A lap of 2’00.518 in MotoGP qualifying secured Valentino Rossi pole position for Sunday’s race at Sepang, with Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa completing the front row.
The Italian broke his own previous pole record at the circuit – recorded on a 990cc machine in 2006 – by 0.087s and lapped 0.569s faster than his Fiat Yamaha team-mate Lorenzo.
Lorenzo, who crashed on his MotoGP race debut at the track last season, was followed onto the front row of the grid by Pedrosa.
The Repsol Honda man had been the fastest in practice, but was unable to match the blistering pace set by Rossi, finishing a further 0.167s behind Lorenzo.
Casey Stoner, who won the race at Sepang in 2007, will head up the second row after lapping at almost a full second slower than Rossi, while Loris Capirossi secured fifth spot on the grid on his Suzuki GSV-R.
SHELL ADVANCE MALAYSIAN MOTORCYCLE GRAND PRIX
MotoGP Qualifying Practice Classification
Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Motorcycle Lap time Km/h Gap
1 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 2'00.518 310.077 2 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 2'01.087 310.612 0.569 3 3 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 2'01.254 314.410 0.736 4 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 2'01.455 312.138 0.937 5 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 2'01.716 308.131 1.198 6 24 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 2'01.918 310.434 1.400 7 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 2'01.980 309.101 1.462 8 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 2'02.098 305.775 1.580 9 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 2'02.195 308.219 1.677 10 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 2'02.274 307.517 1.756 11 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 2'02.362 307.604 1.844 12 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing Ducati 2'02.435 312.952 1.917 13 44 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Pramac Racing Ducati 2'02.859 303.541 2.341 14 7 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 2'03.032 304.998 2.514 15 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team Kawasaki 2'03.088 307.604 2.570 16 52 James TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 2'03.528 306.992 3.010 17 41 Gabor TALMACSI HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP Honda 2'03.874 303.968 3.356
