Rossi on form in Malaysia

Added on Saturday, October 24th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments

Italian Valentino Rossi will start Sunday’s Malaysian MotoGP from pole position, after an impressively quick time in today’s qualifying session.

Rossi, with a time of 2:00.518 seconds he just pipped his FIAT Yamaha teammate, and chief title rival, Jorge Lorenzo to the top spot, leaving Lorenzo to settle for second – just 0.569 seconds adrift.

The Italian star is able to clinch the 2009 MotoGP championship title tomorrow if he succeeds by finishing in the top four. His current pole position time broke his own previous pole record at the Malaysian Sepang venue, which he set in 2006 aboard his 990cc bike.

Lorenzo, after recovering from a crash in the previous round just one week ago, is all set to take the fight to his teammate, while Dani Pedrosa will be keeping a close eye on the FIAT Yamaha pair in third. Pedrosa will be hoping to take the fight to both, succeeding for his own championship prospects.

Phillip Island Victor from last weekend, Casey Stoner will start tomorrow’s penultimate round from fourth place, with Loris Capirossi close to his Ducati in fifth. Toni Elias and Nicky Hayden occupy sixth and seventh places, respectively, with Randy De Puniet eighth, Colin Edwards ninth and Alex De Angelis tenth. British star James Toseland will start the race sixteenth, in his penultimate MotoGP outing before making the switch back to World Superbikes.

Malaysia, Sepang – Qualifying Results:

Pos.	Rider	Nation	Team	Lap time	Gap
1	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Fiat Yamaha Team	2’00.518
2	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Fiat Yamaha Team	2’01.087	0.569
3	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	2’01.254	0.736
4	Casey STONER	AUS	Ducati Marlboro Team	2’01.455	0.937
5	Loris CAPIROSSI	ITA	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	2’01.716	1.198
6	Toni ELIAS	SPA	San Carlo Honda Gresini	2’01.918	1.400
7	Nicky HAYDEN	USA	Ducati Marlboro Team	2’01.980	1.462
8	Randy DE PUNIET	FRA	LCR Honda MotoGP	2’02.098	1.580
9	Colin EDWARDS	USA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	2’02.195	1.677
10	Alex DE ANGELIS	RSM	San Carlo Honda Gresini	2’02.274	1.756
11	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Repsol Honda Team	2’02.362	1.844
12	Mika KALLIO	FIN	Pramac Racing	2’02.435	1.917
13	Aleix ESPARGARO	SPA	Pramac Racing	2’02.859	2.341
14	Chris VERMEULEN	AUS	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	2’03.032	2.514
15	Marco MELANDRI	ITA	Hayate Racing Team	2’03.088	2.570
16	James TOSELAND	GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	2’03.528	3.010
17	Gabor TALMACSI	HUN	Scot Racing Team MotoGP	2’03.874	3.356