early crash qualified on top of timesheet with a blazing 2’01″462 lap, which was enough to pip the new World Champion by a mere 0.
029s.
Andrea Dovizioso ended up in third as he and rival Marco Simoncelli exchanged the provisional pole for most of the hour session only to lose out when Pedrosa and Stoner stepped up their game in the final minutes, but the front row will be all Repsol Honda to the delight of both Honda and the Spanish petroleum giant.
Marco Simoncelli was bumped out of fourth by Colin Edwards, in his best qualifying position of the year, and was also the best Yamaha rider on track as team mate Cal Crutchlow made it into 10th.
Ben Spies crashed out again, his second of the day, excaberating his already tenuous physical condition, as he ended up in 16th.
Jorge Lorenzo’s replacement rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga was last and 2″610 off pace, making it another weekend to forget for the Yamaha factory team.
Nicky Hayden took his Ducati into sixth after grabbing a tow by Stoner and he was followed by Gresini’s Hiroshi Aoyama and Suzuki’s Alvaro Bautista.
Valentino Rossi had another trying qualifying session as he lost the front of his Ducati and slid out (his 13th crash of the season).
He was able to rejoin on his spare bike to take ninth, but at least this time was within a second of the top of the chart.
MotoGP Sepang Qualifying results:01- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC212V – 2’01.
46202- Casey Stoner – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC212V – + 0.
02903- Andrea Dovizioso – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC212V – + 0.
20404- Colin Edwards – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.
54805- Marco Simoncelli – San Carlo Honda Gresini – Honda RC212V – + 0.
64306- Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11.
1 – + 0.
71007- Hiroshi Aoyama – San Carlo Honda Gresini – Honda RC212V – + 0.
79208- Alvaro Bautista – Rizla Suzuki MotoGP – Suzuki GSV-R – + 0.
87009- Valentino Rossi – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11.
1 – + 0.
93310- Cal Crutchlow – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1.
29411- Randy De Puniet – Pramac Racing Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 1.
47712- Loris Capirossi – Pramac Racing Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 1.
61513- Karel Abraham – Cardion AB Motoracing – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 1.
97614- Hector Barbera – Mapfre Aspar Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 2.
15715- Toni Elias – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC212V – + 2.
18416- Ben Spies – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 2.
21617- Katsuyuki Nakasuga – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 2.
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