Rossi claims Donington pole

From motogp.com

Valentino Rossi took pole position number four of the 2009 season on Saturday afternoon with the fastest lap of MotoGP qualifying at Donington Park. The Fiat Yamaha rider’s time of 1:28.116 gave him his first top spot for the British Grand Prix since 2005 – the last occasion in which he won at the Midlands track.

Rossi now has twice as many pole positions as he did for the entire 2008 season and, following his pole position last week in Germany, heads the qualifying timesheet for consecutive races for the first time since the beginning of 2007.

His hot lap came at the end of the session in a frantic shootout, in which he sent Dani Pedrosa –the top man in both Free Practice sessions - packing by just under a tenth of a second.

Teammate and title rival Jorge Lorenzo was also hot on the Italian’s heels, placing third on the grid and maintaining his 100 per cent record of front row starts in the current campaign. He relegated Ducati Marlboro’s Casey Stoner – who lowsided at Macleans for his second fall of the day - to the head of the second line by just 0.044 secs.

Andrea Dovizioso and Colin Edwards join Stoner on row two, riding for Repsol Honda and Monster Tech 3 Yamaha, respectively.

Edwards’ teammate and the only home rider in the premier class, James Toseland equaled his best qualifying performance of the year with ninth in the session.

In addition to Stoner’s fall, Scot Racing rider Gabor Talmacsi also came off his bike during the run-out.

MotoGP Qualifying Results
1. Valentino ROSSI (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1:28.116 (273.515 km/h)
2. Dani PEDROSA (SPA) Repsol Honda Team Honda +0.095
3. Jorge LORENZO (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha +0.286
4. Casey STONER (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati +0.330
5. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (ITA) Repsol Honda Team Honda +0.662
6. Colin EDWARDS (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha +0.749
7. Marco MELANDRI (ITA) Hayate Racing Team Kawasaki +0.949
8. Toni ELIAS (SPA) San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda +1.059
9. James TOSELAND (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha +1.154
10. Randy DE PUNIET (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP Honda +1.318
11. Mika KALLIO (FIN) Pramac Racing Ducati +1.483
12. Alex DE ANGELIS (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda +1.484
13. Chris VERMEULEN (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki +1.982
14. Loris CAPIROSSI (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki +2.037
15. Nicky HAYDEN (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati +2.152
16. Niccolo CANEPA (ITA) Pramac Racing Ducati +2.456
17. Gabor TALMACSI (HUN) Scot Racing Team MotoGP Honda +3.077