Crash fails to prevent Spaniard from grabbing pole ahead of Stoner

SEPANG: Not even an early tumble could stop Spain’s Dani Pedrosa from clinching pole position in the MotoGP class at the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix here.
Pedrosa crashed in his fifth lap but clawed his way back to the top of the timesheets after fighting off both his Honda Repsol team-mates – Casey Stoner of Australia and Andrea Dovizioso of Italy – to take pole in 2:01.462.
Stoner, who wrapped up the world title in Phillip Island, Australia, last week, was denied his 12th pole of the season after clocking 2:01.491.

Side show: Ducati MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi of Italy performing a wheelie during the qualifying session at the Sepang International Circuit yesterday.

Italian Dovizioso capped Honda’s dominance by posting 2:01.666. Yamaha’s American rider Colin Edwards was fourth fastest in 2:02.010.
Marco Simoncelli, who finished second in Phillip Island last weekend, was fifth while American Nicky Hayden was the top Ducati qualifier in sixth spot.
Pedrosa, who missed the Malaysian race last year with a broken collarbone, also led the third and final practice earlier in the day.
Pedrosa, fastest in both practice sessions on Friday, was pleased to have claimed his second pole position in Sepang since his first in 2007.
His effort was also a new lap record at the Sepang circuit, bettering the previous mark of 2:01.537 set by Jorge Lorenzo last year.
“I went faster in the afternoon and qualifying was a good improvement from the free practice time in the morning,” said Pedrosa, who will be hoping to emerge tops today after two runner-up finishes in 2008 and 2009.
“I changed some settings on my bike and I’m really happy with how things turned out as the weather was hot and that made it difficult for everybody.”
Stoner, meanwhile, was not too dis­ap­pointed with his failure to secure pole.
“It’s a very physical track with different speed bumps and the humidity makes it a tough race to expect tomorrow. I did not do as many laps as I would have wanted to as we have been struggling to get the balance between the tyres,” said Stoner, who has won here twice in 2007 and 2009. “But I am happy with the race pace.”
American John Hopkins had to withdraw from the race when the third finger on his right hand, which he broke in the Czech Republic recently, swelled up overnight, making it impossible for him to ride a MotoGP machine competitively or safely.
MotoGP: 1. Dani Pedrosa (Spa) Honda 2:01.462, 2. Casey Stoner (Aus) Honda 2:01.491, 3. Andrea Dovizioso (Ita) Honda 2:01.666, 4. Colin Edwards (US) Yamaha 2:02.010, 5. Marco Simoncelli (Ita) Honda 2:02.105, 6. Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati 2:02.172, 7. Hiroshi Aoyama (Jpn) Honda 2:02.254, 8. Alvaro Bautista (Spa) Suzuki 2:02.332, 9. Valentino Rossi (Ita) Ducati 2:02.395, 10. Cal Crutchlow (Bri) Yamaha 2:02.756, 11. Randy De Puniet (Fra) Ducati 2:02.939, 12. Loris Capirossi (Ita) Ducati 2:03.077, 13. Karel Abraham (Cze) Ducati 2:03.438, 14. Hector Barbera (Spa) Ducati 2:03.619, 15. Toni Elias (Spa) Honda 2:03.646, 16. Ben Spies (US) Yamaha 2:03.678, 17. Katzuyuki Nakasuga (Jpn) Yamaha 2:04.072.
Moto2: 1. Thomas Luthi (Swi) Suter 2:07.512, 2. Stefan Bradl (Ger) Kalex 2:07.724, 3. Michele Pirro (Ita) Moriwaki 2:08.004, 4. Yuki Takahashi (Jpn) Moriwaki 2:08.069, 5. Pol Espargaro (Spa) FTR 2:08.107, 6. Aleix Espargaro (Spa) Kalex 2:08.154, 7. Mika Kallio (Fin) Suter 2:08.240, 8. Claudio Corti (Ita) Suter 2:08.319, 9. Scott Redding (Bri) Suter 2:08.412, 10. Mattia Pasini (Ita) FTR 2:08.414.
125cc: 1. Nicolas Terol (Spa) Aprilia 2:13.579, 2. Hector Faubel (Spa) Aprilia 2:13.594, 3. Sandro Cortese (Ger) Aprilia 2:13.954, 4. Efren Vazquez (Spa) Derbi 2:14.581, 5. Luis Salom (Spa) Aprilia, 2:14.682, 6. Jonas Folger (Ger) Aprilia 2:14.776, 7. Maverick Vinales (Spa) Aprilia 2:15.055, 8. Alberto Moncayo (Spa) Aprilia 2:15.272, 9. Adrian Martin (Spa) Aprilia 2:15.304, 10. Danny Kent (Bri) Aprilia 2:15.590.
n TODAY
8.30-9.30am: Superbikes/Superstock/Supersports Race 2 (10 laps)
10.40-11am: 125cc warm-up
11.10-11.30am: Moto2 warm-up
11.40am-noon: MotoGP warm-up
1pm: 125cc race (18 laps)
2.15pm: Moto2 race (19 laps).
4pm: MotoGP race (20 laps).