Rossi steals last gasp Misano pole

Added on Saturday, September 5th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments

Valentino Rossi has racked up yet another Pole position for himself and his FIAT Yamaha team, ahead of tomorrow’s MotoGP Gran Premio Cinzano di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini.

The qualifying hour was as intense as ever, with Rossi sweeping through with the quickest time during the closing stages of the session, with a time of 1:34.338. Just as Pedrosa did last weekend at Indianapolis, Rossi has topped the times in every session so far this weekend, eager to impress his home crowd and regain a definite title advantage.

As the hour was coming to a close, it was Pedrosa who seemingly had a firm grasp on Pole, however with a last minute attempt from Rossi the Italian denied the Spaniard another shot at Pole, securing his sixth of the year.

Eager to maintain a close eye on teammate and fellow title challenger, Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo secured third spot, making it an extremely competitive front row ahead of tomorrow’s race.

Toni Elias secured fourth on the grid, accompanied on the second row of the grid by the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 of Colin Edwards and Nicky Hayden’s Ducati. The remainder of the top ten featured Alex De Angelis, Andrea Dovizioso, Randy De Puniet and Loris Capirossi. Britain’s James Toseland endured a difficult session to qualify fourteenth.

The 125cc qualifying was domianted by Brit hopeful Bradley Smith, who secured Pole with a time of 1:43.727, courtesy of his Bancaja Aspar Aprilia.

Qualifying Results, Misano:

Pos.	Rider	Nation	Team	Lap time
1	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Fiat Yamaha Team	1’34.338
2	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	1’34.560
3	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Fiat Yamaha Team	1’34.808
4	Toni ELIAS	SPA	San Carlo Honda Gresini	1’34.907
5	Colin EDWARDS	USA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	1’35.184
6	Nicky HAYDEN	USA	Ducati Marlboro Team	1’35.223
7	Alex DE ANGELIS	RSM	San Carlo Honda Gresini	1’35.343
8	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Repsol Honda Team	1’35.492
9	Randy DE PUNIET	FRA	LCR Honda MotoGP	1’35.554
10	Loris CAPIROSSI	ITA	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	1’35.561
11	Mika KALLIO	FIN	Ducati Marlboro Team	1’35.601
12	Marco MELANDRI	ITA	Hayate Racing Team	1’35.785
13	Chris VERMEULEN	AUS	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	1’35.790
14	James TOSELAND	GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	1’36.070
15	Aleix ESPARGARO	SPA	Pramac Racing	1’36.228
16	Niccolo CANEPA	ITA	Pramac Racing	1’36.264
17	Gabor TALMACSI	HUN	Scot Racing Team MotoGP	1’37.091