Pedrosa takes first pole of '09

From motogp.com

In-form Spaniard Dani Pedrosa snatched his first pole position of 2009 right at the death of Saturday afternoon’s MotoGP qualifying session at the Grand Prix de France as the riders got the chance to give it full gas on a dry track.

With Le Mans typically experiencing four seasons in a day morning rain gave way to afternoon sunshine, with provisional pole changing hands several times, before Pedrosa made it his own with a best effort of 1:33.974 on his final lap, to take first spot by a 0.005-sec. margin.

“It was a good qualifying session, because it wasn’t raining,” Pedrosa said. “We’ve always had spots in the previous practices. I’m just trying to get a good feeling on the bike, to make a good setup for tomorrow’s race, and I’m very happy to be on the front row here –something that I consider very important at this circuit.”

The factory Honda rider, who appears to be getting stronger every time he gets on his RC212V at present following an injury plagued winter, will be joined on the front row by fellow Spanish rider Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha) and Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro).

“I was tiny bit unlucky on my last lap,” stated Lorenzo afterwards, “but the important thing is that we’re on the first row and now we can try to get the good start that we need. We came second but we were very close to the first position, only five thousandths of a second down and I feel good on the bike. I feel able to keep up a good race pace, so on Sunday I am sure that people will enjoy the battle.”

Valentino Rossi made improvements as the session went on, his final position of fourth being a significant step forward having lapped 11th fastest on Saturday morning.

Rossi’s compatriot Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) and his former team-mate Colin Edwards, who briefly held provisional pole in the session, will line up behind him on the grid.

The third row will feature Rizla Suzuki pair Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi, who both qualified within a second of Pedrosa, at a track where Vermeulen took victory in 2007.

The top 10 was rounded off by Italian competitor Marco Melandri (Hayate Racing) and home rider Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda), who both bounced back from crashes in the hour-long session.

The weathermen have suggested that there is an 80% chance of rain on Sunday.

Álvaro Bautista (Mapfre Aspar) heads a strong front row in the 250cc class at the Grand Prix of France, courtesy of a 1:38.270 hot lap on 21st of 23 turns of the historic Le Mans circuit – which put him 0.382 secs. ahead of World Champion Marco Simoncelli (Metis Gilera) on the timesheet.

Behind the 250cc title holder Simoncelli on the front row are championship leader Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Racing) and Saturday morning’s pace-setter Thomas Luthi (Emmi – Caffe Latte), who both put in similar times to the Italian.

Red Bull KTM rider Marc Márquez set pole at Le Mans right at the end of the 125cc qualifying session and the 16-year-old will look to follow it up with his second podium in two races having placed third at Jerez two weeks ago.

Behind the young Spaniard on the Grand Prix de France grid will be another 16-year-old, Scott Redding (Blusens Aprilia), who also registered his best time, 1:47.173, just 0.093 secs. behind Márquez, in the final seconds of the qualifying practice as the track dried following morning rain.

MotoGP Qualifying Results
1. Dani PEDROSA (SPA) Repsol Honda Team Honda 1:33.974
2. Jorge LORENZO (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1:33.979
3. Casey STONER (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 1:34.049
4. Valentino ROSSI (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1:34.106
5. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (ITA) Repsol Honda Team Honda 1:34.300
6. Colin EDWARDS (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1:34.330
7. Chris VERMEULEN (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 1:34.676
8. Loris CAPIROSSI (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 1:34.839
9. Marco MELANDRI (ITA) Hayate Racing Team Kawasaki 1:35.008
10. Randy DE PUNIET (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 1:35.399
11. Toni ELIAS (SPA) San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1:35.431
12. James TOSELAND (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1:35.524
13. Nicky HAYDEN (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 1:35.682
14. Mika KALLIO (FIN) Pramac Racing Ducati 1:35.741
15. Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN) Scot Racing Team MotoGP Honda 1:35.774
16. Alex DE ANGELIS (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1:35.785
17. Niccolo CANEPA (ITA) Pramac Racing Ducati 1:36.136
Not classified
Sete GIBERNAU (SPA) Grupo Francisco Hernando Ducati